It’s the story that is sweeping football season. Indianapolis Head Coach, Chuck Pagano, was diagnosed with leukemia, a cancer of the blood in late September. While any diagnosis of cancer is tragic, the players and staff on the Colts have taken this as an opportunity to rally together to support their Coach.
This past Sunday, in a game against the Packers (who were said to be the obvious win), the Colts struggled to keep afloat. Ending the first half, the score was 21-3 with a Packers lead. It seemed that the Colts would be defeated as predicted, but the team pulled together and won the game with a 30-27 victory.
Receiver Reggie Wayne said after the game, “Chuck’s instilled a lot in us… his whole motto since day one, the first meeting has been team, team, team, team. Nothing else. So we’ve wanted to do it every week as a team. That’s all we practice, that’s all we preach.”
It was clearly emotional win for the Colts. Pagano later stated, “I am so proud of this team, staff, organization, fans, community, etc. (I) could go on and on.”
Inspiration can come from many places. The Colts could have taken their coach’s diagnosis as a defeat against their team – an end to the season. Instead, the team came through strong and won the game for themselves, and for their coach. It goes that show that when people come together for a greater good, wonderful things can happen.
On Saturday, October 13th, PMIR and its staff will be participating in the Simi Valley Relay for Life in support of the American Cancer Society. At PMIR, we believe that in order to defeat cancer, we need to pull together as a team, just as the Colts did on Sunday.
Join us this Saturday, donate to the cause, and show your community that that you believe in a world without cancer. Stay #Chuckstrong.
