49ers Coach Johnny Holland Inspires with ‘Blessed’ Mindset Amid Cancer Battle

49ers Coach Johnny Holland Inspires with ‘Blessed’ Mindset Amid Cancer Battle

How 49ers LB coach Holland maintains ‘blessed’ mindset in battle with cancer originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay AreaAs the 49ers prepare for battle on the gridiron, linebackers coach Johnny Holland has fought a different kind of battle off the field over the past four yearsThe 58-year-old was diagnosed before San Francisco and the incurable cancer of the 2019 NFL season, multiple myeloma. But one Super Bowl and two NFC Championship games later, Holland continues to coach a star-studded man.

The linebacker group is poised to step into its fourth playoff game in five campaigns this Saturday. Week 13 game against the Philadelphia Eagles, where the linebacker coach shared how he stays positive in the face of a gruesome illness. The sportswriter shared this story in his book andquot;Soccer Morning Americasandquot; column on Monday.”I was like, ‘Man, I’m just blessed to have this day.

‘ But now it’s like, OK, really, I’m blessed to have another day,” Holland told King during their trip to UCSF Medical Center. in San Francisco. andquot;When they hook me up to an IV, that reminds you that this is serious. Like, you can live another day with this treatment.

 

“People don’t like to talk about it, but we” are all going to die. You don’t have a deadline in life. One person knows my deadline: God. …”Accomplishing your purpose while here is more important than trying to figure out how long you will live.

“Holland is in his seventh season with the 49ers and his fourth as the team and linebacker coach. A recurrence of the disease in 2021 forced him to relinquish his role with the 49ers beginning in September 2021 until he officially returned the following spring.

Now in the Netherlands and number 039 in his 22nd season as an NFL assistant, the coach is returning to work after undergoing treatment to attack an incurable disease.”When he first told me he was doing it, I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?'” Holland’s sister Samantha Shenoy told King.

“It’s amazing to me that he can do all this and keep going.”Under Holland’s tutelage, 49ers star linebacker Fred Warner earned First Team All-Pro status and made the Pro Bowl three times – in 2020, 2022 and 2023.

The players he coaches respect Holland, and Warner is no different from King. leadership and love for life never subsides despite his cancer, and that approach has spread to the All-Pro.”When you first meet Johnny,” Warner told King, “you never know anything is wrong.

The life he brings, the energy he brings day in and day out is incredible. Sometimes I have to pinch me and remember to conclude that he is. Something serious happened. How can you look at that as one of his players and think, ‘Man, you know, I’m just not feeling it today.

I’m taking it off today.andquot;I got the plan from there. I have a man who gives his all in the hardest times. It’s probably one of the greatest blessings I’ve had in my career to be able to see that every day.”Holland told King that he never thinks, “Why me?””I’m glad it’s . me me and no one else I love,” Holland said.

“God built me ​​for this. I learned in sports that the game is not over until there is no time left on the clock. One second left and you have a chance.

And now, this is the game of my life that I’m playing.”Holland’s “blessed and” mentality is definitely one that every 49ers player should aspire to. Both from San Francisco and the defensive backs to the linebackers coach, his influence both on and off the field is clear..