NFL Lineman and Cancer Survivor Marcus Cannon Is Ready to Return to Football; Says It’s ‘A Dream Come True’ To Play For Houston Texans

The COVID-19 pandemic has uprooted everyone’s lives, and professional athletes are no different. While professional sports are still being played, health risks were of concern for many, including Cannon. Next season, Cannon will be playing for the Houston Texans.

Speaking with his home state’s paper, The Houston Chronicle, Cannon says, “This last year was amazing. I got a lot of time with the family. A lot of time for myself to work out and stay in shape and just get my body right and my mind right.”

Cannon was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma while at the Scouting Combine workouts before the 2011 NFL Draft. He underwent aggressive chemotherapy treatment.

“I just took it one day at a time. God has a plan for everybody,” Cannon told ESPN in 2011. “If I was going to play football, I was going to play football. If I wasn’t going to play football, I wasn’t going to play football. I have a college degree, so something was going to happen.”

Understanding Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

The two most common types of lymphoma are Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which Cannon had. The distinction between the two types of this disease lies in the presence or absence of Reed-Sternberg cells. If doctors find these cells, the lymphoma is classified as Hodgkin lymphoma. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma can be treated with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, stem-cell transplant or medications.

Related: Some Types of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatable With "Boom-Boom" Radiation

Dr. Catherine Diefenbach, a medical oncologist at New York University Langone Health, explains in an earlier interview the process of undergoing a biopsy to diagnose NHL. She says, “So if you’re suspected of having non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, if you have night sweats, fevers and swollen lymph nodes, you may be referred to a lymphoma specialist such as myself, or you may be referred to your PCP or to a surgeon. At some point, if lymphoma is suspected, you’ll be referred for a biopsy.”

Related: All About Follicular Lymphoma: A Common Type of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

“Now, it’s very important to understand that unlike in solid tumor, a fine needle aspirate is not adequate for diagnosing lymphoma. So that if you’re referred for a fine needle aspirate of a swollen lymph node and you’re told it’s negative, this in no way rules out lymphoma,” she says. “The two other kinds of biopsies you may have are a core needle biopsy in which a small needle is placed into a lymph node and a few cells are taken out, or an excisional biopsy in which the whole lymph node is removed.”

Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Types of Biopsy

Coping with a Cancer Diagnosis

When people are diagnosed with cancer, the news of the diagnosis can be life-changing, and not to mention, scary. Some people may experience depression, anxiety, and grief after a cancer diagnosis.

Related: A Major Step in the Cancer Journey: Learning to Deal With Vulnerability

For people who encounter these difficult emotional states, it’s important to get help and speak with a therapist. Dr. Scott Irwin says in an earlier interview, “Depression is a really interesting topic, because a lot of people assume that, oh, they have cancer. They must be depressed. That’s actually not true,” he says. “85% of patients do not get what would be considered clinical depression. 15% do.”

Related: As Actor Jeff Bridges, 71, Battles Lymphoma He Focuses on Gratitude: 'Let the Gratefulness Overflow into Blessing All Around You'

“For prescribing medications for depression in the context of cancer, I often try to choose medications with the lowest side effect profile,” says Dr. Irwin.  “If patients are getting hormonal therapy, there’s particular antidepressants that we can’t use, because they may lower the effectiveness of that hormonal therapy. And so we choose antidepressants that don’t impact the cancer care.”

Treating Depression After a Cancer Diagnosis

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.