Houston Texans rookie wide receiver John Metchie III revealed Sunday that he'll be forced to forgo his rookie season after a critical health scare. Metchie announced via his Instagram on Sunday that he'd been diagnosed with Leukemia and would be forced to miss the 2022 NFL season in order to recover.
#Texans rookie 2nd round pick, WR John Metchie, has been diagnosed with Leukemia.
Hopefully he has a full and speedy recovery.pic.twitter.com/tq3mFZI0o6
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) July 24, 2022
Metchie revealed that he'd been diagnosed with APL, or Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia. Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia is described as “a blood cancer characterized by a marked increase in a type of white blood cells known as promyelocytes, a type of immature white blood cell,” per rarediseases.org. It's believed to impact roughly 600-800 individuals each year, though it's most commonly found in adult males around the age of 40.
APL is considered to be one of the most curable forms of Leukemia, as Metchie noted in his statement.
“I am currently receiving great medical care, am in good spirits and I expect to make a recovery at a later point in time. As a result of this diagnosis, I will likely not be playing football this season. My main focus will be on my health and recovery,” said Metchie in his statement.
Metchie was the Texans' second-round pick out of the University of Alabama. He was the 44th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. The 22-year-old featured in 13 games for the Crimson Tide last season, registering 96 receptions, 1,142 yards, and 8 touchdowns.
It's encouraging to see Metchie keeping his spirits up after such a scary health diagnosis. While he's not going to be suiting up for the Texans in 2022, the rookie wideout is confident that he'll get his football career back on track before long, and that this is just a hurdle along his path.
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