Three years ago, then first-year Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano had the No. 1 pick, Andrew Luck, and the opportunity to rejuvenate the organization after the departure of longtime signal-caller Peyton Manning.
Then, out of nowhere, Pagano was diagnosed with leukemia in 2012, ultimately leading to a cancer-fighting campaign through the words “Chuck Strong,” which resonated across football fields and became inspiration for his team even without the coach actually on the sidelines.
Thankfully, Pagano has made a full recovery and has been back in his normal position wearing the head coach’s headset.
Fast forward to present day, and Pagano is still inspiring those who are battling various forms of the disease—even if that person happens to be on an opposing team.
He’s BACK! #ChiefsCamp pic.twitter.com/bOR4VX48Rj — Kansas City Chiefs (@KCChiefs) July 29, 2015
Of course, Berry—who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease late last season—recently found out that he’s cancer-free and already back on the gridiron with his teammates, which brought a ton of positive reactions from everyone in the league and beyond.
As for Chuck Pagano, even before the Berry shirsey today, he was supportive of Berry, with Chiefs head coach Andy Reid saying, via FTW.USAToday:
“He would text me and tell me, ‘look, they’re going to do a bone marrow biopsy,” Berry told reporters last month. “This is what you need to be prepared for — this, this, this, and this.’ And he had me prepared for a lot of the things that I wasn’t aware of, so I think I was just very blessed to have people to reach out and help me along this whole situation.”
With class like that, it might be time to refer to the Colts head coach as Chuck Pagan-BRO, because it was an absolute bro move on his part to keep tabs and help where he can.