Eric Berry owns fear after overcoming cancer

For Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry, nothing has come easy.

First came the horses, and then came a stampede. Eric Berry grew up with a terrible, irrational fear of horses. In Sept. 2013, NFL Films produced “Horsin’ around with Eric Berry,” which is seven minutes and 30 seconds of documentary gold exploring Berry’s fear of horses. Berry even recounts the event in his childhood that started it all when a horse bit him at a petting zoo after as Berry put it, “dang, horse, I trusted you.”

Ultimately, Berry makes amends with the Kansas City Chiefs’ gameday horse, Warpaint.

Then, in Dec. 2014, Berry’s relationship with fear violently transitioned from frivolous to life-threatening. Following a Thursday Night Football game against the Oakland Raiders, Berry felt a persistent discomfort in his chest. The ensuing tests done by team and University of Kansas doctors resulted in finding a cancerous lump in his chest.

Just like that, football, a game linked more and more to putting its players’ health in harm’s way, played a pivotal role in saving Berry’s.

The 25-year-old strong safety who already reached three Pro Bowls and an All-Pro team announced on Nov. 24 that he had been confronted with cancer. The diagnosis was Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Berry’s doctor said at the time that “This is a diagnosis that is very treatable and potentially curable with standard chemotherapy approaches.”

While Berry was away getting treatment, teammate and fellow star Justin Houston wore a white t-shirt beneath his jersey with 29 written on it in Sharpie. After a sack, Houston would pull up his jersey and expose his support of Berry, pointing emphatically to the digits. BerryStrong became a trending topic all over the internet. Of course it did.

The soft-spoken young man who once exposed his vulnerable side in half-jest around horses was suddenly thrown into the fight of his life, and he was speaking louder than ever without saying a word.

Fast-forward to now. Berry is currently in remission, cancer-free since June 22, 2015. But before that blissful day, he continued training at an NFL level during chemotherapy treatment. In a thorough Wall Street Journal story by Kevin Clark detailing Berry comeback, the doctor who treated Berry, Dr. Christopher Flowers of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, is quoted as saying, “The fact that he was able to go through this and exercise and work out is truly amazing and astounding.”

Beginning in April 2015, Berry would fly back to Atlanta where he was receiving his IV chemotherapy treatments (a rarer treatment method that allows the patient to do heavy lifting) every other weekend. He would meet with Andrew Spruill, vice president of operations at XPE Sports in Boca Raton, Fla. According to Spruill, Berry trained for about three hours in the morning and between two or three hours in the afternoon depending on the day.

“I think he really taught me, from just watching him, that your situation is whatever you make of it,” Spruill says. “He literally showed no signs of being slowed down from years past. And I’ve watched him train since 2010. He was doing every run, drill, footwork pattern, defensive back drill, with the same effort, speed and power that he’d always done. It was incredible to just sit and watch at times.”

A few months later, Berry came back and played a full 2015 season with the Chiefs. Berry earned First-Team All-Pro honors along with NFL Comeback Player of the Year. In addition, Berry reached his fourth Pro Bowl.

So, what was Berry trying to tell us through his actions? Spruill hinted at it. Essentially, life is going to throw you parties as many times as it throws you stones. Pick up the stones when they come, however heavy, and keep working. Even if those stones are cancerous.

Berry’s story displays that an athlete isn’t always limited to inspiration because of his or her athletic achievements. It illuminated that Berry and his co-workers are human beings who play sports publicly. In this case, Berry’s bravery and courage in the face of an early demise are the cause of awe, not an interception.

On July 14, Berry was honored at the ESPYs with the Best Comeback Athlete award. His acceptance speech was moving and immediately a seminal moment.

Each word of Berry’s speech is powerful, sincere and important. Yet what is most important and symbolic of him, and what he represents, is unconditional. In essence, Berry’s speech started long before a star-studded crowd inside Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles gave him a standing ovation. His words were simply confirming what he’d already shown, giving his story an official script.

Berry owns his relationship with fear now in all forums. As Spruill says of Berry, “He’s the man.”