Bengals defensive tackle responds with wisdom to Instagram troll who criticized him for having cancer-stricken daughter in a fashion show.
Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Devon Still has had one tumultuous year. This time last year he was preparing to make an impact with the Bengals as a reserve. And then he found out in June that his four-year-old daughter, Leah, had been diagnose with stage 4 cancer, a kind known as neuroblastoma.
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Still, a 2012 second round pick of Cincinnati, struggled in his first two seasons to get in the game, despite being an All-American in 2011 at Penn State.
The news seemingly could not get much worse when he was cut by the only NFL team he’d known at the end of August. But head coach Marvin Lewis had another plan. He wanted to help Still and his daughter, and so the Bengals signed him to their practice squad the next day.
Still would eventually regain status on the active roster, even dressing for a few of the Bengals games in 2014, a year in which Cincinnati once again reached the postseason, as the fifth seed in the AFC.
But it was a trying year for Still. Overall, though, the support was strong around the NFL, not just in Cincinnati. When the Bengals elected to sell No. 75 Still jerseys on their website to support Still and raise money for cancer awareness and research, New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton bought 100 of them and proceeded to give them away for free to kids in Cincinnati’s hospital.
When the Bengals were in New Orleans, Still and Payton met briefly postgame at midfield. The two met with a warm embrace.
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft donated $25,000 to the Cincinnati hospitals in Leah Still’s name.
With all the goodwill, there was still bound to be some who did not get it. In steps @bensman02, who took to Instagram to chide Still for placing his daughter in a fashion show when she has cancer.
Still responded in an understandable way, frustrated but also calmly and simply explaining the facts which his accuser seemed to not understand.
Still said, “we’ve raised over 1.6 million for cancer research. If you must know this is a fashion show not a photo shoot which is free btw. If you have any other concerns about how not enough money is raised for kids fighting cancer, the government has this thing called congress.”
Still has shown himself to be as classy as anyone as he goes through one of the most difficult times a man could.
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