Jameson Taillon, Steelers James Conner share bond as they beat cancer
PITTSBURGH 无毛视频� Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers无毛视频� rookie class got a break from organized team activities and headed across town to PNC Park to take in the Pirates无毛视频� batting practice.
It was a fun day for the rookies, who got to spend time on the other side, watching other athletes put their work in. At the end of the session, as the Pirates came off the field, some of the athletes introduced themselves to one another. They told stories and shared things like college football allegiances and places to live in their new hometown.
For two of the athletes, the bond was unspoken and far deeper.
Steelers running back James Conner and Pirates right-handed pitcher Jameson Taillon are cancer survivors.
Cancer is a disease that enters our consciousness mostly among the elderly. The disease and its treatments sap its victim of their strength and vitality. Conner is a 22-year-old, 233-pound running back who was a third-round draft pick this spring. Taillon is 25-year-old pitcher who throws 97 mph and was a first-round pick by the Pirates in 2010. They don无毛视频檛 look like cancer patients.
They无毛视频檙e so gifted and athletically talented and are obviously fortunate that they无毛视频檝e been able to pursue careers are professional athletes. At the same time, compared to their relative peers, their lives are different. It could be something about being faced with their own mortality at such a young age.
无毛视频淭he word 无毛视频榗ancer无毛视频� is scary,无毛视频� Taillon said in his first press conference after receiving the diagnosis. 无毛视频淲hen you have the word cancer involved, it adds a whole other dimension.无毛视频�
That无毛视频檚 why Conner made sure that he got to meet Taillon and greeted him with a big hug.
无毛视频淚 heard about his story,无毛视频� Conner said Thursday after Steelers practice. 无毛视频淚 told him I can无毛视频檛 wait to see him back out there at 100 percent.无毛视频�
Getting to 100 percent as a professional athlete is not easy. But Conner and Taillon shocked observers by their willingness to push the issue athletically when it came to their return to the field.
Conner, who overcame Hodgkin lymphoma, went to chemotherapy in the morning and participated in Pitt无毛视频檚 spring practices in the afternoons with a surgical mask to aid his hindered immune system. Taillon took the mound Sunday for the first time competitively just 20 days after he had surgery to treat testicular cancer.
Taillon said the first thing that came to his mind when he thought of Conner was 无毛视频渢ough.无毛视频�
无毛视频淚t was good to get to talk to him,无毛视频� Taillon said. 无毛视频淚 think we无毛视频檙e going to be fans of each other.无毛视频�
Athletes are judged by their accomplishments on the field. But it无毛视频檚 awfully hard to compare stiff-arming a defensive back or striking out a cleanup hitter with what these young men have already accomplished just by being where they are.
Neither seem content to rest at that, either. Conner has made it a point to try to use his status as a football player 无毛视频� first for the University of Pittsburgh and now for the Steelers 无毛视频� to help and inspire others.
Before Pitt无毛视频檚 game against Duke at Heinz Field last fall, Conner took a moment to greet Andrew O无毛视频橬eill, a local 5-year-old boy that had cancer and was visiting on the sideline as part of a Make-a-Wish Foundation trip. Unsatisfied with just a sideline visit, Conner invited Andrew into the Pitt locker room and also invited him to New York City for Pitt无毛视频檚 bowl game. After Andrew died in December, Conner insisted that his family travel to New York as his guests.
无毛视频淚 find joy in spending time and giving back and being an inspiration to other people,无毛视频� Conner said. 无毛视频淚 like to try to change lives as I无毛视频檓 changing mine. I无毛视频檓 thankful for the position that I无毛视频檓 in.无毛视频�
Taillon made his first rehab start in Erie on Sunday. After he came of the mound, but before heading to the clubhouse, Taillon 无毛视频� a major-league pitcher throwing in Double-A ballpark that he无毛视频檇 only ever set foot in a handful of times 无毛视频� stopped for an entire inning to speak with a fan and his children. The man had just underwent 16 weeks of chemotherapy for testicular cancer.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 a part of who I am now,无毛视频� Taillon said. 无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 more than happy to talk with people and share my experiences. 无毛视频� It无毛视频檚 cool to share those stories.无毛视频�
无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 thankful that I无毛视频檓 staying in Pittsburgh,无毛视频� Conner added. 无毛视频淚 don无毛视频檛 have any treatments left, but I无毛视频檓 thankful to stay here and get the support from UPMC and from the whole city really. I无毛视频檓 just thankful to be here.无毛视频�
Athletes that have success and spend their careers in Pittsburgh often become heroes. Their success on the field is their calling card. Conner and Taillon are young. Their stories as professional athletes have not yet been told. But as role models and athletes to look up to, for their physical toughness and willingness to give back, Pittsburgh already has some winners.