Ron Rivera has a three-word message for all Panther fans concerned about his cancer
Former Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera got the sort of news recently that everyone dreads: He has cancer.
But when I reached out to Rivera Thursday night via text to send him best wishes for his recovery, the man who now coaches Washington’s NFL team sounded like his usual optimistic self. During that text exchange, I also asked him if he had anything he wanted to say to the thousands of people who became his fans and friends during his nine-year tenure in Charlotte.
To that question, at 11:47 p.m., Rivera replied with three words.
“We got this.”
Rivera, 58, was recently diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma located in a lymph node. Washington announced in a statement that Rivera detected the cancer from a “self-care check,” that it was in an early stage and that it is “considered very treatable and curable.”
Rivera told ESPN, which first reported the news, that he had gathered his players Thursday night to tell them that he had cancer but planned to continue coaching. Washington announced that Rivera had asked the team to continue “business as usual.” Although if he does need to take some time off, I would guess it’s likely that defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio (a former Panthers defensive coordinator before his stint as a two-time NFL head coach) would lead things for awhile.
Support for Rivera poured in on social media. Carolina linebacker Shaq Thompson tweeted: “Praying for Coach Ron & the Rivera family…. Sending y’all love, know Ron gonna beat this.”
Tweeted former Panthers tight end Greg Olsen: “We love you coach. You have so many people in your corner. You always looked out for us. Now it’s our turn.”
In 2015, I did a long interview with Rivera about his older brother Mickey, who had died a few days before, at age 57, from a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Rivera came from a family of four brothers and remained close to all of them. He had given a eulogy for Mickey. He had missed two of the first three days of Panthers’ training camp to fly back to the West Coast for Mickey’s funeral. Before that, he had seen up close the ravages of the disease.
Mickey’s death had made him realize, Rivera told me then, that if you have your health, the rest of your life can be fixed. And if you don’t have your health, he said, you fight for it hard, and you do it with grace.
“Mickey was so selfless,” Rivera said. “He always worried about everybody else. I asked him once, ‘How are you doing? It must be tough.’ And he said, ‘I really just hope people don’t feel sorry for me. Ron, when I go get my chemotherapy, I see young kids in there, and I know some of them don’t have a future. Some of them will never get to live a life like I have. I’ve lived a good life.’”
Rivera is still living a good life, although Lord knows he’s got problems to fix. The former NFL linebacker hasn’t even coached a game yet for Washington, but he’s already gotten an advanced degree in crisis management.
During the eight months since he’s been hired, Washington has decided to change its controversial nickname. The Washington Post reported on the toxic culture inside the team’s football offices from 2006-19 -- before Rivera got there -- with 15 women who previously worked for the team saying they were sexually harassed. Rivera also has had to deal with several personnel crises with current and former players.
It had looked so bad from the outside that I had also texted Rivera several weeks ago, asking if he had any regrets about taking the job. Rivera, after all, had been the NFL’s hottest coaching commodity after Panthers owner David Tepper fired him in December. The Panthers’ all-time winningest coach could have ended up as the head coach of several other teams instead of Washington.
“No regrets,” Rivera texted back. “I look forward to the challenge of improving a 3-13 team. I want to build a sustainable winning culture, in every facet.”
Now the coach has another challenge, and one that has to be beaten before the rest are tackled.
Rivera used to talk about “missed opportunities” after every single Panthers loss. It was his catch-all phrase for everything that went wrong, and became a running joke among reporters who regularly covered the team. Rivera was wise to the joke and never has minded making fun of himself -- a welcome trait in a business where so many NFL coaches act like what they’re doing is on par with the men and women who are trying to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.
At his farewell news conference in December, Rivera had a T-shirt made up that read “Missed Opportunities” and displayed it from the podium.
Cancer, for Rivera, won’t be a missed opportunity. I am confident, with the help of his doctors and his family, he will beat it. More than that, he will use this as an opportunity to raise awareness.
Rivera has a knack of making others feel better when they try to console him; he was the same way when he lost his job in Charlotte. The coach understands what he’s dealing with, and he won’t cut corners as he fights it.
“We got this,” he wrote. And there’s no doubt he does.
This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 8:36 AM.
