Probably should go on Vol board, but I don't have access.. plus he's an alltime SEC great and one of my favorite NFL players.

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Eric Berry left the field during a game in November 2014 and complained of chest pains. Shortly after, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The next time the Kansas City Chiefs safety returned to an NFL field, less than a year later, he looked as healthy as ever.

The comeback, one of the stories of the NFL season, was made possible through a medical strategy that doctors are marveling about: Due to a change in his chemotherapy regimen, Berry was able to work out and stay in shape while undergoing chemotherapy.

The move was so effective that those who saw Berry shortly after he finished chemotherapy in May were stunned. While working out with other NFL players in Florida in his first days since the treatment, Berry was joined by Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. “He looked like a friggin’ superhero. He was in there before anyone else, drenching sweat,” Kelce said. “You could tell this wasn’t his first day working out. I’d never seen anything like that.”

Berry and his Chiefs play the New England Patriots on Saturday in a divisional-round playoff game. The Chiefs, winners of 11 straight, are the hottest team in the NFL and the defense Berry anchors was the seventh-best in football this season.

“The fact that he was able to go through this and exercise and work out is truly amazing and astounding,” said Dr. Christopher Flowers, of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, who treated Berry.

According to Flowers, Berry elected to get all of his chemotherapy treatments through separate intravenous injections, or IVs, in his arms, not through the standard method of delivery, a so-called PICC line, which leaves a catheter in the body between treatments. The catheter is generally preferred because neither patients nor medical providers want to deal with needles and vein-punctures at each visit. But the problem for Berry, Flowers said, is that the catheter comes with a prohibition against heavy lifting—anything more than 10 pounds or a “heavy bag of groceries.” That just wasn’t going to work for Berry.

“Eric Berry is a guy who normally works out for his lunch break,” said Chiefs cornerback Sean Smith, a friend of Berry’s. “He’s not going to stop working out just because he’s fighting death.”

Flowers said that for most patients, he recommends taking off work for a period of time during chemotherapy treatments, and that the level of exercise they were doing prior to treatment should be resumed three to six months after treatment concluded.

Berry, obviously, was different. “I think there’s a physical and psychological boost from working out [during chemotherapy],” Flowers said. “You continue your usual activities, which is good and you keep muscle mass and maintain exercise tolerance.” He adds that the better your exercise tolerance, “you keep it at a level where you can perform activities,” which can be crucial during treatment when fatigue sets in.

Using IVs in chemotherapy “is unusual,” and a good idea for any patient wanting to lift weights, says Susan Lakoski, a cardiologist at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Flowers said that younger patients, particularly in their 20s, which is the peak age for Berry’s type of cancer, are opting for the IV treatment in order to attempt to continue their normal activities. Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is highly treatable, with five-year survival rates as high as 90%.

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Eric Berry stands on the sidelines during a preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals.

The case of Berry adds to a small but growing field of research suggesting that cancer doesn’t necessarily end athletic dreams and that exercise can help beat the disease. As yet, that research is decades behind the science showing the benefit of exercise for cardiac patients. “We know lots more about fluid replacement in sport than we do about exercise training during cancer treatment,” says Kenneth Martin, an elite masters runner in Indiana, whose battle with cancer prompted him to start the WorkOut Cancer Research Fund, to finance studies of the effect of exercise on cancer treatments.

Berry’s workouts began slowly. Berry said he started out with small goals, like five push-ups, and felt that each chemotherapy treatment wiped out any gains he made. But when he was done with chemotherapy, he said he’d gained one pound (which he attributed to his father’s cooking as well as the workouts). But the workout sessions, which grew in intensity as the treatment continued, allowed him to hit the ground running in May. His workouts in Florida featured “various speed drills, lifting,” said Kelce, and sessions on a self-powered treadmill that helps with the stride and burst.

“It’s not like he was gasping for air out there,” said Kelce, who added that he had trouble keeping up with Berry. When Berry returned to the Chiefs for training camp, the work clearly paid off: The team’s trainer said he could already bench press 275 pounds and squat 325 pounds. He was able to play in all 16 games this year and intercepted two passes.

The good news for athletic cancer patients is that Berry isn’t a medical miracle, says Lakoski. A high level of fitness post chemotherapy “is possible not just for pro athletes but for all patients,” she said.

Of course, chemotherapy often causes fatigue, making it all the harder to start doing exercise. But cancer patients who do manage to exercise feel less fatigued, more vital and exhibit greater aerobic capacity and physical function, research shows. Some research has also shown that fit cancer survivors are less likely to suffer recurrences.

While undergoing chemotherapy, “You think, ‘I’m tired. I don’t feel like exercising,’” says Martin, a former professional marathoner. “But of all the things you’re possibly facing—chemotherapy, radiation, surgery—exercise is the least difficult, and it can make a difference.”

A long-standing concern about intense exercise in cancer patients is that it might increase the risk that chemotherapy can pose to the heart. “Some of the old and some of the new chemotherapeutic agents can injure the heart so prudence dictates to stay active, but not to push it,” says Paul Thompson, chief of cardiology at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut. Because his weight fell during chemotherapy, Martin exercised on a stationary bike, which burns fewer calories than running.

Research has shown that low to moderate levels of exercise during chemotherapy isn’t associated with cardiac damage, says Lakoski. She says she advises athletic patients to “avoid intensity greater than 70% of your maximum effort” during chemotherapy. A former professional tennis player, Lakoski says she understands the athletic cancer patient’s desire to return to the field of play. In her experience, those who cut back during chemotherapy have regained their previous levels of fitness, she said.

On the other hand, she said she had also worked with athletes who “did extreme training during chemotherapy and had a drop in the heart function.”

Flowers said he couldn’t talk about monitoring the combined effects on Berry of exercise and chemotherapy. But before the season began, Berry was given a slew of tests, including cardiac exams, and passed every one of them, the Chiefs said, which gave them the green light for Berry to resume normal, NFL-level practices.

“He’s always trying to get better, he was always trying to make sure his body was strong enough to fight,” Smith said. “That’s him.”