James Conner Says Doctor Gave Him 'About a Week' to Live at Time of Cancer Diagnosis

Steelers running back James Conner recently revealed a scary detail about his 2015 cancer diagnosis when doctors told him he had "about a week left" to live.

Steelers running back James Conner recently revealed a scary detail about his 2015 cancer diagnosis: doctors told him he had "about a week left" to live if the cancer had gone untreated.

Conner tore his MCL in his first game of the season and months later was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin’s lymphoma on Thanksgiving when tumors in his neck and chest were discovered.

"My heart, I got tumors growing all around it," Conner said during a podcast hosted by Michael Seander, who performs as a hip-hop artist named Mike Stud. 

Then when he spoke with a doctor about the diagnosis, Conner told Seander, "He said you got about a week — if you didn’t get this treated, you had about a week, at the rate it was growing."

After starting a regimen of chemotherapy for six months, Conner announced he was cancer-free in May 2016. He returned to the field for Pitt for a major season, rushing for 1,092 yards in addition to 302 receiving yards with 20 touchdowns. Conner was named 2016 First Team All-ACC before he was drafted in the third round of the 2017 draft by the Steelers. 

Conner kept the Steelers offense alive this season in the absence of Le'Veon Bell. He finished the year with 1,470 yards from scrimmage with 13 touchdowns and was named to the 2018 Pro Bowl.