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In the Washington Commanders locker room Sunday, coach Ron Rivera asked everyone but the players and coaches to leave. The Dallas Cowboys had just beaten the Commanders 38-10, and everyone seemed to think that was it. End of an era. Rivera probably wanted to address his team for the last time.
In the summer of 2020, he reminded his team, he was diagnosed with skin cancer. It was in a lymph node in his neck. He wanted a treatment called proton therapy, a more targeted form of radiation therapy. There was no proton therapy facility in North Carolina, where he spent the last nine years of his life as coach of the Carolina Panthers. But there was one just a short drive from his new team's headquarters.
The treatment was strenuous. He underwent three cycles of chemotherapy and 35 proton therapy sessions. He has been cancer-free since then. It was his birthday on Sunday; He was 62 years old. His point, four players said, was this: Everything happens for a reason.
“He’s an incredible person,” said bettor Tress Way.
“He said we helped him. [He said] We were the reason he got through that, which meant a lot,” said right back Sam Cosmi.
“To see how he got through it [cancer] and how he was still there for us – that’s a lot of respect,” said running back Antonio Gibson. “This is something that should not be forgotten.”
Svrluga: Sam Howell has shown what he is not: the QB of the future
On Sunday night, there was mostly sadness in the Commanders' locker room. There was some relief – there were no more defeats, the series mercifully ended after eight games with the season ending – but that was overshadowed by the sadness of a space that would never be the same. Defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis tapped his phone and Boyz II Men's somber a cappella tune “It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” began to play from a portable red speaker.
How do I say goodbye to what we had? / The good times that made us laugh / outweigh the bad.
“Really, bro?” Offensive tackle Trent Scott called across the room.
Players everywhere hugged and shook hands. Running game coordinator Juan Castillo sat in front of an empty booth and chatted with his offensive players. Linebacker Cody Barton, still in his white jersey, leaned against a folding table, seemingly thoughtful.
“It’s just going to be really hard,” Way said. “It makes your stomach upset. You just don't know what's going to happen to anyone. But that’s just the reality of playing…in this league.”
A ring of cameras formed around tight end Logan Thomas. Behind him, his seven-year-old son sat patiently, putting on his father's giant yellow gloves. After the reporters dispersed, Thomas turned to his son and placed the shoulder pads over his head. This was the team that Thomas had rooted for as a kid, that had taken a chance on him as a converted quarterback in 2020, and now his contract was expiring. He didn't know if he would come back. He took out his phone and took a photo of his son.
Marty Hurney, football's executive vice president of player personnel, flitted in and out with his signature backpack. General manager Martin Mayhew chatted with his son, his red tie loosened around his neck. Rivera, Thomas and wide receiver Terry McLaurin wheeled through a back corner of the room to do interviews on the team's postgame radio show. The players came out in fancy Jordans and expensive loafers.
There was McLaurin and defensive tackle Daron Payne, two cornerstones of the next era. There was backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett and defensive end James Smith-Williams, who would soon be free agents. There was receiver Jahan Dotson, running back Brian Robinson Jr. and cornerback Kendall Fuller.
The Commanders lost to the Cowboys. Let the off-season changes begin.
After about half an hour there were only a few players left in the locker room. One of them was cornerback Jace Whittaker, a member of the practice squad who recovered a blocked field goal and rushed 51 yards in the game. Another was quarterback Sam Howell. He came out in a gray tracksuit with the hood pulled up and walked down the hallway to the press conference room.
“It’s been a tough year,” he told reporters. He went back to the locker room, made a radio burst, and then grabbed his things. He was the last player out at 8:06 p.m., and all that was left in the room was equipment, grass clippings and half-full water bottles. The locker rooms scurried around, inviting burgundy and gold gear bags. Someone removed the silver canisters labeled “Chix Broth” and “Apple Cider.”
Across the room, on a burgundy wall, written in gold: “EVERYTHING WE NEED IS IN THIS ROOM.” It was Rivera's refrain during the 2021 season, as the coach invoked the spirit of David versus Goliath and after each one Sieg started throwing a rock at the wall. The Commanders' playoff push had failed; The message had endured.
In not too long, the phrase will probably be painted over or peeled off. Someone new will have a new sentence. But as a disappointing era came to a ceremonial end Sunday night and Rivera spoke to his players about what they had meant to him during a difficult time, the words still rang true.