Penn State football star running back Journey Brown’s career has officially come to a close.

James Franklin confirmed Wednesday that Brown’s health condition will keep him out of competition this season, and he will no longer be able to play football.

“Through internal testing and second opinions, Journey Brown will no longer be able to play football,” Franklin said. “It was discovered through a routine COVID-19 test, although it is not COVID related. We learned about this in early September, and we’ve been working through this and dealing with this as a team.

“Journey’s one of the most popular and respected players on our team…The entire organization has rallied around Journey and his family. We need Nittany Nation to do the same,” Franklin added.

It was first reported earlier in October Brown has a medical condition that was discovered during the offseason. Brown put out a statement shortly after Franklin’s announcement in which he explained that he’s been diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick.

The Meadville, Pennsylvania native burst onto the scene as a redshirt sophomore in 2019. He capped off a dominant finish off the season by being named the offensive MVP in Penn State’s Cotton Bowl Classic victory over Memphis. Brown ran all over the Tigers, as he put up 202 rushing yards and two scores on just 16 carries. Fans will now know that as Brown’s last career football game.

“Journey’s handled this unbelievably well,” Franklin said. “I know he’ll be extremely successful in whatever he decides to do. He’s been serving as an assistant coach, running backs coach, been very involved.”

As for this 2020 season, the Nittany Lions have been forced to operate without Brown and Noah Cain, who was ruled out for the year after going down with an injury against Indiana. Devyn Ford has been relied upon to lead the position group, while freshmen Keyvone Lee and Caziah Holmes have played in backup roles.