All-American: Herzlich battles cancer for a future in football

For most people, a successful fight against a deadly cancer would mean staying alive. But for Boston College football star Mark Herzlich, who was diagnosed with bone cancer at age 21, living also means playing football. As Byron Pitts reports, Herzlich made a risky treatment choice, determined to achieve his dream of joining the NFL.

The following script is from "All-American" which aired on Oct. 30, 2011.

In 2008, Mark Herzlich was one of the best college linebackers in the country, an All-American. The 6'4", 240 pound junior at Boston College was so dominating he was projected to be a first round pick in the NFL draft.

Then, at the very top of his game, Mark was diagnosed with bone cancer. He was told by a doctor his playing days were over...that he might not ever run again. He was just 21.

60 Minutes Overtime: Best friends forever, fighting cancer together
If you ask Mark Herzlich to disclose his secret weapon in beating bone cancer, he'll answer: Zack Migeot

For the next two years, Mark Herzlich fought two battles: one for his life, the other for a future in football.

[Sports commentator: Look out, Herzlich's got it. Great job of anticipation. You gotta know where number 94 is at all times.]

In 2008, Mark Herzlich was a game changer. Smart, physical, relentless. Make a mistake...and the Boston College linebacker would make you pay.

[Sports commentator: More pressure, Herzlich...]

Byron Pitts: You were on top of the world?

Mark Herzlich: Oh yeah, I was big time. I was as big time as it gets at BC.

Byron: You were the man?

Mark: I was the man at BC. Oh boy, that changed quick.

Just months after his dream season - in the spring of 2009 - Mark began experiencing pain in his left leg.

Herzlich: It was a sharp pain in different parts of my leg.

Pitts: Bite your lip kind of pain?

Herzlich: Oh, like screaming. My roommate moved out because he couldn't get sleep. I couldn't get sleep.

That May, after final exams, Mark's parents took him to Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. An MRI showed that the pain in his left thigh was a tumor. It was Ewing's sarcoma, a rare bone cancer that strikes fewer than 400 Americans a year. Thirty percent of them don't survive.

Herzlich: It knocked me off my feet. I was gripping the bed and my hands started sweating.

Pitts: Your parents?

Herzlich: In shock. And they were silent for awhile and I was silent for awhile. And then my dad - my dad asked, he said, "You know, Mark's a good football player. When will he be able to play again?" And my mom hit him. Said, "What are you thinking about that for?" But I was thinking the exact same thing. He knew how much I loved football and how much I wanted that to be a part of my life. So the doctor said Mark will not be playing football again.

The Herzlichs' lives revolved around sports. Mark's parents, Sandy and Barb were collegiate athletes. His brother, Brad, is a linebacker at Brown University. The news was difficult to accept.

Byron: What was your first reaction when you heard, "The best option is this: no football?"

Barb: I was trying not to care. I knew how important it was to Mark. I would never say, "Mark, stop thinking about playing football anymore."

Clem Taylor is the producer.

Sandy: I never accepted the fact that it had to be one or the other, that live or play football. I always hung on to the belief that it could be both.

After the diagnosis, the Herzlichs returned to their Pennsylvania home. Mark was alone in his room, surrounded by reminders of all that football meant to him.

Mark Herzlich: One picture in particular, where I'm running with the football and my left leg is just like flaring up, and looking strong...Looked at it I said, "I'm gonna do that again."

Rather than choose the treatment first recommended: replacement of the cancerous femur with a bone from a cadaver, he chose the one that gave him the best opportunity to play football. Doctors would leave Mark's femur intact. After a course of chemotherapy and radiation, they would reinforce it by inserting a titanium rod.

Although weakened by the cancer treatments, Mark returned to school in the fall of 2009 and rejoined his team.

[Herzlich: You see the releases on everything?]

On the sidelines, he coached his teammates and stirred up the crowd.

Then, on October 3rd, just five months after his diagnosis, Mark surprised the Boston College faithful - and a national TV audience -- with news he'd just received from his doctor.

[Herzlich on ESPN: He said he's uh you know about 99 percent sure um that the cancer is completely gone.}

That very same day, Mark got a call from one of his football idols.

Herzlich: 'Hey Mark, what's going on. Ay-uh it's Tedy Bruschi, here. I just wanted to say hey.'

Tedy Bruschi was an All-Pro and Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots. Like Mark, he was a linebacker. In 2005, Bruschi came back from a stroke to play four more seasons. Now, an ESPN analyst, he'd support Mark in his comeback.

Bruschi: When I was coming back I wish I had someone to talk to.

Pitts: There was no Tedy Bruschi for you to talk to.

Bruschi: When I decided I wanna comeback and play football, I called my doctor the next morning and said, "I want the number of the guy that's done this before so I can ask him the thousands of questions that I have." And there was silence on the other line. I said, "Doc, what's up?" He said, "Tedy, you'd be the first."

Pitts: People had a hard time with you and have a hard time with Mark. They say, "Why? Why not just walk away? You were given a second chance at life. Why not be grateful, go do something else that's less demanding, physically.

Bruschi: What do you want me to do? I'm a football player. Mark Herzlich's a football player. I wasn't gonna let stroke and he isn't gonna let cancer tell him when its time. We just weren't gonna do that.

Mark Herzlich leading the Boston College Eagles onto the field...

With a titanium rod in his left leg, Mark returned to college football in the first game of 2010 season. In the stands with family and friends, Barb Herzlich was on the phone with her mother.

Barb: Mom, he's, oh, he's running, he's doing it... Mom, he's - he's doing it. And um he was back on the field. And Mark was back.

He may have been back on the field, but Mark's cancer treatments had reduced his strength and quickness. NFL scouts took notice.

[Sports announcer: From Boston College, linebacker Mark Herzlich!]

Although he was invited with other top prospects to the 2011 NFL draft, his name was never called.

Pitts: There were 254 guys picked.

Herzlich: Uh huh.

Byron: And they didn't call your name?

Herzlich: Sure didn't.

Pitts: Once again someone tells you, "You can't play football. You can't do it."

Mark: Uh-huh. Right. Yeah. You work all the way back, put in all the hours and you prove 'em wrong, you say, "Alright, I'm back out on the field. I'm playin'." And draft day comes and, "Oh yeah, by the way, you can't play football again. It's tough.

Mark was out to prove the NFL scouts wrong. For months, he trained at this elite sports facility in Florida. Along with veteran NFL players and hopefuls, he ran through two-a-day workouts, determined to get stronger and faster. In late July, Mark went home to Pennsylvania for his regular MRI. As he left the doctor's office, his mother handed him his cell phone.

Barb: He goes, "Oh my gosh, I have like 25 messages." I said, "Yeah, you know the lockout was lifted." And he just went (sigh). He just took this big deep breath like here we go.

[Herzlich: Gotten calls uh from the Eagles, and the Ravens and the Giants...]

When NFL owners and players agreed to a new contract in late July, teams were finally able to sign undrafted free agents. For 24 hours, Mark fielded offers. But a call from New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin sealed the deal.

Herzlich: I am all set to be a Giant. You know, it's definitely the right fit for me and you know I'm ready to go.

Sandy Herzlich: Congratulations.

There was little time to celebrate. Mark's signing was really just an invitation to Giants training camp. He still had to make the team. Number 58, was one of ninety players - most of them veterans and highly touted draft picks - competing for just 53 roster spots. He was a long shot.

For a rookie, opportunities to impress the coaches were limited. When he did get a shot, it was usually with the third team defense or special teams.

Training camp was 24/7...diagramming plays in his hotel room...lifting weights on his day off...then back on the field running full contact drills. With video cameras watching every move, there was no room for mistakes. In those early practices, coaches told us it was hard to know if Mark was good enough, or healthy enough to compete at this level.

Pitts: So how was it?

Herzlich: Good. It was good to get the pads on again. I was tellin' someone it's been eight months since I hit anyone.

Pitts: So how was it hitting somebody?

Herzlich: It was awesome. I felt like normal again.

Pitts: What do you think you have to prove?

Herzlich: I just gotta prove I can help this team win. They asked me to come here because they wanted to see if I could play football and not to see if I was over my cancer.

Just 18 days after his signing, Mark was in his first pre-season game against the Carolina Panthers.

It wasn't going well. The professional game was faster...with a whole new language.

[Special Teams coach: Tango, Tango chacha versus three by one.]

But as the pre-season progressed, coaches watched as the old Mark Herzlich reemerged.

[ESPN announcer: Henie fires towards the middle. It is intercepted. That Herzlich? Yes it was.]

Byron: It's such a wonderful story, his comeback, why wouldn't an NFL team just want to have him around for awhile just because he's such an inspirational story?

Tedy Bruschi: You don't make NFL teams based on your story, based on being a good guy. You still gotta make plays, you still gotta help the team win. That's all it is. Can Mark Herzlich help the New York Giants win?

For head coach, Tom Coughlin, the answer was, "Yes."

When the Giants opened the season against the Washington Redskins, Mark Herzlich, number 58, was on the team.

Coughlin: If you're askin' me as a coach what do I think, he's a football player. He's uh dedicated, he's smart, he learns very quickly. And he earned it primarily on his special teams play and his intelligence. You tell him one time what to do and he does it.

So as the season wears on, with every tackle...with every hit...will Mark's leg hold up?

Pitts: You have a titanium rod in your leg?

Herzlich: I do.

Pitts: Any chance that could be broken playing football?

Herzlich: When I talked to my doctors about uh the chances of breaking my leg or something, they said in extreme car accidents or a place where it gets contorted in that sort of violent way, uh I guess there's a chance.

Pitts: Some people say playing in the NFL is like being in a car accident.

Herzlich: Yes.

[Sports announcer: Mark Herzlich got a hit on the quarterback.]