Teammate: ‘We look to DQ as a sign of strength’
Quessenberry makes debut with Texans after cancer battle
When Texans offensive lineman David Quessenberry lined up as an extra blocker with the offense against the Pittsburgh Steelers, it completed an emotional, successful victory over cancer.
Quessenberry made his inspirational NFL regular-season debut Monday following a threeyear battle with non-Hodgkin Tlymphoblastic lymphoma.
Quessenberry, 27, got choked up at his locker while discussing a day he’s awaited for years after a medical ordeal that included losing and regaining 70 pounds after undergoing chemotherapy at MD Anderson Cancer Center.
“It was everything I dreamed of while I was going through my treatments,” Quessenberry said. “Playing a full-speed game was exactly how I’d hoped it went. I would say it was very emotional for me and the people around me and for my family watching. It was just something special.”
For his first game since being promoted to the active roster from the practice squad, Quessenberry was named a game captain.
“That surprised me,” Quessenberry said. “That was really cool. I didn’t expect that.”
Once the game started, Quessenberry began shedding rust and started throwing his body around.
“I had butterflies when they called my personnel running out there and getting down in my stance,” Quessenberry said. “Once I started hearing the quarterback’s cadence, instincts take over and you go make your blocks.
Other Texans players and staffers were practically as overcome with feelings as Quessenberry. They kept hugging him and slapping him on the back.
“They’re my friends,” Quessenberry said. “They mean a lot to me.”
And Quessenberry to them. The former sixth-round draft pick from San Jose State hasn’t been in his courageous battle against cancer alone. Diagnosed when he had trouble breathing at a minicamp in 2014, doctors discovered fluid in his right lung and a left lung that wasn’t working properly. Quessenberry never stopped fighting.
“It’s special, you could see how excited he was,” left guard Xavier Su’a-Filo said. “He’s worked so hard and gone through so much. We look to DQ as a sign of strength because he’s gone through so much adversity. I’m close to his family. I played with his brother in college. It’s a testament to him and his toughness.”