This is an old story but I thought it was worthy of making it onto the blog.
Back in April a few months before the NFL draft, Marcus Cannon was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Fortunately, Colts doctors who were at the combine found it and may have helped saved Cannon's life.
Even though Cannon is now a New England Patriot, after watching this interview you can't help cheer for him and hope that he makes a full recovery and has a successful career. His story is very inspirational and his positive upbeat attitude is absolutely infectious.
Read more after the jump.
To take nothing away from what Cannon is going through or the frightening and severe ordeal that he has ahead of him, as a Colts' fan, I was very happy to hear that it was the Colts' doctors who were the only ones to catch the cancer. Originally the Colts were very interested in Cannon who was considered a first or second round pick (after reading the article and watching the interview, I am still bummed they didn't take him) and asked that Cannon undergo a biopsy for a lump that Cannon had been living with since high school.Back in his sophomore season, team doctors at TCU noticed the lump and Cannon had it needle biopsied. Afterwards, doctors told him it was benign and that Cannon was fine. The Colts' head trainer - presumably Dave Hammer, although Rick Reilly's article did not specify - wanted to be certain and asked for a full biopsy. When it came back, doctors discovered that Cannon had cancer.
The finding was a win-win. Not only did it possibly save Marcus Cannon's life (clearly the more important factor here), it also was a success for a much beleaguered Colts' medical staff. Shortly thereafter the Colts' medical staff was slightly (although ever-so-slighty) vindicated when Austin Collie was cleared to resume football activities and was declared 100 percent healthy.
These were two critical pieces of good news for the Colts trainers who made numerous blunders last season. The medical team was often criticized, including heavily on this blog, for numerous errors in judgment. The most egregious was letting Collie play in the New England game and then the later against Jacksonville after he had suffered his second concussion. Endangering Collie was bad as concussions are career ending and permanently mentally debilitating. However, misjudging the severity of Anthony Gonzalez and Bob Sanders' injuries and putting them on IR when they could have played, stringing Clint Session along even though he was done and Addai's inability to come back weeks after he was supposed to were also bad (not to mention cutting Ryan Lilja over medical concerns and rumors that stretching was inadequate). They all pointed to the Colts medical staff not doing their job well enough in a sport that demands perfection not just from the players but the whole organization, particularly the doctors.
Worst of all though is simply the number of injuries the Colts suffer. Year after year it seems like the Colts' injury list is longer than everyone else's. So, it's nice to know that the doctor's didn't screw up as badly with Collie and possibly were the only ones thorough enough to follow through and check Marcus Cannon's lump, a decision which could have saved his life.
Hopefully Marcus Cannon will make a fully recovery (if he dominates Drake Nevis for years to come I will be alright with it) and hopefully this and Collie's positive news are a sign that the medical staff can turn it around this year.
For now Colts' doctors, well done!