Chiefs safety Eric Berry returns to football field after being declared cancer free

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Chiefs safety Eric Berry described his battle with Hodgkin lymphoma on Wednesday, the same day he returned to the football field following a declaration that he is cancer free.

“I’d first like to start off by saying, thank God, man … my support system just took care of me,” Berry said, surrounded by his father and mother at a news conference.

“The two things I could control is my attitude and my effort. You can’t look too far ahead.”

Chiefs trainer Rick Burkholder says Berry went through a battery of tests — including bone density, orthopedic and cardiac — to make sure his body could handle physical activity. Berry returned to the practice field Wednesday.

“He sailed through every test that we gave him,” Burkholder said. “Our doctors — I’ll speak for them and tell you — they were really, pleasantly surprised with his numbers. We were as well.”

Here’s a quirk of Berry’s chemotherapy.

After Berry finished treatments for Hodgkin lymphoma, he was heavier than when he started, Burkholder said.

Berry had his first chemotherapy on Dec. 10, the first of six phases over six months, and Burkholder said Berry was considered cancer-free on June 22.

“Right now, we’re very optimistic that everything is headed in the right direction,” Burkholder said.

Berry also had a series of strength testing, and benched 275 pounds on the bench press five times and squatted 325 pounds five times.

“There were times where I would work out and I’d be crying after the workout,” said Berry, who continued to work out during his chemotherapy. “It was to the point where I had to set goals where I was like I just had to get out the bed.”

Burkholder added that Berry had “an unbelievable support system” in Atlanta with his family and agent, Chad Speck, something Chiefs coach Andy Reid reiterated after Burkholder finished his statement.

“You could tell a little bit last year that things weren’t working for him,” Reid said. “He wasn’t feeling right. So thank goodness we were able to find the problem and that he was cured from it.

“I’ve been able to talk to him throughout the stages, so I know how hard it was to get back to this point. It was not an easy thing on him or his family. He had a great support unit, man. Phenomenal. Parents, phenomenal. His dad’s a great cook, too. I can testify to that, right here.”

Reid said the Chiefs don’t know what caused the cancer, but they were completely making sure his health — and not necessarily football — was the priority.

“I told you this at the beginning — with this type of thing, you just kind of put football aside,” Reid said. “Your mind goes to ‘Hey, we’re hoping and praying that he can be healthy and live a good life. And anything else here is icing on the cake.’ So I wasn’t even worried about the football part. Collectively, we were just worried about the person. Let’s get him back to where he can live a good life and live.”

The Chiefs, however, made it clear that Berry was always intent on returning to the football field — sooner, rather than later.

“Between Eric and his physician, they decided to not do a traditional route of chemotherapy administration, which is used through what we call as a picc-line or a port or a central line, so that the IV would be in his arm and then into a major vein in his heart,” Burkholder said. “He opted to have IV’s every time that he got the chemotherapy. That was so that he could work out, which is an interesting concept most patients don’t have.”

Burkholder added that Berry, amazingly, continued to work out during chemotherapy — teammates Travis Kelce and Justin Houston trained with him at some point.

But while Berry was with the team on the field briefly Wednesday, he did not participate in the team portion of practice. Berry will work Thursday, but he will be off on Friday.

Reid said Berry looked good.

“He did a good bit of practice today,” Reid said. “We didn’t have him do team (drills). And coach and I will work day in and day out with what he can (do). We’ll talk to him about his symptoms. Right now, at the end of this one, he felt pretty good.”

Reid said the plan for Berry will be re-evaluated after Thursday’s practice.

“He’ll get two good days of work in, we’ll see where he’s at, and then if he just goes through individual, that’s OK,” Reid said. “If he can go through individual and into a team period, that’s okay too. But we’re just going to see how he feels and try to get feedback from and see where he’s at.”

Reid was then asked if it’s a real possibility that Berry can be ready for week one.

“I’m telling you ‘we’ll see,’” Reid said with a laugh, “but you’re going to talk to him and he’s going to tell you ‘I’m there.’ So we’ll just take it gradually and see how he does here. We’re not going to force him into anything, and we’ll try to be as smart as we can with it.”

This story was originally published July 29, 2015 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Chiefs safety Eric Berry returns to football field after being declared cancer free."