Aaron Johnson – Sports Editor
This has been a nightmarish season for the National Football League. A league that has never been a stranger to scandals and negative press. This season has really taken the cake. But there has been a small, bright light through all the haze of the Ray Rice videos, Adrian Peterson arrests, and Greg Hardy 911 calls…Leah Still.
The four-year old daughter of Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Devon Still, was diagnosed with Stage 4 neuroblastoma on June 2, a pediatric cancer that left her with a 50/50 chance of survival. While all this had been going on, her father had been fighting for a spot on the Bengals’ roster, but was cut from the team during the final trimming down out NFL rosters.
But in a class act, the Bengals organization got wind of Leah’s story and decided to sign Still to the practice squad, so he would be able to use the NFL health care policy to help pay for his daughter’s treatment. Since that day, the support for little Leah has been seen league wide.
Still’s Bengals jersey has had near record sales with all the proceeds going to assist in treatment funding. Even on last Sunday nights Bengals game against the New England Patriots, New England cheerleaders were seen wearing Still’s jersey in support of his daughter and his courageous fight against cancer.
Two weeks ago, after a near six-hour-long surgery, doctors were able to completely remove all tumors from Leah’s body. It’s more than evident that the support and love that came from the league, its players, and surrounding bodies, has a huge influence in helping to save this little girl’s life.
A Bengal’s source told ESPN that the team was closing in on selling 10,000 jerseys and having raised $1 million for the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital’s pediatric cancer research efforts. During a year where the NFL has dominated the airwave and papers for negative things, it is a pleasant thing to see not only the league doing something positive. But also seeing them helping to save a young girl’s life and giving her family watch her grow up and live her life.
Photo Credit: Erik Eckel
