Celebrating Survivorship: Kyle Frazier

 

Just more than a year has passed since Glenn Hills High School football star Kyle Frazier was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He first noticed something was wrong on April 23, 2019 when he felt a large lump on his throat after a shower.

He is now a survivor, having rung his cancer-free bell four months after his original diagnosis. But during the pandemic he faces other obstacles preparing for his first season of college football at Savannah State University.

“You just get this certain type of feeling in you that you just have to get up and go,” Frazier said.

Frazier has been inventing new ways to stay in shape during quarantine, whether its filling up suitcases with rocks or using his little brother for a stay-at-home squat machine.

“We talk about all the time about a theme: ‘Find a way no matter what the circumstances’,” said Savannah State Head Coach Shawn Quinn. “He’s the living breathing example of that.”

Every time Frazier looks down at his shoes during his workouts he is remind of how far he has come. On his right shoe the words “the devil tried to play me and I didn’t lose” are written. On his left shoe the words read “I am a cancer survivor”.

“God gave me a second chance at life so i appreciate it every day,” Frazier said.

So when quarantine came around Frazier’s college coach, who stood by him through cancer treatment, knew he’d be able to handle it.

“For him all these other things are minor compared to what he’s been through and i think he feels like he’s playing with house money and he’s really fortunate,” said Quinn.

“Coach Quinn gave me a chance to come on this football team and play,” Frazier said. “I want to prove to everyone that i have what it takes.”

If you ask his coaches, they’ve been sold on Frazier from day one.

“To be blunt with you, the day he walked on the field he proved all he needed to prove because he beat something alot of people don’t,” Quinn said.

Frazier attacks quarantine with the same intensity that he did with cancer. He refuses to let a second chance pass him by.

“I gotta be a foot soldier for that team,” he said. “They never gave up on me, never pulled my scholarship, anything. I wanted to work hard for my guys, work hard for my team and just be great.”

Frazier and the Savannah State Tigers are scheduled to open the 2020 season at Livingstone College on Saturday, September 12th.

Just more than a year has passed since Glenn Hills High School football star Kyle Frazier was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He first noticed something was wrong on April 23, 2019 when he felt a large lump on his throat after a shower. 

He is now a survivor, having rung his cancer-free bell four months after his original diagnosis. But during the pandemic he faces other obstacles preparing for his first season of college football at Savannah State University.

“You just get this certain type of feeling in you that you just have to get up and go,” Frazier said.

Frazier has been inventing new ways to stay in shape during quarantine, whether its filling up suitcases with rocks or using his little brother for a stay-at-home squat machine.

“We talk about all the time about a theme: ‘Find a way no matter what the circumstances’,” said Savannah State Head Coach Shawn Quinn. “He’s the living breathing example of that.”

Every time Frazier looks down at his shoes during his workouts he is remind of how far he has come. On his right shoe the words “the devil tried to play me and I didn’t lose” are written. On his left shoe the words read “I am a cancer survivor”.

“God gave me a second chance at life so i appreciate it every day,” Frazier said.

So when quarantine came around Frazier’s college coach, who stood by him through cancer treatment, knew he’d be able to handle it.

“For him all these other things are minor compared to what he’s been through and i think he feels like he’s playing with house money and he’s really fortunate,” said Quinn.

“Coach Quinn gave me a chance to come on this football team and play,” Frazier said. “I want to prove to everyone that i have what it takes.”

If you ask his coaches, they’ve been sold on Frazier from day one.

“To be blunt with you, the day he walked on the field he proved all he needed to prove because he beat something alot of people don’t,” Quinn said.

Frazier attacks quarantine with the same intensity that he did with cancer. He refuses to let a second chance pass him by.

“I gotta be a foot soldier for that team,” he said. “They never gave up on me, never pulled my scholarship, anything. I wanted to work hard for my guys, work hard for my team and just be great.”

Frazier and the Savannah State Tigers are scheduled to open the 2020 season at Livingstone College on Saturday, September 12th.