There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when the NFL’s New England Patriots honored a player on an opposing team during Sunday night’s live football telecast on NBC.
During a time out in the Patriot’s 43-17 rout of the Cincinnati Bengals, the Patriots showed a film that paid tribute to Bengals player Devon Still’s 4-year-old daughter, Leah Still, who is battling cancer.
As fans watched the emotional tribute, the camera cut to a shot of the Patriots cheerleaders on the sidelines wearing Still’s #75 jersey.
All proceeds from sales of the jersey are donated to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in Leah’s name. The Bengals have promised to donate over $1 million for cancer research and treatment at the hospital.
Still learned of his daughter’s frightening cancer diagnosis over the summer. Since then his life has been an emotional roller coaster. He was cut by the Bengals only to be re-signed to the team’s practice squad to help him pay the mounting medical bills. A week later, Still was promoted to the team’s active roster.
From Fox Sports:
The Bengals are not the only franchise to offer money in support of the cause in light of Still’s story. New England owner Robert Kraft is also donating $25,000 to the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and shortly after news of Leah’s illness was made public, other teams stepped up, like the Saints and head coach Sean Payton buying 100 Still jerseys.
Leah underwent surgery recently, and Devon has said she has a good chance to be cancer-free.
