Tommy Birch

tbirch@dmreg.com

AMES, Ia. — Mitchell Meyers was lying in bed trying to sleep when he received a mysterious call around 10:30 p.m. on Nov. 29.

Meyers, who was back home in The Woodlands, Texas, missed the call but checked his messages to hear a surprising voice: new Iowa State football coach Matt Campbell.

Campbell made sure that Meyers, an Iowa State defensive lineman battling Hodgkin’s lymphoma, was the first player he reached out to when he arrived in Ames.

“Just me introducing myself to him and extending anything that I could do or our new staff could do to help him out and wanted to make sure he knew he had a place on this football team,” Campbell said.

Meyers, a defensive end for the Cyclones, sat out the 2015 season after he was diagnosed that February. He began his treatment — 12 rounds of chemotherapy — in Iowa before heading home to finish up.

Meyers watched from Texas as Cyclones coach Paul Rhoads was fired. He then watched from afar as Campbell and a new staff was brought in.

“It’s definitely hard being at home living in (Texas) while I was so used to living in Ames with my roommates and playing football and going to school,” Meyers said. “I feel like I’m just kind of sitting here wasting time.”

It wasn’t easy for him to see it all taking place without him being there. Neither was the fact that things weren’t going to plan for him with his treatments.

After completing the 12 rounds of chemotherapy, Meyers returned to Texas in August to undergo radiation. That was put off when a PET scan revealed a tiny of piece of cancer that had been growing. He underwent a stem cell transplant to treat it.

“Once I came back to Houston, everything changed,” Meyers said. “It’s definitely been more of a grind then I was anticipating.”

Things have slowly started to look better for Meyers. He said the stem cell transplant helped and that radiation could finally start.

“I wouldn’t say right now that I’m cancer-free or anything like that but I’m definitely on the right track,” Meyers said. “I’m probably going to wait a couple of months to really make sure.”

The call from Campbell helped boost his spirits. Campbell, who phoned up a number of players during his first night in Ames, wanted Meyers to be his first call.

“My expectation was (for) him to get his butt back here and be ready to play for us,” Campbell said.

“It’s pretty impressive and what he’s been through and the ability to overcome — I think that’s the thing that football teaches us in life is you’ve got to overcome adversity and he’s a young man that has real-life adversity.”

Faith. Family. Football. The Matt Campbell story

Meyers had originally hoped to get back on the field for the 2015 season. But now his sights are set on 2016, and he even hopes to be around for spring ball but he won’t be able to compete since he’s not enrolled in school. Meyers, who missed the fall semester and this spring's semester, wants to start taking classes again in the summer. He’s already working out and hopes to once again be on the football field competing.

Since his diagnosis, Meyers has become a source of inspiration for his teammates. After Iowa State’s win over Northern Iowa in last year's season opener in Ames, Meyers was presented with the game ball. He’s also in the running for the Rare Disease Champion Award that fans can vote on.

But Meyers wants to be more than just an inspiration. He wants to be back making an impact on the football field again.

During the 2014 season, he started every game for the Cyclones — beginning it at defensive end before moving to the inside for the majority of the season. Meyers registered 30 tackles that season, the third-best by an Iowa State down lineman.

“My goals are the same,” Meyers said. “I’m looking to come back and make an impact on the team. I’m a football player. I’m not a cheerleader. I’ll do what I need to do but my goals are to come back and make an impact and to play.”