One of the NFL's most influential owners has undergone a 10-month battle with two different forms of cancer.
Houston Texans owner Bob McNair told John McClain of the Houston Chronicle he was given a clean bill of health after receiving an experimental treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), surgery on the left side of his head and neck and 30 sessions of radiation.
"I've never been through anything like that, but two days ago, I was given a clean bill of health, so it was worth the pain and suffering," McNair, 77, told McClain on Wednesday. "I didn't think I was going to die. I knew some did. I knew there were some rumors. That's one of the reasons I'm talking about it."
McNair kept his health issue private. At the cancer center he went by an assumed name. During his therapy he got a key to the back door and was allowed to use the parking space of the center's CEO.
McNair brought the Texans to Houston in 2002 and sits as the chairman of the NFL finance committee.
The owner battled skin cancer for the past two decades and was diagnosed with CLL -- which grows more slowly than other types of leukemia -- six years ago. His treatment began in October, but he had to go through several rounds of radiation and surgery.
He said he's kicked the cancer and is focused on the Texans raising a Lombardi Trophy. He added at a news conference Thursday that he still plans to attend every home and away game this season.
"I don't want people to think it's something it's not," McNair said. "I'm not ill. I'm healthy. I'm not going anywhere. We've got Super Bowls to win."
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