Snapshot New York: Brandt Morgan beating back cancer on his road to QB-1
JERICHO, N.Y. -- Each week, thousands of high school football players suit up to play a sport they love. One player took a life-changing path in his return to football.
Brandt Morgan is QB-1 and is the focus of this week's Snapshot New York with Steve Overmyer.
"I think all my coaches would agree, they didn't think I would be playing football again," Morgan said.
Morgan is a senior at Jericho High School. To appreciate where he is, we need to go back to where his story began, two years ago as the JV quarterback.
"He was like the next up and coming guy. We had a fantastic season. He led us to our first win at Jericho in a couple years," JV coach Greg Berry said.
Then a shadow fell over his bright future.
"I heard a click while I was in the shower. I look in the mirror, I saw probably the size of two golf ball-sized masses popping out of my neck," Morgan said.
Within days, the diagnosis was clear. Cancer. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
"Everything just stopped, and I was just in shock," Morgan said.
He went directly to the hospital, and just in time.
"I got to the emergency room and they found out that my cancer spread from my throat to my chest in less than a week," he said.
For the next few months, he would undergo multiple rounds of chemo.
"I'm stuck here getting this poison put in my body. It caused me to lose probably almost 30 pounds. I got neuropathy, which I lost feeling from the legs down," Morgan said.
While his friends were enjoying the life of a high schooler, Morgan spent months relearning how to walk. Every wobbly step fueled his desire to return to football.
"I'm going to do this. I'm going to wake up tomorrow and do this. I'm going to wake the next day and work out and transform my body, not only to where it was, but better," Morgan said.
He grew stronger, faster, better than before. He didn't just want to come back. He wouldn't stop until he was the starting quarterback -- QB-1.
"Quarterback is the leader. If you don't have a quarterback, you can't have a team," Jericho varsity football coach Brendan Lahti said.
"He is the starting quarterback?" Overmyer asked.
"Absolutely," Lahti said.
"A role he earned," Overmyer asked.
"Absolutely. Well deserved, well earned and he plays it well," Lahti said.
Recently, Morgan led his team on the field against Oceanside, one of the biggest schools on Long Island. His mother, Abby, was at the edge of the fence of a game that was both inspiring and gut wrenching.
"As a mom, is it tough watching your son getting tackled?" Overmyer asked.
"Yes. Yes. It's very hard. It's disturbing, but I have to put it back again in my head that a year ago he couldn't even do any of this. And a year and a half ago we were in the hospital. So, look at him now. He's on the field. He's living his dream," Abby Morgan said.
"This is him. This is all he ever wanted. This is Brandt Morgan, and I couldn't be prouder. He's my QB-1 forever."
Brandt took some shots in the game, but nothing hits as hard as cancer, a fact he's reminded of every chemo treatment.
"Having a good time like hitting some people on the field, like, as hard as it is for some people to watch, like my mom to watch me get hit, after everything, I've been hit with a lot worse," he said.
And even though it wasn't a win, they had moments to celebrate and reflect on the bigger picture.
"You're going to go through so many dark times, especially throughout something so crucial like this. Like, life is a mindset, itself, and I've learned that in so many different ways now. That like what I'm facing, like I'm going through a war like I'm still going through. I'm still getting chemo," Brandt Morgan said. "Last week, I just had a dose of chemo. Like this is one more less. Instead of one more ... Like, 'Shoot, I have one more. I'm getting chemo today. All right, that is one less., then I'm done.' This is one less and then I'm done."
"Playing four quarters of a game with my brothers, and coaches and family here, that's a win, itself," he added.
Brandt will continue his chemo treatments until March of next year, and says he can't wait to "ring that bell."