Former NFL Player Devon Still Shares Personal Playbook for Life's Struggles
*By Tracey Cheek*
Devon Still, a former defensive end for the Cincinnati Bengals, is sharing his personal playbook ー "Still in the Game," a self help-style manual for success.
Still, who retired from the NFL in 2017, told Cheddar the new book revisits his most dramatic challenges ー most notably, his daughter's cancer diagnosis.
"I went through a lot of struggles throughout my life ー from the type of environment I grew up in, the six different surgeries I had on my way to the NFL, and of course, my daughter Leah's story with battling cancer," he said.
"I basically taught her my playbook on how she could overcome this disease. I wanted to give people this book basically so they could have a playbook to get off the sidelines if they're facing a struggle in their life and get back into the game of life."
Still's daughter is now eight-years-old and has been in remission for almost four years. But now her father is faced with another set of more traditional difficulties.
"I gotta teach her about boys early on, I see," Still said, adding that Leah recently received her first love letter.
His former team, the Cincinnati Bengals, allowed Still's jersey to be sold off and donated the proceeds to pediatric cancer research. The sale brought in $1.25 million.
"We showed people what it was like for families battling childhood cancer, I think people really came on and supported us," Still said of the effort.
Still created the Still Strong Foundation to help families impacted by childhood cancer cover non-medical bills so they can less time working and devote more hours to fighting the disease alongside their children in the hospital.
For Still, his football career was on the beginning.
"For me it wasn't my destination, but it was my vehicle to help me get to my destination. I feel like I have a lot of stuff ahead of me that's going to trump anything that I ever did on a football field."
"Still in the Game" is available in stores and online.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/former-nfl-player-devon-still-is-still-in-the-game).
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