Jeff Chaney
Sports Scene
Derrick Nash’s next opponent may be tougher than any middle linebacker he’s faced in the past three years on the Carrollton varsity football team.
But he still plans on beating it like he did many defenders he ran through and around for the Cavaliers.
Nash, a Division 5 all-state running back for Carrollton, who signed his National Letter of Intent to play for Central Michigan University next fall, was recently diagnosed with leukemia.
It was a shock to a player who stood 5-feet-9 and weighed 199 pounds and ran for a state best 1,967 yards and 28 touchdowns a season ago and led the Cavaliers to an 8-2 record.
“Cancer does not run in the family, I was pretty healthy,” Nash said. “I never got sick before, but then I got really tired and found out I have cancer.
“Doctors said I had it for a while, but I found out [in April,] “ he added. “I was shocked, they said it could be fatal and I was thinking about football, friends, and family. Then after a while they said I would be fine, I would have to go through chemotherapy and I’d be back. I’m making some progress now.”
The news of the disease changed his future plans almost immediately.
Instead of getting ready for his first semester on the Mount Pleasant campus and his first year on a college football team, Nash started rounds of chemotherapy, and has already lost 20 pounds.
“I’m going to have to wait,” Nash said. “I will be going through chemotherapy for a while, and when I get through that, I’m tired and need to get my endurance back.
“I will start college in January, and then I plan on playing in the spring,” he added. “I probably will get red-shirted, but I plan on playing next fall.”
That wasn’t all that Nash missed.
“I feel sorry for him, for missing graduation and prom,” Carrollton coach Greg Wasmer said. “Those are things that kids his age should not miss, but he did. But he’ll beat this, no doubt in my mind. “When I found out, I was pretty upset,” he added. “But the more I learned, there is no doubt he’ll beat this. He will be an example to other people.”
That’s the plan, to beat this and get back to his life.
“I learned this can get hard, but you need to find that urge that you will get back to what you were doing,” Nash said. “It all starts with the mind, you need to have a good mindset. No matter what happens to me, if I stay positive, good things will happen. And they might happen quicker than what’s expected.”
One thing Nash doesn’t have to worry about is his place on the Chippewas team.
“One of the first things we told him was that he was going to play football again and that he was going to play for CMU,” Chippewas coach Dan Enos told MLive.com in a recent interview. “Keeping him on scholarship was a no-brainer. It’s the right thing to do. That’s the philosophy from the president through the athletic director to the coaches. You do the right thing.”
Nash will stay close to the sport of football this fall as he continues with treatments.
“We [Carrollton’s football team] will dedicate this year to him, and our kids will rally around him,” Wasmer said. “No matter what issues we have, none are bigger than he has. He is an inspiration to us. He will be a rally point for us, and this fall he will be an assistant coach.”
Nash is thankful for everybody who has been in his corner through his fight.
“I appreciate all the support,” Nash said. “I didn’t think I was known by so many people. I didn’t know I had so may people that had my back. I have the utmost respect and feel honored for that.”
One of his top supporters is his former coach. “When I found out, I cried, but this is what I’ve been telling people the past three years, he is one of the toughest kids I have been around, not just physically, but emotionally and mentally,” Wasmer said. “We have heard some encouraging things, everybody around him has heard it is going as well as expected, and that’s encouraging. He has a lot of fight to do, but he will do what he has to do. I’m proud of him.”