CFL great Dick Thornton battling lung cancer

Dick Thornton has fought through adversity before, time and time again. Broken ankles, knee injuries, discarded as being too old to play. He returned from all those challenges as good - if not better - than before.

He'll try to do it again, in the face of his toughest obstacle yet, after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

The 74-year old CFL great, as well-known for his charisma as his spectacular abilities on both offence and defence during a career that flourished first in Winnipeg and then with a legendary group of gadabouts known as the Toronto Argonauts, vows to meet this latest challenge with the same determination he's always displayed.

"Approaching 75 years of age, one gets that sixth sense things might go haywire at any time but (I) will tackle this disease with the same renegade/maverick attitude that took me to the pinnacle of success on the gridiron," Thornton wrote in an email from his home in Makati City, the Philippines.

When facing football foes, Thornton most often took the optimistic route, playing with a confidence and feistiness that made him about as valuable and entertaining player as there was, and a fan favourite. No surprise, then, that the man known as 'Tricky Dick' will attempt to meet this most serious of challengers with the same straight-ahead approach.

Thornton surmises that a tumour may have been present for some time, as he noticed a change in his general health in late 2012 or early 2013.

"A tumor was discovered in my left lung a few months ago and must have been there for quite sometime because I've had a nagging cough and cold for maybe 18 months. Yet, nothing has changed - I still feel good and don't look sick though I have lost 10 kilos in weight," he wrote.

With the cough persisting, Thornton took his doctor's advice and decided to have specialists investigate. The fates of some of his friends over the years played a part in his decision not to just shrug things off.

"I've lost a lot of friends because they were too scared of a negative diagnosis and wouldn't get checked out. When they finally did wheeling them into the hospital on a stretcher, it was too late."

Chest x-rays taken in February revealed Thornton had a spot in his lung, just above his heart. A C-scan and a biopsy confirmed the diagnosis; that he had developed adenocarcinoma, the most common of lung cancers. It's treatable in many cases and there is the hope that the cancer will go no farther.

What happens next is entirely dependent on what Thornton's doctors see in a new round of tests, scheduled for Monday. Now that the cancer has been identified in one of his lungs, it is important to know if it is migrating to other parts of his gridiron-tested body.

"Monday (I) will have a bone scan, an ultra-sound for the liver, brain scan and more blood tests because she (Thornton's physician, Dr. Denky Dela Rosa) said that's where the cancer cells head for first."

"We have ruled out surgery, chemo, hospital layovers and radiation because of my age so depending on the results of the next steps, will determine whether there is some magic formula or I just ride it out," Thornton wrote of his prognosis. Then added, with typical humour; "there is always the 'witch doctor' in Olongapo. Still figure I have a few more quality years left and will not give up my lifestyle."

That lifestyle has been one of legendary stuff, all footloose and swinging from the chandeliers. It's also how Thornton carried out his play on the field, whether ball-hawking as a defensive back (his highlights include a clutch interception in the late stages of the 1971 Grey Cup Game) or as a running back or receiver, not to mention the times he filled in as a quarterback, as well as his service on special teams.

Thornton claims he is not fearful about the new series of tests that are coming his way, writing that he sees no reason to be alarmed, choosing to believe that the cancer is not creeping.

"(We'll) see if the cancer has spread, but don't think so, since I still feel good, am totally mobile and there is no pain," he wrote. "I've always had excellent inner strength with the ability to fight through things."

Things like a broken ankle, which took him out of the Blue Bombers' line up in 1964. A separated shoulder, which ended his days of occasionally quarterbacking. A knee injury while with the Argos, in 1970. Countless concussions (although Thornton puts the number at five) from an era where those kinds of things weren't taken so seriously. As well, Thornton recalls suffering a compound fracture of one of his arms before he turned pro. There were broken ribs, eight breaks of his nose, a broken leg and a shattered jaw, suffered in 1961 at the beginning of his pro career. To say Thornton's been through the physical ringer is akin to saying Kenny Ploen was an 'okay' quarterback.

"It was funny when I began listing all my old football injuries and concussions. She (Dr. Dela Rosa) wanted to know why I'm still in one piece," he wrote.

Post-football life has taken Thornton all over the world, as he worked training sales people for the Coca-Cola Company for some twenty years, before venturing out on his own as a consultant, something he still dabbles in today, while making time for golf and to write his autobiography (working title: 'An Unbelievable Life.').

The three-time CFL all-star is confident of the treatment he will get in the Philippines, and cautions anyone against thinking it will be otherwise.

"Anybody that still thinks the Philippines is a 3rd world country, should take a tour of the St. Luke's Hospital. The lobby is like that of a 5 star hotel - guest rooms for rent, valet and shuttle service, thirty up-market restaurants and specialty medical departments everywhere. Expensive but I've always said, "you get what you pay for."

You wouldn't expect Thornton, with his good nature and famously positive attitude to react to his situation with anything but a 'full steam ahead' mindset. You'd be right, as he continues to embrace life the way he always has.

"Coach Cahill always called me his 'free spirit' so just keep rockin and rollin on a daily basis with a strong, positive attitude," he wrote, referencing his legendary coach with the Toronto Argonauts, Leo Cahill. "Nothing has changed in my pattern of living. I drive, I walk, go shopping to the Mall, Happy Hour at the bars, work on my book at the computer in daytime and this morning took Lhyn (his wife) and Ashleigh (his daughter) to the driving range, they both have athletic talent."

If upcoming tests make him nervous, if the prospect that his lung cancer is spreading to other parts of his body are frightening, Thornton reveals none of that. Never one for hanging on to regret, Tricky Dick remains unabashed and seemingly at ease with whatever comes next.

"Hopefully, we have caught this tumor at an early time and it can be treated effectively. Doctor Dela Rosa is very optimistic as am I. But if it turns out I'm going to be toast soon, I've had a great life and now living each day to the fullest, enjoying my wife and daughter while concentrating on getting up tomorrow morning."

"We'll see what happens on Monday..."

UPDATE: "Dick Thornton's cancer tests show no spread beyond his lungs." Read it here.

Dick Thornton occasionally writes on his website, CoachThornton.com, and can be reached through email at coachdt@gmail.com