Ask Nguyen Nguyen about his goals and, fittingly enough, the Sheridan High School senior speaks of victories, of creating enduring memories and legacies. The challenge is daunting.
While the Class 2A Rams were great long ago, winning state titles in 1968 and 1972, the team won but four games the past three years entering this season, only one in the Colorado Conference.
But coach Dwayne Davis said the Rams (1-2) are learning to compete. More important, he added,players are gleaning firsthand the value of heart and courage, of tenacity in the face of adversity.
All of which can contribute to legacies. All of which are coming from Nguyen (pronounced “win”) and a personal triumph that has spread from the locker room into the classroom.
“His strength is unbelievable,” Davis said. “His presence is overwhelming. . . . He’s just a soldier.”
Recalling the day in June when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease, Nguyen said his initial reaction was probably the same as any other kid who had recently celebrated his 17th birthday.
“You’re just like, ‘Wow, this can’t be happening to me,’ ” he said. “That same day, we were having an offseason workout. I remember thinking that I wanted to tell everyone, but at the same time, I didn’t want to just ruin everyone’s day.”
Nguyen told his teammates after that evening’s weightlifting session.
Their reaction was understandable. They laughed.
“It was like, ‘Ha, ha, very funny.’ Then it was, ‘Do you really have cancer?’ ” recalled Sheridan quarterback Scott McCarthy. “We just didn’t know what to think.
“We definitely didn’t expect him to keep showing up to summer practices. At one point, we didn’t think he’d be able to play this season. But he’s just been tough as nails. He showed up every day.”
Making the grade
Indeed, Nguyen, a wide receiver, has shown up every day since, even with a regimen that includes at least twice-monthly chemotherapy sessions. He also takes medications daily.
At one point, McCarthy said he worried about how to react to the news, and what to do to help his pal, but soon it became apparent that, as far as Nguyen was concerned, no assistance was necessary.
“I’d like to say that I’ve helped him a lot with this, but I haven’t — he just makes himself be happy,” McCarthy said. “He’s made it real easy on us. We never have to bring him up. We just kind of take in all of his happiness and give it right back to him.”
More often than not, when they take the field for practice or games, the Sheridan players wear T-shirts under their shoulder pads that read “Just Nguyen” on the back and are emblazoned with “Attitude” on the front.
More than a few students, male and female, can be found wearing the shirts during the school day.
Nguyen competes there as well. Davis said his captain carries a 4.0 grade-point average. Next year, Nguyen said he’s considering mechanical engineering as a college major. Perhaps he may eventually follow the path of his sister, Linda, a University of Colorado graduate who’s currently applying to law schools.
It wouldn’t be the first time that happened. That’s one of the ironies about Nguyen — should the Rams go on to win a state championship sometime in the near future, or even win three or four games this fall, much of the credit will go to Nguyen and the inspiration teammates took from his fight with cancer.
But the truth is, in many ways, apart from the fact that it has prevented him from keeping more weight on his 6-foot, 150-pound frame — “It makes it tough going across the middle to catch passes,” he said — the Hodgkin’s simply isn’t a big deal to Nguyen.
Ask him about personal triumph and he’s more likely to refer to his family: Linda, and his younger brother Vien; his mother Kim Oanh and Luan, a brother who died after a 10-year fight against illnesses and injuries suffered at birth.
Drawing inspiration
Long before the discovery of the Hodgkin’s, not many people would have considered Nguyen as inspiring, himself included. But one day, he said, he made a choice.
“My mom had it rough. My dad was abusive, and she pretty much raised four kids by herself,” Nguyen said. “But when I was little, really until about seventh grade, I was just a brat to her. But every day, for 23 years, she would wake up, go to work, come home, feed the kids, and then wake up and do it all over again the next day.
“She never complained once. And at about the same time, my brother died and my sister wasn’t doing well in high school. But she turned it around, and when she was in college and about to graduate, I was asking myself: ‘Well, what are you going to do? Are you going to be like her, or are you going to be like my cousins, maybe graduate high school and that’s it? Maybe go out and try to find a job? Are you going to make your mom feel bad?’ “
From that point on, not much — even cancer — has fazed Nguyen.
“He’s actually gotten better this season,” McCarthy said. “He never really liked football that much until last year. Now he practices so hard, his game has improved so much, I’ve got such respect for him.”
Last Friday, Sheridan lost 30-13 to Valley.
But there was one bright spot to be found amid the gloom of the Homecoming defeat. Nguyen caught a 35-yard touchdown pass, the first of his career.
Anthony Cotton: 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com
About Hodgkin’s disease
Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a cancer of the immune system marked by the presence of an abnormal cell called the Reed-Sternberg cell. This cell divides and makes copies of itself— not dying off as it should — forming tumors.
Symptoms include the painless enlargement of lymph nodes, spleen or other immune tissue. Other symptoms include weight loss, fatigue or night sweats.
Among those in sports who have battled Hodgkin’s are former NHL star Mario Lemieux and Paul Allen, owner of the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trail Blazers.
According to the National Cancer Institute, there have been 8,510 new cases of Hodgkin’s diagnosed in the United States this year and 1,290 deaths.
National Cancer Institute
