Published: Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Giants' Herzlich has a heart of a champion
Rookie linebacker relishes his win over cancer
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Bill Feig / Associated Press
Giants linebacker Mark Herzlich (58) hits Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) during a game this season.
INDIANAPOLIS -- As Mark Herzlich descended the airplane stairs on Monday, he took his place in the familiar moving snapshot of Super Bowl week, where we watch players arriving in town, their shiny suits, whirring cameras and beaming smiles telling a story of pure joy and excitement.
We watch them move; we wonder what they must be thinking.
Herzlich -- cancer survivor, linebacker, inspirational figure -- let us know.
With a message on Twitter to send shivers down your spine and raise goose bumps on your arms, the rookie Giant delivered a powerful sentiment of hope Monday afternoon, reminding us all of his inspiring journey from cancer hell to football heaven.
"2 years ago I was told I might never walk again," Herzlich typed into cyberspace. "Just WALKED off plane in Indy to play in The SuperBowl. TakeThat(ASTERISK)(ASTERISK)(ASTERISK)(ASTERISK)Cancer."
The tweet went viral, copied and repeated across the worldwide web, reverberating far beyond the confines of sports' craziest week. By Tuesday, amid the din and chaos of the spectacle known as Super Bowl media day, Herzlich's story rose above the noise. This third-string linebacker fresh off the injury report might not even make a tackle against the Patriots, but that doesn't mean he hasn't already made an impact.
When he tweeted from his heart, he thought he was making a point to himself. Turned out it meant so much to so many other people, too.
"Walking off the plane made me think back to how far I had come," Herzlich said. "Walking down those steps, I remember walking with a limp after my surgery and trying to walk anywhere, so walking down steps again was amazing. I didn't think the tweet would get that much exposure, but I'm glad it did, because it reached a lot more people than I had anticipated in terms of giving them hope. That's what defeating cancer is all about."
A cancer survivor's journey is always one of milestones, and for Herzlich, the goal never wavered from getting back on the football field. When an All-America career at Boston College was interrupted by a shocking diagnosis of Ewing's sarcoma, a rare bone cancer that struck his left leg, causing indescribable pain and forcing radical surgery, Herzlich never gave up on the idea of returning for his senior season.
He found inspiration in his own highlight tape, one he'd made for a class assignment and would pop into the DVD to get him through some of his darkest days. He found courage from his roots, ones planted by a paternal grandfather who, as a 4-year-old, escaped the Nazis' oncoming onslaught through Austria, a route that took his Jewish family of three through England to New York City's welcoming shores. Eric Herzlich chronicled the family's history in a 700-page book that Mark devoured by the age of 10.
Stock like that doesn't fold easily.
"We're very proud of him of course," Eric said from his Connecticut home. "He is an outstanding young man. He's handled his cancer diagnosis so well. He's taken lemons and made lemonade."
"You're almost humbled by him," said Bill McGovern, Herzlich's defensive coordinator at Boston College. "The way he is is amazing. If you want to complain about something, you stop and say, 'Let me think about what he went through.' He never complained. I'd call him during his treatments thinking I'd have to pick him up, and he'd end up having me all fired up by the end of the conversation.
"Now, when I see him at the Super Bowl, I just think he is exactly where he should be. I always told him, 'You'll be great at whatever you do and that's why you'll beat cancer. You're not going to stop until you get it done.' And it wasn't just about walking again, but playing football. He is what it's all about. This game is the pinnacle of the sport."
Make no mistake: Herzlich isn't here as somebody's feel-good mascot, a living reminder of all we should appreciate in life. He is here because he can play football at that highest level.
"He loves the game, loves to play, he wants to be a football player, and not simply someone who's gone through what he's gone through," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "To see him, with this kind of strength, the quality of the individual that he is and the stronger he is because of what he's gone through, there is a great lesson for all of us. That's an incredible thing and really very difficult to put into words."
Herzlich took care of that himself, inspiration boiled down to 140 characters or less. In one day, he'd added another 10,000 followers to his Twitter account. With one powerful reminder, he'd added another layer of inspiration to his name.
"Obviously, this week is all about football and all about playing, but there are people out there who are going through cancer right now who see that and say, 'Hey, if he is doing it, I can do it,'Y" he said.
Mark Herzlich might not make a tackle Sunday, but he already has made his impact. He does it every day, by playing, by working, by living.
During the season, Eric Herzlich and his wife Margaret were walking through the MetLife Stadium's parking lot, their matching Herzlich jerseys giving away their allegiance and their family ties. Their path was intercepted by a young man, somewhere in his 30s, who had to share his story.
"He said he had just been diagnosed with the same cancer (as Mark) last year," Margaret recalled. "He said he had written Mark and that Mark had written back to him, and he said it was so helpful in his recovery. Mark has always been that way. He's always had this compassion inside him."
Monday, he let it out, and the world heard him.
We watch them move; we wonder what they must be thinking.
Herzlich -- cancer survivor, linebacker, inspirational figure -- let us know.
With a message on Twitter to send shivers down your spine and raise goose bumps on your arms, the rookie Giant delivered a powerful sentiment of hope Monday afternoon, reminding us all of his inspiring journey from cancer hell to football heaven.
"2 years ago I was told I might never walk again," Herzlich typed into cyberspace. "Just WALKED off plane in Indy to play in The SuperBowl. TakeThat(ASTERISK)(ASTERISK)(ASTERISK)(ASTERISK)Cancer."
The tweet went viral, copied and repeated across the worldwide web, reverberating far beyond the confines of sports' craziest week. By Tuesday, amid the din and chaos of the spectacle known as Super Bowl media day, Herzlich's story rose above the noise. This third-string linebacker fresh off the injury report might not even make a tackle against the Patriots, but that doesn't mean he hasn't already made an impact.
When he tweeted from his heart, he thought he was making a point to himself. Turned out it meant so much to so many other people, too.
"Walking off the plane made me think back to how far I had come," Herzlich said. "Walking down those steps, I remember walking with a limp after my surgery and trying to walk anywhere, so walking down steps again was amazing. I didn't think the tweet would get that much exposure, but I'm glad it did, because it reached a lot more people than I had anticipated in terms of giving them hope. That's what defeating cancer is all about."
A cancer survivor's journey is always one of milestones, and for Herzlich, the goal never wavered from getting back on the football field. When an All-America career at Boston College was interrupted by a shocking diagnosis of Ewing's sarcoma, a rare bone cancer that struck his left leg, causing indescribable pain and forcing radical surgery, Herzlich never gave up on the idea of returning for his senior season.
He found inspiration in his own highlight tape, one he'd made for a class assignment and would pop into the DVD to get him through some of his darkest days. He found courage from his roots, ones planted by a paternal grandfather who, as a 4-year-old, escaped the Nazis' oncoming onslaught through Austria, a route that took his Jewish family of three through England to New York City's welcoming shores. Eric Herzlich chronicled the family's history in a 700-page book that Mark devoured by the age of 10.
Stock like that doesn't fold easily.
"We're very proud of him of course," Eric said from his Connecticut home. "He is an outstanding young man. He's handled his cancer diagnosis so well. He's taken lemons and made lemonade."
"You're almost humbled by him," said Bill McGovern, Herzlich's defensive coordinator at Boston College. "The way he is is amazing. If you want to complain about something, you stop and say, 'Let me think about what he went through.' He never complained. I'd call him during his treatments thinking I'd have to pick him up, and he'd end up having me all fired up by the end of the conversation.
"Now, when I see him at the Super Bowl, I just think he is exactly where he should be. I always told him, 'You'll be great at whatever you do and that's why you'll beat cancer. You're not going to stop until you get it done.' And it wasn't just about walking again, but playing football. He is what it's all about. This game is the pinnacle of the sport."
Make no mistake: Herzlich isn't here as somebody's feel-good mascot, a living reminder of all we should appreciate in life. He is here because he can play football at that highest level.
"He loves the game, loves to play, he wants to be a football player, and not simply someone who's gone through what he's gone through," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "To see him, with this kind of strength, the quality of the individual that he is and the stronger he is because of what he's gone through, there is a great lesson for all of us. That's an incredible thing and really very difficult to put into words."
Herzlich took care of that himself, inspiration boiled down to 140 characters or less. In one day, he'd added another 10,000 followers to his Twitter account. With one powerful reminder, he'd added another layer of inspiration to his name.
"Obviously, this week is all about football and all about playing, but there are people out there who are going through cancer right now who see that and say, 'Hey, if he is doing it, I can do it,'Y" he said.
Mark Herzlich might not make a tackle Sunday, but he already has made his impact. He does it every day, by playing, by working, by living.
During the season, Eric Herzlich and his wife Margaret were walking through the MetLife Stadium's parking lot, their matching Herzlich jerseys giving away their allegiance and their family ties. Their path was intercepted by a young man, somewhere in his 30s, who had to share his story.
"He said he had just been diagnosed with the same cancer (as Mark) last year," Margaret recalled. "He said he had written Mark and that Mark had written back to him, and he said it was so helpful in his recovery. Mark has always been that way. He's always had this compassion inside him."
Monday, he let it out, and the world heard him.
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