Cincinnati Bengals

Devon Still accepts ESPY for Leah, provides positive update

Published Jul. 15, 2015 10:29 p.m. ET

foxsports

By NESN Staff

Cincinnati Bengals defensive lineman Devon Still accepted the Jimmy V. Perseverance Award on behalf of his daughter, Leah, at the 2015 ESPY Awards.

With 5-year-old Leah unable to attend the event as she continues to undergo treatment following her battle with cancer, her father delivered a moving speech detailing the strength Leah has given him despite the extreme hardships the Still family has endured over the past 13 months.

“Although the kid is the one going through the cancer, because they mean so much to you, it feels like you’re the one that’s going through it,” Still said. “But these children, they stay strong throughout the whole battle, and they give us as parents the strength to go on.”

Still received word in March that Leah’s cancer had gone into remission, and while she remains under the care of doctors, the Bengals lineman was upbeat about her condition when speaking with ESPN’s Hannah Storm on the ESPYs red carpet.

“This is the best I’ve seen her in a long time,” Still said, via ESPN.com. “She’s almost back to her normal self now.”