The Las Vegas Raiders and the rest of the NFL world were deeply concerned when news came out about tight end Foster Moreau. The former Raider was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma, a form of cancer, while on a free agent visit with the New Orleans Saints.
While going through a physical, Saints team doctors noticed Moreau’s lymph nodes were swollen and decided to run some tests. Unfortunately, the results were the ones that no one wants to hear in that situation and Moreau decided to step away from football in order to battle the disease.
Moreau recently made an appearance on the Adam Schefter Podcast and revealed his initial reaction to learning of the news, via Scott Thompson of FoxNews.com:
“Obviously, I’m shell shocked,” he explained. “Stoic, trying to take it as best I could. They do an on-site biopsy where they cut small two-centimeter little incisions, and they take some pore samples out of my lymph node there.”
His initial thought?
“Fear. It’s a term I don’t quite understand. Cancer is a scary word. Cancer’s an extremely scary word. I had no history of any cancers on my mom’s or dad’s side of the family. I was terrified. Did a lot of research on it, but just the unknowns of what you’re about to go through. People can explain to you what it is, but they can’t tell you what you’re going to” experience.
Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system. In Hodgkin’s lymphoma, white blood cells grow out of control and cause swollen lymph nodes and growths throughout the body.
There have been advancements in the treatment of the disease with odds of full recovery now much greater and Moreau noted that doctors believed they caught this early. Regardless, Moreau is going to fight the disease with everything he’s got:
“I tend to play the percentages, and I’ve beaten a lot of odds in my life, Adam. If I can beat those odds, I would’ve loved to. But I’ve also kicked a lot of a–. If I couldn’t beat the odds then I just have to deal with it. It was hard and it was scary. Every day passes, and it seems to ease up on my mind a little bit. By the time that first chemotherapy session starts, it will be like Sunday morning waking up and getting ready to kick someone’s a–.”
There is no doubt that everyone will be rooting for Moreau to do exactly that and beat this disease.
