Ellen DeGeneres Meets James Conner a College Football Player Battling Cancer
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This week Ellen DeGeneres brings her fans a new story of courage. DeGeneres met with James Conner, a college football player who is battling cancer. Conner explained his story of strength and courage during his appearance.
DeGeneres introduced Conner as a student who plays for the University of Pittsburgh. She revealed that Conner planned on entering the NFL draft but in November 2015 everything changed.
DeGeneres rolled some footage of Conner who plays the running back position. Conner was a dominating force for his team and in the video, Conner talked about what football meant to him.
"Football is my life, it truly is, I just love the game," said Conner.
"The first few years was a lot of success and it got me the ACC Player of the Year."
Conner says he wanted to win an ACC Championship and a Heisman Award then enter the NFL draft and achieve his lifelong goal. He said it all went wrong when he started have a cough.
WHile lifting weights, Conner said his head felt like it was getting pumped with air and he realized something wasn't right.
He spoke to the doctors and he was told that it appeared as if he had lymphoma. He says the hardest part of it all ways telling his brother and his teammates.
Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi says Conner was not calm and it was emotional. Narduzzi says the whole team pretty much sat there in shock.
To help explain what was happening, Conner showed a video of Kansas City Chiefs player Eric Berry, who had gone through cancer and beaten it.
Conner says Berry did a great job of explaining what it was and he felt it was better to have his teammates learn about it that way.
Conner says he was inspired by Berry's story and the when the doctors told him that his cancer was 85-90 percent curable he was convinced that it was more than enough for him. Conner was so determined that he didn't care if it was two percent, he was going to make it.
Conner stayed active and practiced even while he was having chemotherapy. Narduzzi said that when you thought you were having problems you look over at Conner in the mask and your problems don't seem so big anymore.
His teammates were motivated by Conner's battle and his work ethic. He says his goal is still the same but it's just on hold for a bit. Upon making his appearance live Conner said it all came out of nowhere.
He told DeGeneres that he tries to do all the right thing like being a good person and eating healthy, however, the doctors gave him bad news.
Conner says great things have come out of it because he gets to be there with DeGeneres.
DeGeneres says that everyone she knows who has gone through chemo was worn out. She asked him how Conner was able to get through it. Conner told her that he was motivated and felt like he owed it to his team to get out there.
Conner says the only think he can't really do is get tackled or else the tube that his chemo is pumped through could be dislodged. He says he is feeling better and only has two more treatments to go.
DeGeneres said that Berry was pretty inspirational to him and Conner said he actually got a text from Berry asking him if it was okay to call him. Conner said he had a 30-minute conversation about what he should expect.
As a surprise, DeGeneres brought out Berry so that he and Conner could meet face to face.
The players shared a hug and Berry explained how he heard about the situation with Conner. You can watch Conner's complete story and his surprise on the Ellen Show in the video below.