Randy Smith: Eric Berry Wins Major Battle

  • Wednesday, July 29, 2015
  • Randy Smith

Former Tennessee All-American safety Eric Berry reported today to the Kansas City Chiefs preseason training camp. This comes a little more than eight months since Berry was diagnosed with lymphoma. Berry will be joining the Chiefs' quarterbacks and rookies at a three-day mini camp at Missouri Western State University, with the entire team gathering Saturday for the teams' official preseason camp. For Eric Berry this is a huge step, as doctors now say he is cancer free..

Berry has spent the last few months under the radar so to speak, undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatments.

He complained of chest discomfort in a game against the Oakland Raiders in late November last season and a mass was soon discovered in his chest cavity.  The diagnosis of lymphoma was made a few days later, and Chiefs' officials and fans alike began to worry about Eric Berry's life as much as they worried about him getting back on the field. For the last eight months Berry has been confident that he would whip this terrible disease and so far he has. Berry met with reporters late Wednesday.

Berry chose to have a non-conventional form of chemotherapy; one that would allow him to work out while the IV was in his arm. It obviously worked as not only is he cancer free, but he also gained weight while undergoing chemo. Wow!

Berry had been cleared to return to the field as early as June 22nd, but he hesitated to release anything about his condition until he was sure he would be able to play again. According to Chief's trainer Rick Burkholder, " Eric sailed through every test we gave him."

At today's news conference, with his parents by his side, Berry said, "I'd first like to start off by saying thank God. Man.my support system just took care of me.. The two things I could control is my attitude and my effort. You can't look too far ahead. There were times where I would work out and I'd be crying after the workout. . It was to the point where I had to set goals where I was like I just had to get out of bed."    

Even though Eric Berry kept a low profile over the past eight months, in the midst of his chemotherapy treatments, he found time to vist his alma mater during spring practice. Vols' head coach Butch Jones agreed to not make a big deal out of Berry's attendance. What an inspiration to the young Tennessee players to have one of the all-time greats in Big Orange history speak to them while he was involved in the fight of his life. 

Berry's coach Andy Reid really put things in prospective. " With this type of thing you just put football aside. Your mind goes to ....Hey we're hoping and praying that he can just be healthy and live a good life. Anything else here is icing on the cake."

Last November I wrote about the diagnosis of lymphoma in Eric Berry. All the information we received painted a pretty bleak picture for the former Vols' star. As far as what we received this week however, the news couldn't be any better, and there is a lot of icing on that cake!

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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. He is currently teaching Broadcasting at Coahulla Creek High School near Dalton, Ga.

His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for thirty years.

He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga Television for more than a quarter-century.

In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, (Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith.) They have four grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, DellaMae and CoraLee. 

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