In a Super Bowl hype week when it feels like every single story about both teams has been thoroughly dissected, one player who hasn’t received much attention is Patriots offensive lineman Marcus Cannon, who is enjoying a much better visit to Indianapolis than he had a year ago.
It was a year go that Cannon, an offensive lineman from TCU, learned that a medical screening at the NFL Scouting Combine yielded some abnormal test results, results which led to further tests that showed he had lymphoma. But the Patriots took a shot on Cannon in the draft anyway, and after he went through treatment in the spring and summer he started to get his strength back. In November he was activated for a game for the first time, and he’s been active for every game since.
Cannon told the Sun Chronicle that he hopes being on football’s biggest stage will allow him to reach other cancer patients who can be inspired by his story.
“I understand that what I went through can possibly help a lot of people,” Cannon said. “If there was one thing I want everybody to know that’s going through the same things, it’s to keep pushing on. Keep going at it. You can make it through.”
Cannon said he always had faith that things would turn out OK, but even he is surprised to see that things have been a lot better than just OK.
“I never imagined this,” he said. “I never imagined coming to the best team in the league and playing in the biggest game of my life. It’s all surreal to me.”
