National Football League

Hell, yes, Eric Berry can beat cancer -- and this Chiefs rookie is living proof

Published May. 18, 2015 6:11 p.m. ET

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Cancer is cancer, and cancer sucks. Even the highly treatable, highly beatable kind sucks. Because even if you win, because even if you're built like a Mack truck, because even if you're tougher than John Wayne's chaps, because even if you're Chiefs safety Eric Berry, cancer makes it a point to kick your backside first.

"Chemo really breaks you down," new Kansas City wideout Kenny Cook told FOXSportsKansasCity.com Monday afternoon after the Chiefs put a bow on the final day of their 2015 rookie minicamp. "I was throwing up all the time. Lost all my weight. Lost my hair. It just makes you tired because you're burning the rest of the cancer cells.

"And it pretty much makes you tired all day, and you have to do it every day."

Before Cook joined the Chiefs as a priority free agent, before he caught 21 touchdowns in 33 games at Gardner-Webb (N.C.) University, Cook stared down Hodgkin lymphoma -- Berry was diagnosed with the same cancer of the immune system last fall -- and got that bad boy to blink first.

"Yeah, that's the one thing I do; I never take anything for granted now," Cook said. "As far as the little things, like having my hair, like going to the barber shop, I don't take things like that for granted. That's one thing that I got from having cancer."

That and perspective. It was the summer before his sophomore year of high school. June. Cook woke up one day with painful swelling in his neck. Stage IV, the doctors said. The most advanced kind.

"When you're that young and you hear that word, 'Cancer,' your mind just gets to running," Cook recalled. "'Am I going to be here? Like, what is my rate of living?' That's the first thing.

"You don't even think about sports, none of that stuff. That's my first thought. But when I found out it was one of the most curable cancers, that eased my mind a little."

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His body -- and treatments -- eventually took care of the rest. Cook was playing basketball by December, roughly six months after the diagnosis. And back running with football cleats the next spring in advance of his junior season.

"It's how your body reacts to the medication," Cook said. "I was at Stage IV, it was the last stage. I got (back) from Stage IV in six months. Any other stage, I would be able to get rid of (it) even faster."

Whether it's lymphoma or a rookie defensive back, the dude's a fighter, one part bull shark. Which is the perfect mindset, actually, for a wide receiver unit that went an entire regular season without catching a touchdown pass in 2014, a first -- and a new low -- in modern NFL history.

The kid's frame fits the mold, too: A lean 6-foot-4, Cook reportedly boasts a 6-9 wingspan, 10 1/2-inch hands and a 33-inch vertical. Over the course of the three-day minicamp, the target showed a continual knack for high-pointing the ball in the air and for being able to jostle for an advantage on slants, fades and jump balls.

"He's doing a great job," coach Andy Reid said of Cook, a Football Championship Subdivision All-American in 2013 and '14. "(He) sure is a big target with a big catch radius and made some plays for us. It's a tribute to the kid for working so hard, his docs have helped him out, and here he is."

And in Reid's world, just because they didn't draft you doesn't mean they don't like you. Last spring, free-agent rookies such as kicker Cairo Santos, wideout/return man Albert Wilson and safety Daniel Sorensen all parlayed strong minicamps and training camps into roster spots later in the year.

Kenny Cook (6) catches a pass during rookie minicamp.

"Yeah, it's nice to hear, when you come out and see all the hard work I'm putting in starting to pay off a little bit," Cook said, "so it's good to hear things like that."

Cook chose to sign with the Chiefs, in part, because of the Eagles connection, having grown up a fan of Reid's perennial NFC contenders. And as a two-way player at Clinton (S.C.) High School who also excelled as a defensive back, he tracked Berry's collegiate and pro career, too.

"Just stay strong. Just stay strong," Cook said of the Chiefs' Pro Bowl safety, who is recovering but remains in football limbo -- at least in the short term.

"I see the wristband that says, 'BerryStrong.' Just go by these wristbands.

"Because from what I'm hearing, he's a pretty strong guy. He's one of my idols. I watched him growing up, so I know he's a pretty strong guy. Just stay strong and keep God first, you'll be (back) at it."

See that guy in the end zone? The one with the ball in his mitts? He's living proof.

Accent on the living.

You can follow Sean Keeler on Twitter at @SeanKeeler or email him at seanmkeeler@gmail.com.

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