Cancer survivor Marcus Cannon makes it to Patriots' active roster – NFL News
Patriots offensive guard lineman Marcus Cannon has managed to sideline an attack of cancer to make a comeback to the active 53 –man roster. The rookie now has his name removed from the reserve list jumping in to take the place
left vacant by the release of safety Ross Ventrone.
Cannon was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in pre-draft examination six months back. A tumour that was not life threatening was discovered in his lower abdomen. A biopsy revealed that it contained non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma cells,
which is a form of cancer. Cannon underwent treatments in Fort Worth, Texas.
The process was very demanding and required a lot of physical and psychological effort from Cannon. But an adamant Cannon saw himself through it. By July, the 348-pound athlete managed to complete his treatment after almost six
months. So now after a series of chemotherapy procedures, Cannon’s cancer is now in remission.
Patriots’ personnel director Nick Caserio seemed delighted at his return and expressed admiration for the trainers, doctors and others who played their role in Cannon’s recovery. He was impressed by Cannon himself who had worked
hard.
”He’s done everything that he’s been asked to do. He’s controlled the things he’s controlled. This is a player we liked, coming out of TCU, a big guy, who’s athletic. Like we talked about at the draft, football was the least important
thing at the time. The most important thing was for him to get healthy. And we’re at that point.” Caserio said.
” It’s a credit to Marcus. I think there’s a lot of people happy for him and look forward to continue to work with him in the future.” Caserio added.
The 23-year-old Cannon was back at practice last month after having missed the first half of the season. After three weeks he has been finally selected in the fifth round draft. A happy Cannon said that he could not imagine living
without football. Cannon said it was hard for him to leave the team for his treatments and thanked everyone who had supported him. He was particularly very pleased with the offensive line who he said had helped him get back into the field.
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