If you’re looking for a reason to tune in to this week’s Thursday night game between the Bengals and the Browns, look no further than Leah Still, the 4-year-old daughter of Bengals defensive lineman Devon Still. Over the summer, Leah was diagnosed with Stage 4 neuroblastoma. The Bengals plan on honoring her at some point during the game on Thursday and will present a check to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for $1.25 million to help fight pediatric cancer.
Leah has been in Philadelphia getting treatment and still has several rounds of radiation and chemo to go, but her doctors are allowing her to travel to Cincinnati in order to attend Thursday night’s game in what will surely be an emotional time for her dad.
“It’s going to be added motivation just knowing my daughter is watching me. I want her to be able to hear how the crowd cheers that loud whenever I make a tackle, so I’m going to go out there and do whatever I can to put a smile on her face. I’m trying not to think about it right now. I’m trying to think of the Browns. Like I said, it’s a fast week and I don’t want to get caught up in too much emotion with my daughter. It will probably be the most special game I’m ever going to play because I know my daughter is going to be here to watch me play. All the money that’s been raised for the cancer research is because of her strength and because she’s fighting this disease, so it’s definitely going to be an emotional game for me.”
Sales of Still’s No. 75 jersey took off since Leah’s story became popular two months ago. Proceeds from his jersey sales, which reached nearly 15,000, went towards the donation check to be presented on Thursday.
