13 months after cancer diagnosis, Mitchell Meyers poised to return to Iowa State workouts

AMES — When Iowa State coach Matt Campbell took over the football program almost four months ago, he had a lot of phone calls to make. Despite the number of people he needed to reach out to, Campbell knew exactly where to start.

That first phone call went out to defensive lineman Mitchell Meyers.

The 22-year-old missed the entire 2015 season after receiving a Hodgkin's Lymphoma diagnosis last February and was away at MD Anderson in Houston — near his hometown of The Woodlands, Texas — receiving treatment.

After treatments, radiation and a stem cell transplant filled the last 13 months of his life, Meyers returned to Ames on Monday and joined the team as a practice observer Tuesday. It was the milestone he'd been dreaming of for quite some time.

'When I was in Houston, I just thought about coming back every day,' Meyers said. 'I knew once I got back to Ames I'd be on the other side of it. Now that I'm back, I can feel like I'm finally better and ready to hit the ground running and start working out again.'

Meyers had to watch the Cyclones go through its football coaching staff changes from afar and although he'd spoken to Campbell many times on the phone, the two had never met in person. When he arrived in Ames, he got the chance to see a lot of new — and old — faces.

When Meyers entered the Bergstrom Football Complex on Tuesday morning at 6 a.m. for his introductions, the staff was engaged in a meeting that he characterized as a 'full house.'

'It must have been 30 people in this room,' Meyers said. 'I walked in and it was kind of all eyes on me. I shook everybody's hands, still learning names. It was pretty surreal, but like I said I'm glad to be back.'

Although he isn't currently enrolled at Iowa State, Meyers is able to participate in non-team activities such as one-on-one workouts with trainers and strength staff. He hopes to build his body up to the point that he can enroll in classes this summer and be fully integrated into team workouts at that point.

Meyers had two cancer scans — one before a stem cell transplant and one after — that both came back clear. He has another doctor appointment in June that will put him through another scan, but as of now he has no restrictions on working out.

'Right now I couldn't be in a better situation health-wise,' Meyers said. 'It's a good feeling.'

When Campbell made that initial phone call to Meyers, he was walking into a situation that had been developing for almost nine months, but said that conversation said all it needed to about the kind of person he was dealing with.

'What a great rallying point for our football team and really a great visual of, here's a guy that has sacrificed everything and has really gone through it all, fought through adversity just to get back here to come back here and be part of this football team,' Campbell said. 'He's not coming back for the story, he's coming back to start and that's what I love about him and his demeanor and his effort.'

Support from the new coaches — plus his old teammates and roommates Luke Knott and Grant Rohach — have gone a long way in keeping his spirits up. Everything Meyers has been through has led him to this point. It's that support that has brought him back.

'You really find out who your friends are,' Meyers said. 'It was a good feeling having them there. It helped a lot. And being part of a team. Being part of this program. There is really nothing like it from a support standpoint. I couldn't imagine doing it by myself so it helped a lot.'

l Comments: montzdylan@gmail.com