Cincinnati Bengals re-sign Player to Help Pay for Daughter's Cancer Treatment

Bengals sign DT so he can pay for daughter’s cancer treatments
Posted September 5, 2014 - 1:54pm

REUTERS

The Cincinnati Bengals went beyond the so-called strict football decision and instead made a humanitarian gesture to help save a life.

The Bengals re-signed defensive tackle and 2012 second-round pick Devon Still to their practice squad to help him pay for his 4-year-old daughter’s cancer treatments since he can continue to receive full health insurance.

After failing to make the Bengals’ 53-man roster, Still was waived by the team last Saturday but re-signed to the practice squad Sunday.

“I completely understand where the Bengals were coming from when they cut me because I couldn’t give football 100 percent right now,” Still told ABC’s Good Morning America. “They could have washed their hands with me and said they didn’t care about what I was going through off the field. It’s like a blessing in disguise for me.”

Still, 25, learned in June that his daughter, Leah, has stage-4 pediatric cancer. Since the diagnosis, Still’s mind understandably hasn’t been completely on football as he missed parts of organized team activities and minicamp this offseason to be with his daughter.

As a member of the practice squad, Still receives health insurance as well as a weekly salary of $6,300. He gets to remain with the team that drafted him, without all of the traveling, meaning he can be closer to his daughter as she undergoes treatments.

Still posted a photo of Leah last week on her way to start her fourth round of chemotherapy.

“We’re going to go to battle with cancer,” her dad said. “She’s willing to put up a fight to beat it.”

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Devon Still eager to meet Payton
Updated: November 13, 2014, 3:52 PM ET
By Coley Harvey | ESPN.com

CINCINNATI -- Devon Still finally has a chance to face the man who helped kick off the massive response to sales of his jersey, whose proceeds last week went to pediatric cancer research.

The Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle is looking forward to greeting New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton and shaking his hand before their game at the Superdome on Sunday. The two have never formally met, although they did chat briefly on the phone during a joint interview on ESPN's "Mike & Mike" radio show in mid-September, one week after Payton purchased 100 of Still's jerseys.

Payton was the first football personality with a name that resonated to participate in Still's fundraising efforts. In the days that followed, others joined.

"You really can't thank somebody the way you want to or are supposed to over the phone. It's something you have to do face-to-face," Still said.

In addition to Payton's purchase, the Bengals sold nearly 15,000 of Still's jerseys over slightly more than a month. All proceeds from Still's $100 jersey went into a donation fund the Bengals collected. Last Thursday, during a check presentation in the middle of their prime-time game at home against the Browns, the Bengals gave the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center $1.3 million from their fundraising efforts.

All of the money will go toward pediatric cancer research efforts.

Since June 2, Still's 4-year-old daughter, Leah, has been dealing with Stage 4 neuroblastoma, a rare cancer that gave her a 50-50 chance to live. She has since had surgery to remove the cancerous tumor from her body, although cancer still remains in parts of her chest and lower extremities. On Wednesday, she underwent a radiation procedure that her father hopes will be the only one she has to face. Results from the procedure could take up to six weeks to come back to doctors.

Leah's fight has been in the national spotlight since the beginning of September, when the Bengals cut Still at the end of the preseason, only to add him back a day later as part of the practice squad. He has since been activated and has appeared in eight games. He has 17 tackles.

Payton said he was inspired to help when he heard about Still's story on the radio while driving home.

"Over the years, having coached at Miami of Ohio, having spent time at the Bengals' training camps as a guest and certainly our joint practices that we held in '07, knowing [coach] Marvin [Lewis] for a long time ... you get to know a group a little closer than other teams," Payton told Cincinnati media this week. "Just hearing how they handled it all was pretty inspirational. It was really spontaneous and something I thought would be a good gesture."

When Still and Payton were on "Mike & Mike," the coach issued the reserve lineman one charge: "I'm a huge fan from afar, [though] I've never met you.

"When we play you down the road, now, we can't have any sacks on [Drew] Brees."

Still can't promise that he'll comply with that request. But he can promise to speak with emotion when he greets Payton on Sunday.

"Whatever comes to mind, whatever comes from my heart," Still said.

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NFL's Devon Still shares more good news about daughter Leah's condition
CBS News
March 26, 2015, 10:48 AM

Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Devon Still is sharing more good news about his daughter Leah's battle with cancer.

In an Instagram post Wednesday, Still said doctors have declared her cancer "officially in REMISSION!"

Four-year-old Leah has been suffering from stage four neuroblastoma, a rare type of cancer that can develop from nerve cells in children.

Still said last week that Leah appeared to be cancer-free in a diagnostic scan after undergoing chemotherapy for the disease. "The doctors told us they didn't see any active disease in her body!!!" Still wrote March 17.

At that point, the family was still awaiting results of MRI and bone biopsy tests to confirm the cancer was in remission.

"June 2, 2014 and March 25, 2015 are days I will remember for the rest of my life," Still wrote in his latest update. "As everyone probably knows, June 2nd was the day doctors walked into the waiting room to tell me my daughter had cancer. It was the most devastating day of my life. March 25th , however, is feeling like the best day of my life. Today we received news from Leah's oncologist that her cancer, stage four neuroblastoma, is officially in REMISSION! After 296 days of day dreaming about what it would feel like to hear the doctors say my daughter is in remission, I finally know the feeling."

"When I look at my daughter all I can do is smile and hug her," he continued. "It was not easy but every day, and every treatment Leah fought like hell and kicked cancers butt! I'm so proud and blessed to call her my daughter."

Leah's tumor was removed last fall, but doctors had only given her a 50-50 chance of beating the cancer.

Still noted that "Leah is not done with treatments yet. She still needs more to make sure the cancer cells do not return and to build back up her immune system and other damage from the chemo but I know my little warrior will get through."

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