5 NFL stars who battled cancer ft. Trent Williams
People often assume that since NFL athletes are healthy and fit, the problems of the general public don’t apply to them. Whenever you hear of an athlete being ill, you are immediately surprised.
Yet, the very harsh reality of life is that certain illnesses don’t discriminate, and cancer is one such ailment. The NFL has had a long-running battle against the disease, supporting various foundations that seek to raise money to support research into treatments and drugs.
NFL players, despite being incredibly fit, can sometimes come down with cancer. Fortunately, with how often they are medically tested, it is usually caught in its preliminary stages.
Here are five NFL players who battled cancer:
#1 Jim Kelly
After a troubled start to his relationship with the Buffalo Bills, Jim Kelly retired as a hero in the city after quite a remarkable career in the NFL.
Kelly was the star quarterback of the phenomenal Bills team which reached four successive Super Bowls in the 1990s.
As such, when it emerged that the veteran was battling cancer in 2013, the city was sent into a state of shock.
Kelly was initially diagnosed with skin cancer and had to endure quite a ferocious battle, putting his four Super Bowl disappointments into perspective.
Four AFC championships and 3-0 vs. cancer. If you ask me, that makes Jim Kelly one of the greatest winners ever. https://t.co/tIx4941AyA
After being given a 10% chance of survival, multiple surgeries and chemotherapy treatments proved to be successful for the former quarterback. He was declared cancer-free in 2019 after six years of fighting.
#2 Eric Berry
Eric Berry was one of the elite defenders in the league by the time 2014 rolled around. One game into the season, doctors discovered a mass inside the former Kansas City Chiefs safety.
The mass was analyzed and it was determined that Berry had Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, one of the most aggressive cancers around.
Chemotherapy treatments were enough to save Berry’s life and cure his ailment, and the defender was back on the field just nine months after his diagnosis.
Berry was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year for the 2015 season.
The following year, Berry was voted into the Pro Bowl and was an All-Pro star, eventually being rewarded with a six-year contract worth $78 million.
During the 2019 season, Berry was released by the Chiefs to prevent his salary being guaranteed. He hasn't played in the NFL since then.