Playing with a purpose: Chippewas vow to honor Nash, Bonamego on the field
Head Football Coach John Bonamego address reporters during MAC Media Day on July 29 at Ford Field.
Just a couple weeks before he steps onto the field for the Chippewas' first game of 2015, Head Football Coach John Bonamego looks forward to ringing a bell.
Ringing the bell, which is affixed to the wall at the hospital, will signify the last radiation and chemotherapy treatments the coach will have to endure, after announcing his diagnosis with tonsillar cancer in June.
"I'll be fired up to ring that bell," he said. "I will definitely be tweeting about it."
Bonamego has been undergoing therapy in Ann Arbor for the past month. On Aug. 21, he will finish treatment. Doctors pinpoint the tumor in his left tonsil, making it as non-invasive as possible. However, Bonamego said it can be a painful process.
"It's like lifting weights and having somebody put 10 more pounds on every single day," he said. "You still have to lift what you lifted yesterday, plus more. There are no breaks. It progressively gets more and more challenging."
But Bonamego accepted that challenge, and so did his team. Senior offensive lineman Nick Beamish said thus far, things have been business as usual.
"He is in Ann Arbor every day for treatment," Beamish said. "He also comes in the office every day."
The coach hasn't missed a day of work, making a surprise appearance July 29 at MAC Media Day in Detroit. He will only miss one football practice before the first game of the season. First-year defensive coordinator Greg Colby said Bonamego has been very straightforward with the team about the state of his health.
"He told them exactly what was going on and what to expect," Colby said. "He said, 'Here's how it is and here's how we're going to approach it.' And they accepted it and moved on."
While with Bonamego the team is continuing business as usual, the death of running back Derrick Nash on June 22 hit them hard. The day the coach announced he was diagnosed with cancer, Nash was in the midst of a month-long stay at the hospital with leukemia, fighting for his life.
Throughout his battle with cancer and with his passing, quarterback Cooper Rush said the team has only gotten closer. Each of the team members wears a bracelet reading "Nash Strong."
"(The team) stuck together," Rush said. "We're honoring Coach and Nash. It really puts things in perspective--we're lucky to be playing football."
Nash saw an overflow of support from social media, with users tweeting and posting with the hashtag #NashStrong. To members of the team, the phrase is more than a hashtag--it's a legacy.
Nash's number, 21, will be rotated among the team. When members of the Chippewas attended the ESPY Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on July 15, they brought his jersey with them. When they take the field, Beamish said the Chippewas are thinking of their former teammate, playing for him because didn't get a chance to.
"Derrick made an impression on the entire team," Beamish said. "Nash Strong will be a saying that lives on. We're drawing on each other to get through this."
Though he doesn't compare Nash's battle with his own, Bonamego said he is inspired by the fight Nash showed throughout his treatment. The coach said he doesn't run from the truth, and cancer is just one more opponent he has to overpower.
Beamish and Rush agreed they have two more reasons to play hard this season--Nash and their coach. Bonamego said the team will be ready.
"We'll have it beat before we play the first game," he said. "Don't worry about me, don't feel sorry for me--just keep working and get ready for the season.
The season begins at 7 p.m. on Sept. 3 against Oklahoma State University at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
