Ryan Best: Overcoming Cancer on Way to Earning Playing Time
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Sept. 9, 2006
by Peter Goergen, Jr.
Student Assistant, UVa Athletics Media Relations
Each year, thousands of college football players sweat through two-a-days under the blazing August sun, trudge through snow in the dead of winter for 6 a.m. workouts, and battle injuries to make it onto the field. And while just getting through the season is an arduous task, it requires a rare individual to accomplish all this while battling cancer.
Senior safety Ryan Best, who received the 2005 Brian Piccolo Award as the most courageous football player in the ACC, did just that.
Best came to UVa in 2003 on a soccer scholarship. It was not long before the former goalkeeper realized that his heart rested with football, and he joined the team as a walk-on in 2004. Then, in February 2005, Best was diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease.
Best had surgery to remove malignant cervical lymph nodes, and then started chemotherapy. Through the ordeal he continued working out with the football team.
“He’s been a great story for us,” Virginia football coach Al Groh said. “It took a tremendous amount of courage on his part, and certainly confirmed to everybody what his resolve was to be a part of this [team]. He was a great inspiration to the players and coaches.”
“It was tough,” Best said of the chemotherapy. “It wasn’t bad at first when I was able to practice while I was going through chemo, because I didn’t really start feeling sick until a couple of days after the treatment. If I had treatment that day, I would probably practice that day.”
Following months of chemotherapy, Best underwent radiation treatments in the summer of 2005 while leading conditioning sessions with the team.
“Going through radiation got tough, because they were focusing on my throat,” he said. “When it was coming up on the third week, it was hard to eat and swallow. I couldn’t taste anything, and I lost about 20 pounds. I was real weak.”
Best slowly regained the weight and strength he lost during radiation treatments, and by the middle of the 2005 regular season, he had solidified a role on special teams and in the defense’s nickel package. His top game came in UVa’s upset win at home over No. 4 Florida State when he recorded three solo tackles, two assists, and one pass deflection.
“That was a big game,” Best said. “I knew stepping up in that game would help me in future play and getting used to doing what I should be doing week in and week out.”
Best spent this summer in Charlottesville taking German and participating in workouts to get ready for his final season.
“I’m in probably the best shape I’ve ever been coming into any season,” he said. “I did a lot of extra work, and I didn’t have any distractions. I was able to focus on my workouts without having to be bothered with treatments, so that should help out a lot.”
UVa will look to Best to ignite an experienced secondary that returns most of its key contributors from 2005, including preseason All-American Marcus Hamilton.
“We’re very close,” Best said of the secondary. “We all hang out a lot, and we’re all friends. We put a lot of trust in each other. When you have a friend on the field with you, they’re always there, and you don’t feel as tense.”
That commitment to his teammates, perseverance through cancer, and love for the game all make Best one student-athlete that Virginia players, coaches, and fans are proud to have representing the University of Virginia.