Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera has announced that he has been diagnosed with cancer.
The 58-year-old coach has squamous cell carcinoma located on the lymph node, according to the team, which is a type of skin cancer that is usually treatable. Rivera said that the cancer was caught in the early stages and that he expects that it’s going to be very treatable and curable.
He told his team on Thursday about the cancer diagnosis. However, he said that nothing will change and that he plans on coaching this season while he is undergoing treatment. Rivera said that he felt a lump in his throat in early July and found out that it was cancer two weeks ago.
He added that his doctors are encouraging him to keep coaching and to stay physically active, although he does expect the treatment to slow him down a bit physically at some point.
Rivera also said that if he’s not able to coach because of the treatment, there is a Plan B for the team in place. However, he didn’t say what that would be. The obvious choice for an interim head coach would be defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio, who has served as head coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Oakland Raiders previously and is the only one on the coaching staff that has head coaching experience in the NFL.
This will be Rivera’s first year in Washington after coaching the Carolina Panthers for nine seasons.
