Saturday, August 15, 2015

Eric Berry: From Cancer Victim to Potential NFL Comeback Player of the Year


BY STEVEN SILBERMAN

Today marks an incredible milestone in what is one of the most fascinating football stories of this decade.

Kansas City Chiefs SS Eric Berry will likely see his first game action in since being diagnosed with cancer in tonight’s pre-season opener against the Cardinals.

Berry, who was a 2-time all-American at the University of Tennessee, is one of the NFL’s premier defensive backs. In 2010, he signed a 6-year, $60 million contract, making him the highest paid SS in NFL history. Proving he is worth the money, the 26-year-old has already made the Pro Bowl on 3 occasions.

On November 20th 2014, Berry complained of chest pain after a game against the Raiders. After tests were conducted, doctors diagnosed him with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Medical professionals were confident that Berry would persevere to become cancer-ridden of the disease, which has a survival rate of 85%.

Berry has overcome tough situations before in his career; he tore his ACL in 2011, and then came back in 2012 to make the Pro Bowl.  This battle with cancer simply does not compare.

Berry said sometimes he “would have trouble falling asleep, not knowing if [he] would wake up.” He came to terms with the fact that death was a possibility.

After working to conquer the disease through many chemotherapy sessions, Berry was declared cancer-free, while being cleared to resume football activities.

We have seen great NFLers fight through unbelievable obstacles to resume their careers in recent years. Back in February 2005, the Teddy Bruschi had a life-threatening stroke - if the clot from his heart reached his brain, it may have caused irreversible damage. Miraculously, he not only got back into football shape, but led the Patriots in tackles in the 2006 and 2007 seasons.  

Even more recently in 2012, Colts Head Coach Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with cancer and had to leave the field at the beginning of the season. Despite coming off a dismal 2-14 season, as well as key players like Andrew Luck and T.Y. Hilton being rookies, the team responded by going 11-5 and clinching a wild-card berth. Now Pagano has the Colts as the front-runner to take the AFC South division crown once again.

When things like this happen to players and coaches, teammates and staff often become very inspired, pushing the organization to new heights. I think the return of Berry, along with the addition of Jeremy Maclin on the other side of the ball, will propel the Chiefs to win their division for the first time since 2010.

The world is certainly watching Berry and I can’t wait to see how he responds.

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