In the commanders’ changing area, melancholy, comfort, and introspection
Coach Ron Rivera instructed everyone to leave the locker room on Sunday except for the players and coaches of the Washington Commanders. Following the Dallas Cowboys’ 38-10 rout of the Commanders, everyone seemed to think this was it. A period coming to an end. Rivera was going to give what would likely be his final speech to his squad.
He told his staff that he received a skin cancer diagnosis in the summer of 2020. It was located in a neck lymph node. Proton therapy, a more focused kind of radiation therapy, was the kind of treatment he desired.
He had coached the Carolina Panthers for the previous nine years of his life, but there was no proton therapy center in North Carolina. However, there was one that was only a short drive from his new team’s offices.
The therapy was quite taxing. He underwent 35 sessions of proton therapy and three cycles of chemotherapy. He hasn’t had cancer since then. He turned sixty-two on Sunday, his birthday. Four participants stated that his message was that everything occurs for a purpose.
Punter Tress Way described him as “an incredible human being.”
“He claimed we assisted him. Right guard Sam Cosmi stated, “[He said] we were the reason he got through that, which meant a lot.
