After Fighting Cancer, Can David Quessenberry Return To The Texans In 2015?

By Randy Gurzi | Mar 1, 2015

Tackle David Quessenberry was the Houston Texans sixth round pick in the 2013 draft. Before being picked his draft profile on NFL.com likened him to current Dallas Cowboys right tackle, Doug Free. Mike Mayock raved about his ability to understand angles and how he was blocking everybody at the senior bowl.

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A young man who was only 240 pounds when he started college, bulked up to just over 300 pounds by the end of his senior year. The Texans took him with the hopes he would continue to add strength to go along with his awareness.

Sadly for Quessenberry he spent his rookie season on the injured reserve after breaking his foot. The young man would have to wait until the 2014 season to try and prove his worth.

That’s when it got much worse. In June of 2014 Quessenberry sought medical attention after a lingering cough and sense of fatigue. What he was told was life shattering.

David, only 23 at the time, thought he had a chest cold, but was told he had Non-Hodgkin T Lymphoblastic Lymphoma. A cancer which harms the white blood cells and makes it hard for the body to fight off infection.

The team placed him on the non-football injury list, and they have made sure to let him know he is not alone. Teammates Chris Myers, center, and Duane Brown, tackle, launched a campaign to raise funds. They helped start up t-shirt sales with the slogan “Texans for DQ.”

What was even more touching was during an October game against the Indianapolis Colts, DQ was made an honorary captain for Houston. An honor for which David was very grateful.

"“Going out for the coin toss will be awesome,” Quessenberry said in a phone interview. “My biggest thing is raising awareness for the young adults of America to understand what lymphoma is, to understand it’s about getting diagnosed early so you can attack it and beat it and live a long, healthy life afterward.”"

Even the opposing team was touched by Quessenberry, most likely because it hit so close to home. Colts head coach Chuck Pagano is a survivor of leukemia, and missed most of his rookie coaching season to battle the illness. Pagano has helped DQ throughout his treatment and even wore an “Indianapolis for DQ” shirt during practice.

The story has a happy ending as recently it was reported that David is now in remission. He will still have to undergo a 30 day long maintenance therapy, which will include low doses of chemotherapy, but through it all David says he wants to play football again. And he said he wants to play in 2015.

"“I’m back into it,” Quessenberry said. “We’re training every day. We’re enjoying this offseason time. I’m just using every day to get back to where I was before it happened. I know it’s not going to take a week or a month, but hopefully in time I can get back to that point. .. Every day I feel myself getting stronger. Feel myself getting better.”"

While DQ may not be ready to step in and be a fixture on the line in 2015, his presence could be a huge motivational factor for the team that has supported him throughout this battle. I know that I am pulling for him to make a return, and hopefully a positive impact on the field as well one day.

“Toro Times or DQ!”

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