Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera announced that he has a form of lymph node cancer but will continue to coach the team as it prepares for the upcoming 2020 NFL season. Washington shared an update with the public on Friday that described Rivera’s diagnosis of a squamous cell carcinoma, though it’s in the early stages and is thought to be “very treatable and curable.”
— Washington Football Team (@WashingtonNFL) August 21, 2020
A number of teams and coaches reacted to the news on Friday, expressing well-wishes for Rivera in their sessions with the media.
It’s bigger than football.
@RiverboatRonHC | @WashingtonNFL pic.twitter.com/K8w34Akn9O
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) August 21, 2020
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Friday that Rivera told the team in a meeting on Thursday night and stressed that nothing changes with his role in Washington, which has included working on the team’s nickname change in recent months.
“I’m planning to go on coaching,” he told Schefter. “Doctors encouraged me to do it too. They said, ‘If you feel strongly, do it. Don’t slow down, do your physical activities.’ But everyone keeps telling me by week three or four, you’ll start feeling it.”
Rivera detailed to Schefter how he discovered the cancer and what led to his diagnosis, which happened while the team went through a tumultuous offseason where the organization was finally forced to change its nickname.
Rivera said he found a lump on his neck in early July, and when it didn’t go away after a couple of weeks, he visited a doctor. He said he was told of the cancer two weeks ago.
“I was stunned,” he said. “But I was angry because I feel like I’m in the best health I’ve been in.”
The NFL schedule starts for Washington on September 13 when it hosts the Philadelphia Eagles.