MMQB feature on Panthers' ST Coach Bruce DeHaven

[KB_fan]

Thanks to a tip from BBR who tweeted:

I learned of the feature article on Bruce DeHaven by Peter King of SI today:

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/08/02/nfl-training-camp-bruce-dehaven-cancer-carolina-panthers

I can't figure out what quote to pick as an excerpt.  It is SO good.   Dang.  May not like Peter King much, but he sure can write.  THIS IS A MUST READ.

I guess the place to start is at the beginning....

A doctor told him in May: It’s likely you have three to five years to live. And then he didn’t hear anything else. He didn’t hear the doc say there’s a slight chance you will live for decades, or a slight chance you will live for a few months. He just heard, at 66 and healthy as a mule (or so he thought), that the finish line of life might well be coming about 25 years sooner than he hoped it would. In the next 10 days, DeHaven lost 11 pounds. From the shock of it. He didn’t have 11 to lose, but he lost them anyway.

It’s May. Mini-camps are approaching. The owner of the team, the venerable Jerry Richardson, tells DeHaven the team will support him in any way possible. If the prostate cancer and its accompanying spread into your bones makes it too tough to work, Richardson says we’ll get you the best care on the planet, wherever that is; if you want to work, we’ll get you the best care on the planet, wherever that is. Your call.

At home, DeHaven has a son about to go off to college, to his freshman year at Canisius, and a daughter still in high school. He thought about it. He thought about it for a long time. He did nothing but think about it.

Should I coach this team with a bunch of guys I love? Or should I go home and just be with the ones I love more, just in case the end is near?

How do you make that call?

[Cary Kollins]

Very good piece. 

 

Something at the bottom of the article caught my attention:

I think in a league of silly sanctions, I’d be most furious about this one if I were a player: If you toss a football in the stands to a fan, or toss it into the stands out of celebration, you get fined $5,787.

 

I wonder if Cam's football giveaways fall into this category?

[Ricky Spanish]

Very good piece. 

 

Something at the bottom of the article caught my attention:

 

 

I wonder if Cam's football giveaways fall into this category?

They don't, it's if they throw the footballs, handing them out won't get a fine. 

[KB_fan]

Bump.  It's been a busy day on the forum.  Don't want this lost in the shuffle if folks haven't read it.

[Pejorative Miscreant]

I assumed and said in another thread that King would mail it in and write a crap story of regurgitated news regarding the Panthers. Glad to see I was wrong. This was a pretty good write up and King seemed to be very complimentary of the organization.

[t96]

Great article. Props to Payton, Belichick and other for reaching out. I hate those guys on the football field but I can respect them as men off of it to some degree. At the end of the day, football really isn't that important.

[Plewis]

I swear Chris Kroeger must be a fan of the huddle. He's always bringing up huddle topics on air.

 

It is a great story about DeHaven. Prayers for him and his family.

[Moorgan]

I swear Chris Kroeger must be a fan of the huddle. He's always bringing up huddle topics on air.

 

It is a great story about DeHaven. Prayers for him and his family.

He has an account and has posted here before. Also Mac on WFNZ in the morning brings up the Huddle quite a bit too.