GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- Green Bay Packers president John Jones was in stable condition Monday after undergoing open-heart surgery. Team chief executive officer Bob Harlan said doctors are optimistic Jones will make a full recovery.
Jones, 54, called team doctors after feeling ill Sunday and was told to go to the hospital, Harlan said. The surgery was done that afternoon at Bellin Hospital in Green Bay.
"We all wish him well for a continued successful recovery and look forward to seeing him back at Lambeau Field sometime in the next month," Harlan said.
Jones is physically active and has run three marathons. He continued long-distance cycling after having knee surgery, completing a 75-mile race last June.
He became the team's president May 31 at a board of directors meeting as part of a plan of succession approved last year.
Harlan said he learned of Jones' health problems when he returned home Sunday after attending quarterback Brett Favre'e charity softball game in Grand Chute.
"He woke up yesterday morning with some chest pains severe enough so that he was concerned about it," Harlan said Monday.
The operation went well, Harlan said.
"As (team physician) Dr. (Patrick) McKenzie told me this morning, 'The stars fell into place. They were all aligned and everyone was there and available,"' Harlan said.
The Packers said they would not have to make any personnel changes in Jones' absence.
"I am still CEO anyway, so I'll keep doing what we have been doing," Harlan said.
Harlan has been scheduled to remain CEO until handing that title over to Jones next year.
Harlan said Jones may have to go at a slower pace for a while.
"But we are fine with that," Harlan said.
Jones' heart problem surprised co-workers, who learned about the situation at a staff meeting Monday morning, Harlan said.
"He bikes all the time. He watches his weight. He watches what he eats. He is not somebody you would look at and think would have this problem. I didn't think I had melanoma a couple of years ago, either, and it happens," Harlan said.
Jones surgery came less than two years after Mark Hatley, the Green Bay Packers' vice president of football operations, died at his home July 28, 2004, of a heart attack at the age of 54.
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AP Sports Writer Colin Fly in Milwaukee contributed to this report.
