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Title Edit: Devon Still's Daughter has Cancer.

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Bengals use Still jerseys for charity
Updated: September 9, 2014, 5:28 PM ET
By Coley Harvey | ESPN.com
  Still's Case Remarkable In Sports
John Saunders breaks down why the Bengals' decision to keep defensive tackle Devon Still on the team's practice squad goes against the norm in a money-driven business.

CINCINNATI -- Devon Still continues to have the feel-good story in professional sports.

Late Monday, the Cincinnati Bengals announced via their website they were donating all proceeds from sales of Still's jersey to pediatric cancer research.

Less than 24 hours later, a team official told ESPN.com that more of the practice squad defensive tackle's black No. 75 jerseys had been sold in that time span than any jersey featuring any other Bengals player ever.

Ever?

"Ever," Jeff Berding, the Bengals' director of sales and public affairs, said. He didn't have an exact number of sales at the time.

Still is the defensive lineman who was cut by the Bengals two weeks ago when the team had to reach its 53-man roster limit before later welcoming him back as part of the practice squad. Coaches originally cut him because injuries had derailed some of his playing ability in the preseason.

They also could tell he wasn't fully invested in football while dealing with the stresses of the Stage 4 cancer his 4-year-old daughter, Leah, is currently battling.

She's been given a 50-50 chance at surviving.

"I wanted to make the roster, but I have a lot of stuff going on right now that I can't give football 100 percent," Still said to reporters last Monday. "[The team] could have just washed their hands completely of it. Said, 'We don't care what's going on in his personal life, we just want people who can care 100 percent on football.' That's, after all, what they pay us to do."

In keeping Still on the practice squad, the Bengals helped ensure he'd have the league's health insurance to pay for Leah's treatments. Still said those medical costs could reach $1 million.

In an interview with ESPN.com last Friday, Still reiterated that he wanted to use this negative in his and his family's life, and turn it into a positive for others. The jersey sale is one way he's trying to give back. He also has a donation program through a fundraising website that allows people to pledge money for every sack the Bengals' defense gets this season. Sunday at Baltimore, the Bengals sacked Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco three times, including once on a game-sealing fourth-down stop in the final two minutes.

"One of the things we took into consideration before we made it public that my daughter had cancer was that my daughter's not fighting this for no reason," Still said. "That at least what we get out of this battle is that more people start to know about childhood cancer and more people decide to start helping with it so that families don't have to go through it by themselves."

Berding said the team wanted to get involved with Still's fundraising efforts because it has been "overwhelmed by the support locally and nationally" that has been extended toward both the Bengals and Still. Berding said the team has had a steady stream of emails since last week from people asking for ways they can help Still and his cause.

One woman from Wyoming emailed Monday saying that since she didn't have an NFL team in her state she had options of teams to choose. According to Berding, she's now choosing the Bengals.

"Literally, that's what it's been all day," Berding said.

At points Tuesday, the team's pro shop website crashed from the response for Still's jersey.

All proceeds from the jersey -- it costs $100 and is only sold through the Bengals -- will go to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital's pediatric research efforts. Along with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the hospital where Leah has been receiving treatments, Cincinnati Children's ranks among the top 3 medical centers for childhood cancer research in the country, according to the U.S. News & World Report.

 

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11495863/devon-cincinnati-bengals-jersey-sales-aid-pediatric-cancer-research?ex_cid=espnapi_public

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bubba Hall Of Fame

bubba

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PFT is reporting that Still's agent has claimed the Bengals added him off the practice squad, fwiw.

Looks like it thx.
Drew Rosenhaus ✔ @RosenhausSports
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Congrats to @Dev_Still71 on being signed to the Bengals active roster. Thanks to the Bengals organization for all their support
7:28 PM - 9 Sep 2014
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Jamie_B Hall Of Fame

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http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Bengals-moving-Still-back-to-roster-TE-Otten-signed-to-practice-squad/440abb9d-fb07-481b-90e7-89919d1c291e

 

Also signed a TE, somewhat surprised it wasnt Charles.

 

 

 

Bengals moving Still back to roster; TE Otten signed to practice squad

 

Devon Still back on Bengals roster

still140120_630.jpg

Devon Still back on Bengals roster

 

The Bengals are staying in-house to sign that 53rd man.

 

Defensive tackle Devon Still signed back to the Bengals active roster Wednesday morning as the Bengals began preparations for Sunday’s Paul Brown Stadium 1 p.m. opener against the Falcons.

 

The signing came a day after the Bengals announced Still’s No. 75 jersey went on sale in the Bengals Pro Shop with all proceeds benefitting Cincinnati Children’s Hospital & Pediatric Cancer Care and set a one-day record for sales.

 

Still went on the practice squad last week with a hamstring injury, but circumstances have sped up his return to the roster.

 

Admitting he couldn’t “give football 100 percent,” as he deals with four-year-old daughter Leah’s Stage 4 cancer, Still transitioned to the practice squad after the Bengals cut him to get to the final 53 on Aug. 30.

 

“I try to always look at the positive of things,” Still said last week. “Of course if I came back out here I wanted to make the roster but I have a lot of stuff going on right now that I can’t give football 100 percent. I have many conversations with them and they have seen I can’t do it right now. They could have just washed their hands completely of it. ‘We don’t care what’s going on in his personal life we just want people who can care 100 percent on football, that’s what they pay us to do.’

But since this is the NFL, things change rapidly.

 

"We have an open roster spot, and this is the best football move we can make to fill it,” said head coach Marvin Lewis in a news release “We think Devon is ready to rejoin our line rotation and be productive. It already was stated that a big reason Devon opened on the practice squad was that he couldn’t fully focus on football this preseason. He had to take care of his daughter (Leah, four, diagnosed with cancer). But Devon has told us he feels ready to contribute now, so it’s the right move at the right time. And we’ve told Devon he can still be afforded the personal time he needs to attend to his daughter’s care.”

 

Rookie cornerback

Darqueze Dennard’s hip tightened up late last week and they had to go to the practice squad to sign cornerback Onterio McCalebb to help the Bengals fill Dennard’s gunner position on the punt coverage team in last Sunday’s 23-16 victory over the Ravens.

 

The odd man out was Christo Bilikudi, the guy that beat out Still for the roster. The Bengals cut McCalebb Monday and put him back on the practice squad Wednesday. By then Bilikudi had been claimed by the Ravens and Kevin Vickerson, the former Broncos defensive tackle who worked out for the Bengals last week, signed with the Chiefs this week.

 

The Bengals still have the same kind of regard they for Still when they made him a second-round pick in 2012 when he came out of Penn State as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. With his career slowed by his daughter’s battle and his own set of health issues since he came into the league, they’re giving him time to get back on track.

 

It remains to be seen if he’ll be active Sunday. Another roster spot may be open this week if they decide to put Tyler Eifert on injured reserve-recall with what is thought to be a dislocated elbow. If they do that, and that situation appears to be in flux, it would have to be assumed the player replacing him is going to be inactive.

The Bengals played just seven defensive linemen in Baltimore and they could go that way again de-activating Still and rookie end Will Clarke.

 

The Bengals signed first-year player Ryan Otten to the practice squad Wednesday, giving them two tight ends on the squad who have yet to play in an NFL game. The 6-6, 241-pound Otten, undrafted out of San Jose, played in San Diego this past preseason and had one catch for 15 yards in three games. He was waived Aug. 26. after spending  most of the 2013 season on the Chargers practice squad.

 

Otten is known more as a receiver than a blocker. He averaged about 15 yards per catch in colllege with reported 40-yard dash times of  a solid 4.69 and 4.76 to go with a 33-inch vertical jump. He missed the 2013 NFL scouting combine with a life-threatening staph infection that developed from a cut in his finger, according to reports.

 

 

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oldschooler Hall Of Fame

oldschooler

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Sean Payton moved to buy 100 Still jerseys
September, 10, 2014


 

 
METAIRIE, La. -- The feel-good story of the day from New Orleans Saints camp comes courtesy of an awesome gesture by coach Sean Payton. 

Payton purchased 100 jerseys of Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Devon Still on Wednesday after the team announced that proceeds of his jersey sales would go toward pediatric cancer research. Still’s 4-year-old daughter is battling Stage 4 pediatric cancer. 

Payton was moved by the story after he heard about it on the radio during his drive home on Tuesday night, according to a source, and he decided to purchase the jerseys out of his own pocket. 

 

 

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-orleans-saints/post/_/id/9468/payton-moved-to-buy-100-still-jerseys

 

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