Miracles can happen to anyone. Steve Rom, a sportswriter at the Ann Arbor News, never thought his friendship with a recently retired Super Bowl champion would last. Rod Payne, a member of the 2000 world champion Baltimore Ravens, and a former All-America center at the University of Michigan, never thought the camaraderie he shared with his teammates in the NFL could be found with a rookie reporter.
But when the two met by chance on Michigans campus early in the summer of 2001, they discovered they had a lot in common. Each was an only child raised by a working mother. Both felt a loss growing up without a father around.
Despite pressure from their peers (including Rods former teammates and Steves fellow writers) to end their friendshipathletes arent supposed to get along with reporters, after alltheir bond developed quickly.
When Steve took a short vacation to his native Los Angeles, three days of severe flu-like symptoms landed him in the hospital, where he received the most devastating news of his life. He was told he had leukemia.
Steve and Rods friendship was about to change forever.
Steve realized he would need a true champion by his sidesomeone used to battling tough opponentsif he was going to win this life-or-death game.
Having survived cancer as a child, Steve knew the challenges that lay ahead. He also knew that his first cancer was different: nobody told him he could have died back then.
