Devon Still and Leah Still continue to have Bengals orange in their blood.
Even though the Bengals parted with the veteran defensive tackle during final roster cuts in 2015, Devon and Leah are forever linked to the franchise that originally drafted the defensive end out of Penn State in 2012.
“Definitely. (No. 75) will always be there,” Still said, via Bengals.com. “We love Cincinnati. They helped us through the battle. The organization. Everything they did.
After spending his first three NFL seasons with Cincinnati, Still was out of the league in 2015 while helping his daughter fight off Neuroblastoma, before signing with Houston in 2016 once she was in remission. That’s where he spent this past season as a rotational linemen before going on I.R. with a foot injury.
But it was in 2014 when the whole world learned of Devon and his daughter Leah, as she was diagnosed with pediatric cancer. They would go on to battle the disease while raising awareness for childhood cancer, an effort that saw the Devon Still No. 75 Bengals jersey become a national sign of strength.
“I want that to stay a Bengal thing,” Still says of No. 75. “That jersey means more than just a football number. How it raised over $1 million towards children’s cancer and it was a sign of strength bringing the country together.”
March 25 marks the second anniversary of the day the doctors pronounced Leah’s Stage 4 cancer to be in remission. Their journey through that dreaded disease to make it to this point was featured in a FOX pregame special about their inspiration to other cancer patients, which aired prior to Super Bowl 51:
“It was pretty cool. There are a lot of little girls in there that needed to hear some form of inspiration,” Still said. “Let them know what they’re going to be battling in life and how they can stay strong and not let society shape the beliefs on who they are.”
Hopefully, Still will end up joining another team this year as he’s set to be a free agent, whether it be re-signing with the Texans, Bengals or a new NFL team. But more importantly, hopefully Devon and Leah won’t have to worry about Leah’s cancer ever returning.