Devon Still wasn’t sure he was going to be back with the Bengals this year.
But frankly, he had bigger concerns.
The defensive tackle cleared the biggest weight off his mind Tuesday, when he got good news about his daughter Leah’s battle with cancer.
Still posted on Instagram that “doctors told us they didn’t see any active disease in her body,” and then told Geoff Hobson of the team’s official website he hopes it’s a sign of things to come.
Leah and her family still await the results of an MRI and a bone biopsy later this week, and she’ll need a stem cell transplant to help rebuild her immune system. But this was obviously a big step.
“It just feels so good to great news after nine months of only hearing bad news,” Still said. “Hopefully when they get the rest of the results Thursday it will be the same thing. It’s just a great feeling.”
Leah’s battle with cancer became a national story last season, with many teams pitching in to help, and more than 10,000 people buying Devon’s jersey to support cancer research. The Bengals donated over $1 million to a local hospital through the efforts.
Now comes the small matter of football. The Bengals have offered to bring Still back next year, but Leah’s medical situation gave him pause.
“That was based on today’s tests,” Still said. “Obviously if the news hadn’t been this good, I would have wanted to have spent more time with my daughter. But now that it looks like things are headed on the right path, I’m ready to go back and play football.”
That’s good news for Still and the Bengals, but the best news is that Leah’s getting optimistic reports from her doctors.