Tackling Obstacles On and Off the Field

In many ways, Timmy Ward is a typical college senior, majoring in sociology and playing football for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights – a Big Ten powerhouse. However, what most people don’t know is what he has had to overcome to get here.

Growing up in Pennsylvania, Timmy was always a talented athlete who excelled in sports. In high school, he participated in football, wrestling, track, and baseball before concentrating on football and wrestling to pursue his lifelong dream of playing college football.

Everything was going according to plan until July 2018, the summer before his junior year in high school, when Timmy first noticed a swollen lymph node under his right armpit. Initially, he didn’t think much of it and figured it would go away on its own. However, much to his dismay, the lump grew. He also began to feel out of shape, which didn’t make sense to him, as he was exercising vigorously. Timmy began to realize that something had to be wrong.

At the end of the fall 2018 football season, Timmy went to Penn State Medical Center to get checked out and was ultimately diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). The diagnosis caught Timmy and his close-knit family completely off guard.

“I was scared and confused at first, with my mind going all over the place,” explained Ward. “I didn’t know what treatment would be like, and part of me was wondering, ‘Why me?’ But once I accepted the fact that I had lymphoma, I realized that this was something I needed to deal with.”

Timmy’s parents shared the news of his diagnosis with his teachers and coaches, explaining that he would be missing much of the rest of the school year to focus on treatment. “The first week of treatment was rough – I was nauseous and sick,” said Ward. “By the third week, I received a blood transfusion, which helped, but my life quickly became two treatments one week, one treatment the next, one week off, repeat.”

Timmy began treatment the first week of December 2018 and completed it in late February 2019. His entire family – including parents, grandparents, sisters, and cousins – came with him to the hospital to help celebrate his final treatment and watch as he rang the bell to mark his final day of treatment.

“Being able to do that with my whole family there was really cool – it was more about finally being able to breathe freely without any weight on our shoulders. I still had a port in my chest, and I was happy just to be with my family and to be able to finally relax with them without the worry of treatment looming.”

Timmy was declared cancer-free on May 1, 2019, and looked forward to the day he could rejoin his team on the football field again.

“One thing that became clear to me real fast was that the simple things in life – like being able to play football and be with my family – these are the most important things to me,” said Ward. “Sometimes, you can take the monotony of life for granted, but when that’s taken from you, you really miss it, and you realize how special it all is.”

Having missed the rest of the 2019 school year and football season, Timmy returned to finish his junior year in the fall of 2019. He had lost more than 20 pounds during treatment, but as soon as his chemo port was removed and his energy had returned, he was ready to hit the ground running. He began lifting weights and training to build back his former football frame and started practicing with his high school team again in August of 2020.

“Everyone did so much to support me and my family – it had a huge impact on me,” he said. “One of the other teams we were playing in a tournament raised money on my behalf, and I didn’t even know anyone in that area. It blew my mind how people wanted to help me.”

Another Setback

Timmy’s return to football came with its own challenges. In one of his first games back, he tore his ACL, requiring knee surgery, which meant that he was sidelined again. Having already made it through lymphoma treatment, Timmy buckled down to begin the long road to recovery.

During his senior year in high school, when it was time to select a college, Timmy still had his sights set on playing Big Ten football. But having missed so much of the prior season due to injury, his chances seemed slim. Then, an opportunity presented itself when Rutgers offered him a position as an equipment manager for the football team with a chance to try out for the team at the end of the season. He accepted the position and took the job as seriously as he had taken football.

That dedication paid off, and after a successful tryout, Timmy was offered a spot on the team as a walk-on in 2022. He has played in 22 games over the last two seasons, helping the team to a winning season in 2023. In the Pinstripe Bowl last December, Timmy made a pivotal play that changed the trajectory of the game. Down 17-14 in the third quarter, Timmy’s teammate blocked a punt by the opposing team, and Timmy quickly secured the ball in the end zone and scored a touchdown to give Rutgers the lead. Rutgers went on to defeat the University of Miami 31-24.

“I was excited when I got to come back and play, as it’s always been my dream to play Division 1 football,” said Ward. “My parents were even able to watch me play at Penn State this past year. Since I’m from Pennsylvania originally, playing on the field I had grown up idolizing was a cool full-circle moment.”

Helping Others Stay Positive

With his lymphoma at bay and his college football career taking off, Timmy has recently gotten involved with the Lymphoma Research Foundation and has a strong desire to give back. “I want to help others going through a lymphoma diagnosis get through the hard stuff because I know how I felt when I was going through it,” he said. “You don’t get taught what to do when you’re diagnosed with cancer in school, and you have to figure it out on your own. I want to be a mentor and to help people get through those tough times.”

Timmy credits much of his recovery and subsequent football success to staying positive. “You need to let the people around you love you and encourage you,” he said. “Only you know what you can and can’t do, so do your best to stay positive. The Foundation is great at connecting people and sharing their stories. Just knowing that other people have gone through the same stuff you’re going through and have come out on the other side gives you hope that you can do it too.”