Viktor
Well-known member
- Mar 19, 2019
- 2,552
- 0
FB C.J. Ham
Connection to cancer: Mother, Tina, passed away from pancreatic cancer on May 29 (Read more about C.J.'s story and the way he honors Tina's memory here.)
The most important life lesson his mom imparted: "I remember when I was a young kid, she said, 'When we love, we love hard.' My mom was a perfect example of what 'loving hard' was. She showed me, my sister, my dad and especially all of her grandkids so much love, and she really taught me what love is. She taught us to love everyone – not just family, but to love everybody. I think that's something that's going to stay with me forever. Make sure you love your neighbor.
"My family comes from a strong faith background, and that's something that's always preached to us – love your neighbor, love everybody – and that's something that my mom really took to heart. I think that's part of the reason why she had such a great soul and such a great smile. No matter how bad her day was or whether she was going through chemo, she still had a smile on her face. And I believe that's why she was able to fight this disease for so long."
DE Ifeadi Odenigbo
Connection to cancer: Mother, Linda, is a recent colon cancer survivor; uncle also battled cancer
More on his mother's story: "About a year-and-a-half, two years ago, she was diagnosed with colon cancer. … Caught it early, fortunately, but she never told us about it [until] maybe 7 or 8 months in. … She didn't want anybody to stress about it.
"Every single Friday, she was getting chemo. I had no idea. I was living with her during the offseason, and she would just shut her door. I would say, 'Mom, you good?' 'Yeah, long day at work.' She would just fabricate something like that. It kind of all dawned on me [later]. But she swore that just her kids being there in her company and not stressing about it really helped her. Then fortunately last year, thanks to [Head Coach Mike Zimmer], I was fortunate enough after the Packers game, I flew back home, my mom had surgery, and the cancer was cleared up. That was my first real contact with cancer."
TE Irv Smith, Jr.
Connection to cancer: Grandfather Edward Smith ("Pop-Pop") passed away in 2018 from lung cancer
Irv shared that his grandfather had a "major impact" on his life, spending quality 1-on-1 time with him from a young age and teaching him about sports, particularly basketball. When Edward was in the hospital near the end of his life, Irv got a portrait of him tattooed on his leg and was able to show his grandfather.
Reflecting on his grandfather's life: "Seeing him in the hospital when he was sick with lung cancer, he didn't really tell us how much it was affecting him. You would never really have known. My grandpa played the saxophone his whole life. He didn't know how to read music or anything, but he would play the saxophone … I got him some nice headphones, and he would just listen to music and play the song off of listening to it."
WR Dan Chisena
Connection to cancer: Chisena played football at Penn State, where he was involved with THON, the largest student-run philanthropy group that fights against pediatric cancer.
On connecting with young people fighting cancer: "I had an opportunity to do hospital visits to the Hershey Children's Hospital and visit with those kids. Those were always special moments when we got to do that as a team, just to see the amount of fight that they have in them. They're inspiring.
"It was one of my favorite days of the year, getting to go to the hospital and spend time with these kids. Just to be able to see how strong these people are – to meet with the families and talk to them and hear their stories, and just to sit down and have conversations. You see what these families are going through, and it puts things into perspective in your own life. It puts football into perspective. And it just makes you thankful for every day."