John Metchie
Cancer treatment became an unexpected part of John Metchie’s game plan last year. The Texans wide receiver, now 23, missed his entire rookie season due to acute promyelocytic leukemia. Now he’s healthy and back on the field, which he said “definitely feels like a blessing.”
Metchie, who played college football at Alabama, said he knew, right after being diagnosed, “that God had a plan for me, and I was going to be all right.” He credited his faith and family for helping him through his health scare.
Although Metchie had one of the most curable forms of cancer, he admitted having doubts about being able to pursue a football career. “You can only rely on your faith in those situations when you’re faced with your own mortality,” he said last month.
While being treated at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Metchie had a view of the Texans’ stadium and practice facility. He said he tried to encourage fellow patients and to remember that “the biggest gift you got is your breath and your heartbeat.”
