Berry motivates Chiefs
Three months after completing chemo, safety making plays
Normally, it would have been just a routine play in the middle of a routine practice, a part of the usual training camp fabric: A safety running stride for stride with a receiver, leaping into the air, diving in front of a pass and knocking the ball to the grass.
But this play was special, because that safety was Eric Berry. And his effort was a sign that soon the NFL won’t just be talking about Eric Berry the cancer survivor but again will be focusing on the man previously famous as a Pro Bowl safety for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Sunday’s practice marked Berry’s most significant work since he was cleared to join his teammates at training camp last month, eight months removed from a diagnosis of Hodgkin’s lymphoma and about three months after his last chemotherapy treatment. His doctors declared him to be cancer-free June 22.
The Chiefs have gradually increased Berry’s workload over the last two weeks. He was in full pads during live drills Sunday. He was tackling running backs to the ground. He was covering wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, his new teammate. Berry was even in the middle of a brief post-play scrum.
He continues to line up with the second-team defense, but it’s possible to imagine now that Berry will be playing, and playing well, once the season starts. But patience — Chiefs coach Andy Reid has not announced when Berry will return to game action.
“At first, it was just get him healthy,” quarterback Alex Smith told USA TODAY Sports. “And then, all of a sudden, it was like, OK, he’s healthy. And you can think about him playing this year, and it’s like — wow.”
Berry has eschewed all media requests since holding a news conference with his parents, coaches and the team doctor in July. Fitting, teammates said, for a guy who never previously sought the spotlight despite always being one of the best players on the team.
Berry, the fifth overall pick of the 2010 draft, is a three-time Pro Bowler who also made the 2013 all-pro team.
His on-field contributions aside, Berry’s recovery and return are galvanizing the locker room. If he was among the most respected players before his diagnosis, he’s now the most revered.
“It’s motivation, courage, for the whole team,” linebacker Derrick Johnson told USA TODAY Sports. “Eric Berry stands tall. Just his stature is tall. Not physically, but he’s a head above everyone else. This means a lot to us.”
Johnson was on injured reserve, recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, when Berry fell ill in November. And while he’s impressed by the speed with which Berry has returned to full- contact football, Johnson wasn’t surprised, thinking Berry’s return was never in doubt. Johnson couldn’t even envision a scenario in which Berry wouldn’t just beat the cancer but be back in uniform and playing at his typically elite level.
“It’s not fair to him, but we kind of knew he would be OK. Maybe that sounds bad to say it, but that’s the kind of pressure we put on him,” Johnson said. “We were like, ‘That’s EB.’ EB is a man, physically and mentally, so we knew how he was going to attack it. He did just that. Not that we didn’t give him props for it.”
The respect is deserved. Berry managed to work out while he was going through six rounds of chemotherapy treatments at Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute in Atlanta and told reporters last month that he even wound up gaining a pound. That regimen seems to have helped ease his transition back to the rigors of football.
Defensive coordinator Bob Sutton said Sunday that Berry was being treated similarly to any player returning from a medical issue, even if his situation was far different from Johnson’s or that of defensive end Mike DeVito, who also had an Achilles injury.
“He’s seeing things better. It’s slowing down for him,” Sutton said. “This is strictly football. This has nothing to do with what he overcame. This is like somebody who’s missed (for other reasons). He’s happy with that. We’re just going to follow his rhythm, whatever he feels like.”
Still, even if Berry wants his coaches to treat him like just another football player, it is impossible for his teammates to ignore the impact of his return, especially now that he’s showing glimpses of his pre-cancer self on the field.
“Every time you look at him, it’s a reminder, like, ‘Hey, you think you’re tired? You think you can’t get through today? Just look at EB,’ ” Johnson said.
“I’m sure this is easy for him now because of what he went through. This is cake.”