Chargers News: How Brandon Staley's Personal Challenges Propel His Coaching Prowess
Football is a great sport that has provided many of the players and coaches a ton of joy. It may be fun to us fans, but it helps provide for the player's and coaches families, it's a job, and sometimes life gets in the way of that.
It's the sad, unfortunate truth, and that was the case for Chargers head coach Brandon Staley. Before becoming the head coach of the Chargers and before his time in the NFL, he was coaching at Northern Illinois.
Staley was a graduate assistant, and while he was there, he received the worst news anybody can be relieved of; he was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in his chest.
The news shattered his entire family, but it didn't affect Staley as he fought through it and came out of it Scott-free. The battle through fighting cancer was possibly the toughest he's ever overcome. He now faces another challenge, this time as the coach of the Chargers and leading this team to the promise land.
Staley is doing what he can to take what he learned in chemotherapy and his battle with cancer and translate that to his team.
“When you go through chemo, a treatment, afterward you have nothing left,” he said. “It feels like losing a game. It takes the air out of you. But 13 days later you have to be ready to go do it again."
“You know what to expect now, so you build yourself up and when that date arrives, you’re ready to go. And then you’re actually stronger the next time. You’re going to get knocked down again by the treatment, but you keep learning.”
The Staley family is, unfortunately, no stranger to cancer, as Brandon's mother had her battle with cancer.
Staley shared what he's seen from his mother and her fight with cancer.
“I saw a lot from my mom and dad, especially my mom,” he said. “She went through the toughest stuff you can go through. … There was nothing in the cancer playbook that she didn’t go through.
“I’ve seen how far the human body can go. I’ve seen it challenged to the edges. I know what the toughest part of life looks like because I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it and I’ve felt it myself.”
The fight Brandon has gone through is possibly the toughest of anyone in the NFL. The tiny adversity he's faced as the head man of the Bolts is nothing compared to what he's been through.
Staley is ready to lead this team to where they belong, and this is a big year for him to show he can finally do it. We can't wait to see how he will lead them, and we will be there to witness it.
Staley has heart, and the Bolts must show they have that as well.
