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Vikings DE Kenechi Udeze Battling Leukemia

by David Kindervater on February 13th, 2008

Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL

I was saddened to hear that Minnesota Vikings DE Kenechi Udeze has a form of leukemia. A person with the team, who remained anonymous because of the sensitive nature of the situation, confirmed this yesterday. The Vikings declined to comment, but they issued a short statement from head coach Brad Childress that didn’t specifically address Udeze’s condition:

“We respect the privacy of Kenechi. The thoughts and prayers of the entire Minnesota Vikings organization are with Kenechi and his family.”

Kenechi’s college coach at USC, Pete Carroll, also issued a statement, saying:

“Kenechi’s got a big battle on his hands. We’ve been talking with him, and we will continue to support him and send our good wishes and prayers his way. We know he’s going to come through strong and compete against this disease like a warrior, like he always has competed.”

It came as a complete shock, of course. As a society, I think we tend to look at NFL players as somewhat invincible because they’re young, rich and in good physical condition. But something like this can hit any of us at any time. Naturally, the first thing you hope for is a complete recovery. Football is now second in everyone’s mind. Kenechi is just a kid at 24 years old with a wife and new baby girl (born in November). Please keep him in your prayers.

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