Dunlap: Enough Tom Brady, Let's Talk About Eric Berry
Tom Brady.
Tom Brady.
Tom Brady.
Tom Brady some more.
How about this --- I've had enough of Tom Brady.
Have you? There is probably a good chance. His story of deceitful and underhanded happenings has been thrust into our faces at full steam.
Let's discuss, let's look at, let's bring to the forefront a little more a story in the NFL that's glaringly positive amidst all this nonsensical talk of deflated footballs, trips to appeals courts and smashed cell phones.
Yeah, let's talk about Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry.
Let's talk about how he's set to go to training camp with his teammates.
Let's talk about how that No. 29 is slated to roar through secondaries and lay booming hits on receivers who dare cross the middle.
Let's talk about cancer.
Let's talk about his cancer.
And let's talk about how, at least up until now, Eric Berry is beating the hell out of it.
It was just eight months ago that Berry, one of the leaders of that Chiefs team, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma after doctors found a mass in his body following a game against the Raiders.
Berry left the team at once and went to Atlanta for treatment and went through the excruciating regimen all the way through last month.
But now cancer takes a backseat (as it should be) and football comes into full focus for Berry as the autumn approaches (as it should be).
There might not be a better guy in the NFL than Steelers guard Ramon Foster. He's an incredible family man, great with media, by all accounts a teammate others look way up to and you'd be hard-pressed to find another human who has something bad to say about Ramon Foster.
He's also a guy who has been keeping a close pulse on the situation with Berry.
Foster was a teammate of Berry's at the University of Tennessee and has been moved by the story of a friend's perseverance through a nasty disease.
"It's amazing and is a testament to that guy's strong will," Foster said of Berry. "It's a testament to his faith. He was a guy I remember seeing when he was younger in college, and he was an exciting guy to watch. He is doing the same exact thing in the NFL. He is a resilient guy and it is good to see a guy like him get that second opportunity."
Certainly Foster speaks for many when he says those words.
This season, the Steelers play at Kansas City at 1 p.m. on Sunday October 25.
Who knows what the records of the two teams will be when they clash. Who knows how that powerful Steelers offense will be churning along, how the back end of that defense will be looking, what will be happening with either line or the special teams.
I know this come October 25, however: No matter if you're the most diehard Steelers fan, the most Renegade-listenin', towel-wavin', Here We Go-chantin' and Iron City chuggin' Steelers fan, you have to find it within yourself to feel good for Eric Berry.
His is a fight that transcends football allegiances.
Colin Dunlap is a featured columnist at CBSPittsburgh.com. He can also be heard weekdays from 5:40 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sports Radio 93-7 "The Fan." You can e-mail him at colin.dunlap@cbsradio.com. Check out his bio here.
