Ardrey Kell QB Jared Curtis finds inspiration in brother’s courageous cancer fight
Ardrey Kell High School senior quarterback Jared Curtis grew up watching his brother, Jack, become a star for the Knights.
As a senior four years ago, Jack threw for more than 1,900 yards and 24 touchdowns at the south Charlotte high school.
And, one day, Jared wanted to be just like his older brother.
“He was like a hero to me,” Jared said. “He was a big inspiration.”
Four years later, Jared is the star quarterback for the Knights. He leads the Southwestern 7A/8A conference in touchdown passes and is second in passing yards. Friday night, Jared and Ardrey Kell play rival Providence in the first round of the NCHSAA playoffs.
Jared said his older brother is still a huge inspiration, but for a totally different reason now.
Last spring, his brother was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, a form of cancer that affects 3 out of 100,000 people each year.
Jack didn’t stop playing football, however. In fact, he’s in the top 10 nationally for Division III quarterbacks in passing yards and touchdowns — despite having chemo treatments all fall.
“He’s a tough dude,” Jared Curtis said. “It’s really inspiring to see. It’s really something.”
Writing goodbye letters
Last spring, after he finished his junior year playing baseball at NCAA Division III Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, Jack Curtis began having serious pain on the right side of his body.
He had noticed some lumps on his shoulder during baseball season, but they were small. He thought maybe it was a muscle contusion from pitching. But when he got to Charlotte late in the spring, there was a lump in his right armpit, and a pain he describes as “heart attack pain but on the other side of your body.”
One night, the pain was so bad that Jack couldn’t get out of bed.
“I actually wrote some goodbye letters to some people,” he said, “because I didn’t see a way through it.”
The next morning, doctors diagnosed the cancer: a mango-sized tumor in his right underarm, and two more tumors growing around his heart.
Four days later, Jack started chemotherapy. And it didn’t go so well at first.
“I couldn’t raise my arms above my shoulders,” he said. “I was bedridden for days. But after we finished two cycles of treatment, we did a scan and it showed no active lymphoma cells, which was amazing to hear, and that’s when I started asking my doctors, like, ‘Hey, if I start to feel better with this, what would going to school and playing football look like?”
The journey back to the field
Doctors ultimately cleared Jack Curtis to play, but because he would be getting chemo treatments on some Mondays, he would only be allowed to play if his bloodwork looked good.
He didn’t practice for four weeks, but Curtis played.
“I just showed up on Saturday, and I would look at the scouting report, have Coach give me the rundown in the locker room,” Curtis said, “and I’d walk out and play.”
Curtis threw for 202 yards on 43 attempts in his first game. He threw for 478 yards and six touchdowns the next.
Still, he said, it wasn’t easy.
“I feel like a Hummer,” Curtis said. “Like I haven’t lost weight. I still have some of my hair. So I look big and strong, but I’m getting about two miles to the gallon. We played our crosstown rival and I remember pretty distinctly throwing a touchdown pass and before my receiver caught it, I had to drop down to one knee. I had to take a second.
“It takes everything I’ve got every play.”
Baby brother’s big year at home
While Jack Curtis was having his big season, despite his challenges, Jared was at home in Charlotte doing something similar.
The Knights won three straight games in October to get into a position for a conference title, but lost, 28-14, to arch rival Providence in the de facto conference championship game.
Friday, those same teams meet again. Entering that game, Jared Curtis has thrown for 1,587 yards and 17 touchdowns. He’s rushed for 395 yards and six more scores.
And he can’t wait for another shot at Providence.
“That rivalry runs deep,” Jared said. “When (Ardrey Kell) opened up, it split all the kids from (Providence) and from there, it just spiraled out of control. It’s a lot of fun every game against them. You can’t wait for the next one.”
This season, Jack Curtis has thrown for 2,754 yards and 26 touchdowns. He’s No. 3 in America among Division III players in yards, and he’s No. 6 in touchdowns.
He’s considering playing a fifth year, be it back at Carleton, or maybe chasing a walk-on spot at a school that has an elite aerospace engineering major, like Virginia Tech or Stanford.
Jack Curtis finished his chemo treatments last month and will start radiation therapy in December.
He said the future looks so much better than just six months ago.
“It’s going to be nice to have no therapy and to get back to some sense of normal,” he said.
Jared doesn’t miss his brother’s games and said his brother’s incredible season has left an indelible impression on him.
“He inspires me to be a better man,” Jared said. “It makes me proud to say I’m his younger brother, and look up to him for the man he is. I mean, nothing can get him off that football field. He loves the game way too much. His preparation and heart and love for football is on another level. He’s just a dog.”
Want to help
Jack Curtis has started a gofundme page to raise money for his treatments. More than $50,000 has been raised so far.
