Carolina Panthers defensive back Cortland Finnegan joined the team mid-season to provide depth in the secondary.
He came with a reputation of being a dirty player always trying to rile up opposing wide receivers, and often with great success, but off the field it’s a different story.
Finnegan’s first meeting with Kelsey Towns was by chance on a Tennessee Titans Children’s Hospital visit that he wanted to skip.
He didn't skip it and a young girl who was battling a cancerous tumor in her right leg smiling through treatment caught his eye.
“The excitement that we brought to her when she was going through chemo and we played football, just it kind of one of those things you can't put into words. Like, ‘Wow I'm not here for you. You're here for me,'” he said.
Finnegan left season tickets for Kelsey, who promised to attend every game despite weekly chemotherapy treatments.
PHOTOS: Cortland Finnegan and Kelsey Towns
“Seeing her there every game just meant the world to me. This young lady could battle that and her dad told me it was a way to get her mind off of it,” Finnegan said. “So I was helping, but I really wasn't sure she was strictly there for me.”
Kelsey was an athlete who never missed Nashville’s annual Boulevard Bolt on Thanksgiving Day, but due to her ongoing cancer treatments.
She knew she wouldn't be able to complete the 5K run until Finnegan stepped in.
“I didn't want her to miss it. She hadn't missed one since she was a young little lad,” Finnegan said.
If she couldn't run Finnegan would push her even racing Kelsey's dad beating him to the finish line.
“The fact that I could pay it forward and just do something meaningful to her it really meant the world to me and I was thankful that I got to push her because she didn't miss one,” Finnegan said.
It began a five years and counting friendship from Nashville to St. Louis, Miami and now Charlotte.
How close are they?
Finnegan named his daughter Lyla Kelsey.
“What of Kelsey's traits do you want your daughter to have?” Channel 9 sports anchor Phil Orban asked.
“Everything, I mean you're talking about resiliency the fight the fact you can put a smile on someone’s face in bad times. Just there's not one thing that I don't want my daughter to have from Kelsey,” Finnegan said.
Kelsey just celebrated five years being cancer free.
He came with a reputation of being a dirty player always trying to rile up opposing wide receivers, and often with great success, but off the field it’s a different story.
Finnegan’s first meeting with Kelsey Towns was by chance on a Tennessee Titans Children’s Hospital visit that he wanted to skip.
He didn't skip it and a young girl who was battling a cancerous tumor in her right leg smiling through treatment caught his eye.
“The excitement that we brought to her when she was going through chemo and we played football, just it kind of one of those things you can't put into words. Like, ‘Wow I'm not here for you. You're here for me,'” he said.
Finnegan left season tickets for Kelsey, who promised to attend every game despite weekly chemotherapy treatments.
PHOTOS: Cortland Finnegan and Kelsey Towns
“Seeing her there every game just meant the world to me. This young lady could battle that and her dad told me it was a way to get her mind off of it,” Finnegan said. “So I was helping, but I really wasn't sure she was strictly there for me.”
Kelsey was an athlete who never missed Nashville’s annual Boulevard Bolt on Thanksgiving Day, but due to her ongoing cancer treatments.
She knew she wouldn't be able to complete the 5K run until Finnegan stepped in.
“I didn't want her to miss it. She hadn't missed one since she was a young little lad,” Finnegan said.
If she couldn't run Finnegan would push her even racing Kelsey's dad beating him to the finish line.
“The fact that I could pay it forward and just do something meaningful to her it really meant the world to me and I was thankful that I got to push her because she didn't miss one,” Finnegan said.
It began a five years and counting friendship from Nashville to St. Louis, Miami and now Charlotte.
How close are they?
Finnegan named his daughter Lyla Kelsey.
“What of Kelsey's traits do you want your daughter to have?” Channel 9 sports anchor Phil Orban asked.
“Everything, I mean you're talking about resiliency the fight the fact you can put a smile on someone’s face in bad times. Just there's not one thing that I don't want my daughter to have from Kelsey,” Finnegan said.
Kelsey just celebrated five years being cancer free.
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