The Cincinnati Bengals made arguably their greatest move of the season Sunday.
The Bengals re-signed defensive tackle Devon Still to their practice squad to help him pay for his 4-year-old daughter’s cancer treatments. He was waived by the team on Saturday, Aug. 30.
Still learned back in June that his daughter, Leah, has stage four pediatric cancer. Since the diagnosis, Still’s mind understandably hasn’t been completely on football as he missed parts of organized team activities and minicamp this offseason to be with his daughter, which is why he understood the team’s decision to cut him.
“I completely understand where the Bengals were coming from when they cut me because I couldn’t give football 100 percent,” Still told ABC News.
But when Still received the call this morning that he had been signed to the practice squad, and in turn would receive health insurance as well as a weekly salary of $6,300, he was incredibly grateful. The signing also means that Still will continue playing the game he loves — for the team that drafted him — without all of the traveling, meaning he can be closer to his daughter as she undergoes treatments.
“They could have washed their hands with me and said they didn’t care about what I was going through off the field,” Still said. “It’s like a blessing in disguise for me.”
Photo via Twitter/@ABC
