All-Pro Strong Safety from the Kansas City Chiefs, Eric Berry, returned to the team today after missing 8 months of football action. Berry wasn’t recovering from a typical injury. He didn’t tear, break or re-aggravate anything. He missed 8 months of action due to being diagnosed with lymphoma.
He complained of chest discomfort after a Chiefs loss in November to the Raiders in Oakland. A mass was found in Berry’s chest, leading to the diagnosis of lymphoma and was forced to miss the remainder of the Chiefs season. Berry finished his last round of cancer treatments in June and now that he is back with the team, that could hopefully result in great things for both Berry and the Chiefs.
Following from the Kansas City Chiefs and Pete Sweeney of Chiefs.com.
UPDATE: After several rounds of thorough tests, Eric Berry has been cleared for Wednesday morning’s #ChiefsCamp practice.
— Kansas City Chiefs (@KCChiefs) July 29, 2015
Statement from Dr. Christopher Flowers of the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University on Eric Berry. pic.twitter.com/F7VlwqqLB3
— Kansas City Chiefs (@KCChiefs) July 29, 2015
Berry opted to have IVs during each chemotherapy in order for him to work out during the process. He came out of chemo a pound heavier.
— Pete Sweeney (@pgsween) July 29, 2015
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid told reporters Tuesday that Berry was in St. Josephs, Missouri where the team holds training camp at Missouri Western State University, to be evaluated by team doctors. It’s still unclear how quickly Berry will be ready for full football activities, but Reid was impressed with how Berry looked upon his arrival at camp.
“He’s kept himself in good shape, believe it or not. He’s really done a good job there,”
Berry remaining his frame and actually gaining a pound through chemo treatments is remarkable considering that most patients that go through chemo usually lose a lot of weight and lose their body mass.
Hopefully Berry can be a Pro-Bowl caliber player again and help the Chiefs as they continue to push towards a deep playoff run.
