Rod Payne, a member of the 2000 world champion Baltimore Ravens, and a former All-America center at the University of Michigan, never thought the camaraderie he shared with his teammates in the NFL could be found with a rookie reporter.
But when the two met by chance on MichiganÂ’s campus early in the summer of 2001, they discovered they had a lot in common. Each was an only child raised by a working mother. Both felt a loss growing up without a father around.
Despite pressure from their peers (including Rod’s former teammates and Steve’s fellow writers) to end their friendship—athletes aren’t supposed to get along with reporters, after all—their bond developed quickly.
When Steve took a short vacation to his native Los Angeles, three days of severe flu-like symptoms landed him in the hospital, where he received the most devastating news of his life. He was told he had leukemia.
Steve and RodÂ’s friendship was about to change forever.
Steve realized he would need a true champion by his side—someone used to battling tough opponents—if he was going to win this life-or-death game.
Having survived cancer as a child, Steve knew the challenges that lay ahead. He also knew that his first cancer was different: nobody told him he could have died back then.
