The phone call came on a Sunday. Jay Howell sensed something was awry almost immediately, observing the trembling in his mom’s voice. “I have cancer,” she told him. “It’s lymphoma.”
Howell recalls the way his mind raced after absorbing the news. He hung on every word. But minutes later, he settled on the only glimpse of optimism.
Eric Berry.
As it so happened, Howell had been listening to Kansas City sports talk radio most of the day, and the subject of conversation, like some sort of bizarre coincidence, was the Chiefs’ safety. Berry was diagnosed with lymphoma in late 2014, and on this day in February 2017, the radio discussion centered around his long-term contract extension to remain in Kansas City.