Chris Hu on 13 September 2014
| noname2200 said: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/bengals-bring-back-still-to-help-him-pay-for-daughter-s-cancer-treatment-032403812.html The Cincinnati Bengals appeared to have moved on from former second-round defensive tackle Devon Still when they cut him this preseason. Still, 25, certainly has looked like a bust to this point in his career, and his preseason play was not an indication he had come around. However, Still has had much bigger and better things on his mind than football. His 4-year-old daughter, Leah, was diagnosed with stage 4 pediatric cancer back in June. So when training camp came around, Still lost some desire to play. The Bengals had no choice but to cut him. [ Smack talk season is back at Yahoo Sports: ] “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 News. But there's a silver lining to this story. The Bengals re-signed him to their practice squad, and the $6,300 weekly salary and medical insurance will go a long way to help Leah. Still is eminently grateful for the team's gesture when he knows they simply could have made what NFL teams like to call "business decisions." “They could have washed their hands with me and said they didn’t care about what I was going through off the field,” Still said. “It’s like a blessing in disguise for me.” As a member of the practice squad, Still will practice with the team but not travel. That means he has more time to spend by Leah's side. Blessing in disguise indeed. |
The story is already a couple of weeks old but its still good compared to all the bad stories associated with the NFL lately (AP and RR).
