Adversity has strengthened Upper St. Clair native Cafaro
By Kevin Gorman
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Danny Cafaro knows the anniversary dates by heart. Not the type to celebrate, but mark survival. And Cafaro is nothing if not a survivor.
There is Jan. 15, 2006, when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. There is May 15, 2006, three days after his 19th birthday, when he was declared cancer-free.
Then there is today, the one-year anniversary of the massacre at Virginia Tech, where Cafaro was a student last spring when a gunman killed 33 people, including himself, in the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.
After staring death in the eye once and running from it a second time, the Upper St. Clair native is looking forward to circling a new date on his calendar this week. He will play for the Pitt football team for the first time, as a walk-on cornerback, in the annual Blue-Gold Game on Saturday.
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"It's an absolute dream-come-true," Cafaro said. "I remember being a little boy -- 8 years old when I started playing football -- and telling my parents, 'I want to play college football and in the NFL.' That's every kid's dream. The first game when I step on the field and get some playing time, it's going to be surreal. But I'm looking forward to it."
'Pale. Bald. Ugly.'
At Upper St. Clair, Cafaro was an undersized overachiever, a 5-foot-9, 160-pound receiver-cornerback who was a big-play specialist.
He scored touchdowns by run and catch, by interception and punt return. More impressively, he blocked 14 kicks in his career, a sign of the fearlessness he displayed on the field.
Cafaro was named to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Terrific 25. True to his sense of humor, he had a T-shirt made for his summer softball team with "Mr. Terrific" printed on its back.
Despite his quickness -- he runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds -- Cafaro was overlooked by Division I schools and decided to walk-on at Virginia Tech, where his older brother, Jimmy, was a student.
Yet, when it came time to try out for the Hokies, Cafaro felt worn down and passed on tryouts.
"None of us knew what was wrong because his passion for football we thought would never die -- and it just went away," said his mother, Cindy. "He never let on that he was as sick as he was."
In mid-September, Cafaro discovered a lump on the left side of his neck while shaving. He worried that he had mononucleosis, and showed his mother over Thanksgiving weekend. They decided to get him checked a few weeks later, when he and Jimmy returned for Christmas break.
Initial tests proved negative, but doctors referred Danny to an ear, nose and throat specialist. A biopsy discovered Hodgkin's lymphoma, the same type of cancer Penguins owner Mario Lemieux overcame as a player in the early 1990s.
"It's something you never imagine happening to you," Cafaro said.
Cafaro spent six months undergoing chemotherapy. He lost 30 pounds, dropping to 127, and watched as every hair follicle fell out.
"Every hair," Cafaro said. "Arm hair. Armpit hair. Eyebrows. Eyelashes. ... I was just a straight stick. Pale. Bald. Ugly."
Cafaro credits two Upper St. Clair women who had overcome cancer with pulling him through: Barb Lloyd, Cindy Cafaro's best friend; and the late Cindy Serdy, the mother of Danny's best friend, Jake.
They visited on the same day, just after everyone else had returned to school for the spring semester, and shared their stories and gave him strength to join them as cancer survivors.
Jimmy Cafaro and Jake Serdy shaved their heads in a show of support. But they were away at school for many of the bad days, when Danny couldn't get out of bed and couldn't get through chemo treatments without getting sick.
Not that he ever let it affect his attitude.
"He was amazing," Cindy Cafaro said. "He was the strong one some days when the rest of us were falling apart."
'It was chaos'
Cafaro was cleared of the cancer that spring, and the first thing he wanted to know was if he would be able to play football. Doctors warned him it would be months before his body would be ready to handle such rigors, so Cafaro decided to walk-on at Virginia Tech the next spring.
Jimmy joined him in another show of support, and they trained hard for their tryout. Both were convinced that they were the best of the candidates, yet Virginia Tech coaches took two other defensive backs instead.
Danny believes the cancer played a role.
"I think that's the reason they didn't take me."
Cafaro already had decided to transfer to Pitt and contacted Bob Junko, director of football relations and program enhancement, to see if the Panthers were interested when Virginia Tech's campus became a mass-murder scene.
Cafaro was in class as Virginia Tech senior Seung-Hui Cho, a native of South Korea, was shooting victims in nearby Norris Hall. When Cafaro's teacher received an e-mail about a campus shooting, she dismissed the class and he started walking to his car.
"It's weird because there was so much construction that I didn't know if it was hammers or gun shots," Cafaro said. "Then the PA speaker came on and it was chaos."
That date, April 16, 2007, is reserved as the second-worst day in the Cafaro's lives. Cindy kept an e-mail her sons forwarded home, one that is haunting for the family.
"It made you want to cry and gave you chills at same time," she said. "We're a hunting family that shoots rifles at a range, so to shoot a gun or hear a gunshot is not a frightening thing for us. But to hear those gunshots and know people were dying affected him in a way none of us will ever know."
'An inspirational story'
Cafaro started classes at Pitt last fall, joining the Panthers after training camp. He spent the season on the scout team.
"When you first see him, you look at him and -- he's a smaller kid; let's not lie -- you say, 'OK, he's a walk-on. Let's see what he's got,'" Pitt secondary coach Jeff Hafley said. "When he gets on the field, he's got incredible ability. He's got great ball skills, quick feet, he can run, he's tough and he's a hard worker in the classroom.
"Then you hear about everything he's been through and you almost have to take a step back and say, 'This kid's got it.' There's something inside that he has that makes him a winner and allows him to compete out here at a high level and do a good job. It surprises you. After a while you say, 'This isn't a fluke. This kid could play.' He's battled throughout and persevered in life. The kid's a winner."
Cafaro's highlight came when he earned scout team player of the week for his practice play and was rewarded with the chance to travel and dress for a game at Virginia. Jimmy made the two-hour drive from Blacksburg to Charlottesville to see his younger brother wearing a uniform on the sidelines even though Danny never played in the 44-14 loss.
"I think it meant the world to him," Jimmy Cafaro said. "It was one of those things he never gave up on. A lot of kids who had cancer and went through what he went through would have just laid back and let it go. He wanted to go out and prove to everyone who said he was too small -- college recruiters told him if he was bigger they would have offered a scholarship -- and prove everyone wrong."
Danny has done that this spring, taking snaps with the second-team defense. Cafaro had two interceptions in one practice and another in the team's first scrimmage, breaking up several other passes in the end zone.
"I told my players after the scrimmage: 'Dan's paying his way to come here. Don't kid yourself. He's an athlete,'" Pitt defensive coordinator Phil Bennett said. "He has a great passion for football, and there's a place for that on this team."
Cafaro has worked his way onto Pitt's kickoff and punt coverage units, and gained the confidence of his coaches. Turns out, his penchant for blocking kicks might prove to be his biggest asset.
"When we start in August, if he proves he can help our team, heck, I'm going to use him," Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. "You really appreciate the fortitude and his attitude. I can't imagine what it would be like to go through that. He's an inspiration to our whole team."
It's all Cafaro ever wanted, to be part of the team and play college football. He has reminders of the obstacles that stood in his way, wearing an orange bracelet to signify the Virginia Tech shootings and a picture of the three-inch scar and draining tube in the left side of his neck from the cancer in his locker.
"Personally, I think it's a little more satisfying to know I had to overcome this," Cafaro said. "Everything was stacked up against me. You've got to keep working. Don't let things get you down. You have to stay positive. It's funny because some days you're tired and hurting a little bit and don't feel like practicing.
"That's why I hung that picture in my locker. It's a reminder: You've been through this. A 2 1/2-hour practice? You can get through that."
