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As a Super Bowl champion quarterback, Steve Beuerlein diagnosed defenses. Now, at 61, he is using AI to help predict what kinds of heart problems might arise.
Beuerlein told Pak Gazette Digital in a recent interview that as he got older, he thought more about his mortality.
“As you get older, you start to think about your mortality a little bit more,” Beuerlein told Pak Gazette Digital in an interview with Heartflow.
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Steve Beuerlein waves at a Netflix event for “America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys” at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles, California on August 11, 2025. (Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)
He signed up for Heartflow’s Gamefilm registry as the company is using revolutionary technology to help determine if someone is at risk for cardiovascular disease.
“I looked into it, I looked into it, and I realized what Heartflow had as a company and their technology, which was the first of its kind, and a completely revolutionary type of AI-powered technology that was included in this overall offering to detect early-stage heart disease,” Beuerlein said.
The Pro Bowl quarterback said his father battled cardiovascular disease for 30 years and, with that in mind, wanted to get himself checked out.
“My father fought with it for the last 30 years of his life. And then, of course, I was curious how I joined and went through the whole process. It was painless, non-invasive, very efficient, a very easy process to follow. And then the details, when I got through it and came back, all the information I received was very thorough and fortunately for me it was very positive,” Beuerlein said.
Beuerlein was not only impressed by how easy the test was to take, but also how the power of artificial intelligence technology made the results so understandable.
“It’s amazing how simple it is to perform the procedure and yet with the technology they have, much of it powered by AI, you actually sit down with a doctor after you’ve gone through the process and the results come back and you’re literally looking at a computer,” Beuerlein said.
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Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Steve Beuerlein plays against the Carolina Panthers in the 1995 Hall of Fame Game at Fawcett Stadium in Canton, Ohio on July 29, 1995. (Michael C. Hebert/RED USA TODAY)
“You’re looking at a 3D image of your heart and they can rotate it so you can see it from the front and back.”
The results allow doctors and the patient to see all the chambers of the heart. There is a color scale that identifies the areas where plaque begins to develop.
Hard plaque is of immediate concern, but soft plaque buildup is also a problem.
Testing allows the patient to get a baseline of their current condition and gives people the ability to be proactive with their heart health rather than reactive.
“Fifty percent of first heart attacks or major cardiac events occur completely by surprise. People had no way of knowing that this was going to happen, that they had these problems. And that’s what motivated Heartflow to try to address it and develop this revolutionary technology,” Beuerlein said.
“A lot of times this progresses in people and there are no signs or symptoms. They have no way of really knowing that they are at risk.”
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Carolina Panthers quarterback Steve Beuerlein throws the ball against the Atlanta Falcons in a 1997 season game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, on September 7, 1997. (Photos by RVR/USA TODAY Sports)
More information about Heartflow’s technology can be found on its website, in addition to visiting any doctor or health center that has a collaboration with the company.
Beuerlein played in the NFL for 14 seasons. He played for the then Los Angeles Raiders, Dallas Cowboys, Arizona Cardinals, Jacksonville Jaguars, Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos. He was a backup quarterback when the Cowboys won the Super Bowl in 1992.
He made the Pro Bowl with the Panthers in 1999. In 147 games (102 starts), he completed 56.9% of his passes for 24,046 yards, with 147 touchdowns and 112 interceptions.
