Sarah Barshop, ESPN Staff Writer 6y

David Quessenberry to play first NFL game three years after cancer diagnosis

HOUSTON -- During team meetings, Bill O'Brien typically goes through roster changes and team news. On Wednesday morning, the head coach had a special announcement to make: the Houston Texans promoted tackle David Quessenberry from the practice squad to the active roster.

After O'Brien made the announcement, the room erupted in applause.

Quessenberry has been waiting a long time to play in his first NFL game, as he was drafted in 2013 but diagnosed with cancer -- non-Hodgkin T-lymphoblastic lymphoma -- a year later.

"To be in that room and to know, especially all of us that have been with him since he was diagnosed with that horrible disease, it's a very, very cool moment," O'Brien said.

While Quessenberry was going through chemo, he thought "every day" about his chance to one day play in the NFL. That dream will come true on Christmas Day when the Texans host the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"It's incredible," O'Brien said. "You think about what he's come back from. We've been here the whole time. I can remember every step of the way. … I can remember that spring when he just didn't look great and Kap [trainer Geoff Kaplan] saw something that wasn't right and he went right over to the doctors.

"To overcome what he's overcome, to be able to step back onto the field in an NFL football game, is an incredible accomplishment for him. And I know for him, he's such a driven guy, he really wants to go out there and play well. He doesn't want to just show up and [say], 'Yeah, thank you.' This isn't a pat on the back. This is a roster move. He's gotten better every week on the practice squad and we think he can help us."

That he is being added to help this Texans team is especially meaningful to Quessenberry, who said even though he knows being a cancer survivor will always be a huge part of his life, it's a relief to just feel like David Quessenberry, NFL player, at times, too.

"I'm excited just to cut it loose and just play ball and just be like a normal player," Quessenberry said. "I'm in the game plan. I'm really excited to suit up and play on Monday."

Quessenberry finished his last chemotherapy treatment in early April 2017 and returned to the practice field for the first time during organized team activities. He had been on the Texans' non-football illness list since 2015. In August, Quessenberry was able to play in his first preseason game in three years.

"Since I got drafted in 2013, it's kind of been one thing after the other preventing me to get onto the field," Quessenberry said. "I think finally now all that's passed and I'm ready to get on with my football plan."

"Nothing that I've been through has been normal, a normal path, since I've been drafted. This is just one of those things that lines up for an awesome opportunity on Monday Night Football on Christmas. I'm ready to roll."

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