Sam Mills update

I did not know that the cancer is still spreading and he is still out there working. Just remember this the next time we have one of those threads on who should be the next bronze statue in front of the stadium. This man has set the bar pretty high....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Panthers' Mills surviving the odds

By PAUL DOMOWITCH

[email protected]


CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Sam Mills isn't supposed to be here right now. He's supposed to be dead.

At least that's what the doctor told him in August 2003 when he informed the Panthers' linebackers coach that he had intestinal cancer.

Didn't give him much hope. Relayed the grim survival statistics to Mills and estimated that the father of four probably had anywhere from 3 months to a year to live.

But there Mills was the other day, walking off the Panthers' practice field with a bounce in his step, looking almost as fit and indestructible as when he was a Pro Bowl linebacker for the Panthers and New Orleans Saints.

But looks can be deceiving. More than a year after his diagnosis, the damn cancer still is dogging Mills. It has spread to his stomach and liver. He has been getting chemotherapy every other week since last September. But it's still an uphill battle.

"If God ain't finished with me yet, nothing will happen," Mills said. "You've just got to believe and keep on going.

"It certainly makes you appreciate life a lot more. I remember last year when we went out to Arizona for a game after I was diagnosed. You look around and you say, wow, what a beautiful country.

"You hear people talk about a movie coming out this winter or next spring and you think, man, I might not even make it that far. They talk about road projects and developments going up that should be done in 2005, and you say, I might not even see that.

"But that's the way life is every day anyway. You don't know whether you're going to be around the next day. But something like this brings it to the forefront. I remember after I was diagnosed, thinking, they're saying I might not even be around for my 45th birthday. But thank God I am."

Mills, who turned 45 in June, is used to bucking big odds. As a 5-9, 225-pound linebacker out of Montclair (N.J.) State, he was a million-to-one shot to ever play in the NFL. Tried out for the Cleveland Browns and was cut. Too short, they said. Tried out for the Canadian Football League and was cut. Too short, they said.

Chucked his pro football dreams and started teaching high school photography when he got a call from a new team - the Philadelphia Stars - in a new league, the United States Football League.

The Stars' head coach, Jim Mora, thought Mills was too short to play, too. Then he watched him run around and make tackle after tackle. The man they affectionately called "Field Mouse" led the Stars to two league titles.

When the USFL died, he moved on to the NFL where he earned five Pro Bowl invitations with the Saints and Panthers. Retired as a player in '97 and started coaching the Panthers' linebackers in '99.

"I feel so blessed to have been able to do what I've done and to have come as far as I've come," Mills said.

Blessed. The man is battling cancer and he's talking about being blessed. But that's Mills.

"There's a reason for this," he said. "You can't always figure it out, but there's a reason. I really believe that a part of what I need to do and am supposed to do is help other people who are going through this fight.

"That's why I think Mark [Fields, the Saints linebacker who was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease last year] and I were put in that infusion center [where Mills receives cancer treatment]. We got a chance to interact with other people. Not that people want to see others with cancer, but I'm sure that a lot of people must have felt a little better seeing us go through it."

Fields licked his Hodgkin's and is back playing for the Panthers. For Mills, the battle continues. For 2 days every other week, he goes to the Blumenthal Cancer Center in Charlotte and has them pump his body full of the poison that fights the disease.

"Thank God I've been able to hold up," he said. "One of the things that has helped me is the fact that, prior to getting sick, my physical conditioning was very good. I still try to uphold that. I run and lift and do the right things to help give me a chance to fight this.

"Being able to continue to coach, it takes your mind off of it. You're thinking about other things as far as preparing for the games. To be honest, most of the time, I don't feel like I even have an illness. The times I'm reminded of it are when I've got that IV in me.

"Those are different days. Those are days when you feel it. It drains you. Drains you every which way. You're just tired. But it's a different kind of tired. All of your senses are affected. You don't really care to see much light or hear any noises. You can't talk very much. You just want to rest. But that's part of it. If that's what I need to do to keep on living, then that's what I've got to do."

Mills wants to live very badly. He wants to live for his four children. He wants to live for his wife, Melanie. He wants to live for the Super Bowl ring he hopes to some day own.

"I'm not a guy who wears jewelry," Mills said. "But I always said if I won a Super Bowl ring, it would be hard to get me to take that thing off."

Almost won one last year. His Panthers beat the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game before losing to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVIII.

Mills, usually not a big talker, and Fields gave inspirational speeches to the team the night before their playoff victory over Dallas. Talked to them about their battles with cancer and their determination to whip it. Talked to them about the need to "keep on pounding." It became the Panthers' battle cry the rest of the playoffs. It is their battle cry now as they try to recover from a plague of injuries and a 1-3 start. And it continues to be Mills' battle cry as he takes on this relentless disease.

"That's the only way you have a chance," he said. "To keep on pounding."

Except for the days he's getting chemo, Mills can be found at the Panthers' practice facility, putting in 16-hour days with the rest of the club's coaching staff. After he was diagnosed last year, head coach John Fox promoted Ken Flajole, who had been a quality control assistant, to assistant linebacker coach. Flajole fills in for Mills when he's getting chemo.

"I never considered not [continuing to coach]," Mills said. "It was just a matter of whether the club would be OK with it. And they've been great."

 

Wow. Thoughts and prayers to him. Thanks for posting that PantherFanz.

 

It's in his liver..... he's a dead man.

 

I remember a couple of weeks ago there was some discussion on why the team is not as focused this season and someone said that that they were missing the whole 'Lay the Hammer' down thing with Fields and Mills. An assumption that everything was all fine and dandy.

But with Sam having it in his liver now, he is on a clock for sure. Last year he was a warrior fighting a terrible disease and that gives inspiration. This season he is more like a dying father in that locker room. At what point does the inspiration turn into just plain depression? I hate to sound cold and unfeeling and I pray that Sam will fight this thing off. But man reading that story did not really make me feel good. I sorta wanted to cry. And look at Morgan on the field this season. Sam is his mentor, his idol some have said. Does Dan look inspired in his play this season? Am I just being too morbid?

 

My brother lasted slightly more than 2 months after it had spread to his liver.

 

When he was originally diagnosed, I researched his cancer a little bit and have known since then that his life would be short. It is a true miracle that Sam is still with us, and I have a feeling he may not see then end of this season. It breaks my heart for his children. What a wonderful man to have as a Dad, and what a huge loss it will be to them. We lose Walter Payton and in the not too distant future, Sam, it's just NOT fair. I hope that Sam's kids have no shortage of "Big Brothers" to lookout for them when the time comes. God bless the Mills family and please leave Sam with us as long as you can.

 

If you really want to show your support, go buy a bracelet. Something like a $1.00 at Dillards and Belks.

 

Sam Mills is a very brave man, and a fighter. This news isn't suprising, but it saddens me, But I read Sams words and see him fighting on still and I'm heartened by my hero.

 

I got 10 the first night they were sold and have been mailing them to Panther fans outside of the Carolinas. I'm saving pocket change up and when it accumulates, it will go to the Drop the Hammer fund.

Sam is an inspiration to all. I will always be proud of him

 

Sam, Fields, Lance Armstrong, are all inspirations.