Great story about Devonta Lee defeating cancer

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“I came from nothing,” professed wide receiver Devonta Lee back in 2019. To truly understand Devonte Lee’s story, you’ve got to go back to his roots. “I came from a small town called Fluker. I grew up in a house with rats and roaches and stuff like that,” said Lee. A four-star recruit out of Amite High, he lived for football. “That’s all he liked to do from day one. From little on up he played football all his life. That’s all he liked to do. He always go to the gym. Seven days a week. He would get the key. He always had a key, and go workout. When no one else is working, he working,” said Devonta’s mother, Lacresia Lee. That work ethic, fueled by his love of family “I know my family is depending on me. So I got to make it happen for them,” said Lee. For Lee, making that happen meant playing big time college football on the way to a career in the NFL. At first, that path was paved in Purple and Gold. The wide receiver stayed at home, signing with the LSU Tigers. The decision paid off right away. “Championship my first year, the SEC championship, the Peach Bowl. That was amazing. My first year and I played my freshman year, caught two passes, 27 yards, and I played special teams,” said Lee. Lee did earn a championship ring, but in the following years he didn’t see his playing time increase. In 2022, Devonta left Baton Rouge for Ruston, to play for Louisiana Tech. His mom said, at first, it wasn’t an easy choice. “Our family members. None of them wanted him to go. But we had to go off the decision he wanted to make. It’s not good for us to make a decision for him, we got to let him make a decision for himself. It was tough. It was tough for him too, because he loved that school,” said Lacresia Lee. But for Lee, it was a chance to start over with a new team, and a new family. “Louisiana Tech, they showed me a lot of love. They were after me hard. When I came up here, it was like a family thing,” said Lee. But just months into his next chapter. Lee’s body started to break down.

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“I start going through my drills. I got to the fourth drill. I’m running, I’m doing a top-of-the-route drill. I start running, and my back starts getting tight. I started feeling pain. Like someone had shocked me. Coach told me we had to stop,” said Lee. Lee visited a doctor. The test results, a bombshell. “The doctor said call the family members in. He had to have a talk with us. When he let us knew what was going on with him, my heart dropped. I cried,” said Lacresia Lee. Devonta was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer. “God puts us through adversity. Adversity only makes you strong. You got to keep your faith, your hope, and you got to believe too,” said Lee. Lee would need two surgeries, 10 weeks of chemotherapy and seven weeks of radiation. “The doctor was talking to me about it,” Lacresia Lee said. “He said, ‘You need to be strong for him.’ I told the doctor he was strong for me. He was there for me, trying to calm me down. Instead of me calming him down. I’m going to tell you something, Devonta is a strong young man. He never cracked. I’ve never seen anything like that. He never cried in front of me. I can say that. Never cried in front of me. Day 1, he was never crying. I was the one doing all the crying.” For a year, Lee fought. And eventually, he conquered the disease. “It felt great just ringing the bell (signifying he was cancer-free),” Lee said. “Because some people don’t get to ring the bell. It’s just a blessing. If some people could take a walk in my shoes. It’s been a long process. I ain’t ever going to give up.” Now Lee is back in Ruston, restoring a body once ravaged by cancer. “His mentality, he’s always positive, has a smile on his face, he’s very uplifting. There’s just an energy of life that he brings to myself, to the other coaches and to our players when he’s in our facility,” said Louisiana Tech head football coach Sonny Cumbie. “He said, ‘Momma, I can’t stop.’ He said, ‘I feel good, ain’t nothing hurting on me.’ He said, ‘I’m ready to go. It’s go time.’ I said, ‘OK, son, momma behind ya,’” Lacresia Lee said.

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Chemotherapy, radiation, surgery. Lee battled cancer and come out victorious. Now, he’s ready to for another opponent, the Nicholls State Colonels. That’s who the Bulldogs face off against in their regular-season opener. “Man, it’s going to feel great. I’m going to have the chills because I miss it. I really want to be back out there. I’m not going to let anything stop me from being out there,” said Lee. “He’s got a fighters spirit. He fights. He’s beaten extreme odds before, this would not surprise me one bit. The road is very long in terms of recovery, in terms of getting his body ready to play college football, the wear and tear and grind on his body. If anyone is going to be able to do it, it’s D-Lee,” said Cumbie.

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