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Being a Team

I could hardly believe the way Asha stood by me and stood strong through this roller coaster of Leah’s cancer. I saw her praying over my daughter—and seeing that from the woman I loved, I knew I wanted to marry her. I just had to decide how to ask her in the middle of all this confusion.Since Asha and I share a birthday, I planned to propose to her then. Surrounded by family and friends, I told her all the reasons she was the girl for me, and how seeing her pray for Leah had sealed the deal. I got down on one knee, pulled out the ring, and asked Asha to marry me. She said, “Yes!”

As we started Leah’s treatments, I realized how tough fighting pediatric cancer is on families. As we used my NFL platform to share what these families go through, we could fight back against this disease and have fun while we did it, and we could potentially lift all kinds of people going through cancer.

At the same time, sacrifices had to be made to get Leah healthy. I loved my daughter and I wanted to be with her every second. So having to be in Cincinnati in order to keep our insurance was a big sacrifice. I prayed on the plane back to Cincinnati and I prayed hard in the days ahead that I could give my team everything I had. I was grateful for their generosity. 

It takes extreme focus to play football at the NFL level and, to be honest, it was hard to block out thoughts of Leah. Lack of focus often leads to injuries and mistakes. At the beginning of the season, it was clear that my head was not in the game and my coach told me I was getting cut from the team. I understood why they had to do it. The coach offered to bump me down to the practice squad just to keep me employed. Asha asked me to pray with her, and I did. I listened as she asked God to show us some light and guidance—in addition to asking for Leah to be healed. 

My coach told me, “There won’t be any interruption to your insurance coverage. Leah’s care will be covered. One-hundred percent.” I took his offer. That was an answer to prayer I am so grateful for. God takes care of us, and that makes this journey less scary. Amazingly, it wasn’t long before there was an opening on the 53-man roster. Another blessing! No one will ever convince me that the timing of that call was a coincidence. 

The press attention to our story was far-reaching. The Bengals decided to sell my jersey, No. 75, and in one week we raised over $400,000 for the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital cancer research—all because of Leah. All because we’d shared our story. And very clearly thanks to God. God was talking. He’d talked to me all along, even when I didn’t know it was Him—through circumstances, actions, other people, even through Leah. Knowing He was there, working His plans through the years, prepared me to face every challenge without fear, and help others do the same.

Respond

Who’s on your team? Who needs you to support them as they face challenges?

How can sharing your story encourage others to trust God?

How does seeing God at work in your life help you overcome fear?