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Cancer recurs; Panther to miss season
The Associated Press
Updated: 1:32 p.m. ET May 5, 2005

Carolina Panthers linebacker Mark Fields missed the 2003 season while he battled the disease but returned last year to earn a trip to the Pro Bowl.


Pro Bowl linebacker Fields rediagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Carolina Panthers linebacker Mark Fields will miss the 2005 season after a recurrence of Hodgkin’s disease, his agent said Thursday.

Fields, 32, sat out the 2003 season while he battled the disease but returned last year to earn a trip to the Pro Bowl. He declined to sign Carolina’s offer of a contract extension in March, saying he wanted to wait until after an annual medical checkup that was part of the cancer treatment.

Doctors discovered during tests this week that the Hodgkin’s disease has returned and is in its early stages, agent Jim Steiner said.

“Obviously, our first concern is Mark’s health and our prayers are with him as he goes through this process,” Panthers general manager Marty Hurney said. “We knew this was a possibility, but we certainly weren’t hoping this was the case. Our main concern right now is to be as supportive as we can to Mark.”

As Fields cleaned out his locker on the final day of the season, he said he only wanted to play for the Panthers and joked that he would re-sign for $2.

He had 60 tackles, four sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and one interception last season and was named a first alternate to the Pro Bowl. Fields played in the game for the second time in his career as an injury substitute.

He was honored in March at the 27th Annual Ed Block Courage Awards for courage and sportsmanship. One player from every team is chosen for the award by his teammates.

The news comes less than three weeks after Panthers linebackers coach Sam Mills died after a nearly two-year battle with intestinal cancer. He was 45. Fields was an honorary pallbearer at Mills’ funeral.

Mills first delivered news of his disease in August 2003, two weeks after the team learned that Fields had cancer.