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Eagles defensive coordinator has cancer

There was something ominous about the “back problem” that suddenly caused Jim Johnson to have to ride a motorized scooter around the NovaCare complex late in the Eagles’ season, and led him to coach the final two playoff games from the press box. Before the NFC Championship Game, Johnson told a questioner he’d injured himself swinging a golf club. Then he acknowledged he hadn’t played golf in quite a while.

The Eagles announced today that 67-year-old defensive coordinator Jim Johnson is battling cancer. (Yong Kim / File photo)
The Eagles announced today that 67-year-old defensive coordinator Jim Johnson is battling cancer. (Yong Kim / File photo)Read more

TAMPA ­-- There was something ominous about the "back problem" that suddenly caused Jim Johnson to have to ride a motorized scooter around the NovaCare complex late in the Eagles' season, and led him to coach the final two playoff games from the press box. Before the NFC Championship Game, Johnson told a questioner he'd injured himself swinging a golf club. Then he acknowledged he hadn't played golf in quite a while.

So it might not have been quite shocking, but it was terribly saddening Thursday when the Eagles announced Johnson would not be traveling to Hawaii to coach the NFC Pro Bowl defense, as he undergoes treatment for melanoma that has metastasized to his spine, where a tumor grew that caused his back problem. The team said Johnson, 67, wants to continue as the Eagles' defensive coordinator, as his treatment allows.

The Eagles did not offer a prognosis; however, metastasized cancer is very serious, and team athletic trainer Rick Burkholder indicated that the tumor is not Johnson's only cancer site. Burkholder said Johnson underwent melanoma surgery in 2001 but has been cancer-free in regular checkups since then.

"He presented with the back pain the week of the Minnesota game," Burkholder told Daily News and Inquirer reporters in a hastily arranged call from the San Francisco airport, where Burkholder was changing planes for his trip to the Pro Bowl. "We got him an MRI right after the Giants game, and the MRI looked funny. We thought he was going to have a disc problem, because of the symptoms, but it actually looked like there was a tumor beside this stress fracture in his spine. That alerted our doctors that something else might be going on. They did further testing, further scans, had him see some other doctors, and it looks like the melanoma is back, in his back. It's manifested itself in a tumor in his spine.

"He's already started treatment, radiation treatment. That's the first course ... I think about 4 weeks of radiation, then we'll take the next step from there."

Burkholder acknowledged that "there are some other areas of his body — I'm not going to really get into where stuff is — but that'll all be treated together. The main deal is his back, right now ... that's what we have to attack."

Asked specifically if the cancer had spread to Johnson's brain or spinal fluid, Burkholder said that did not seem to be the case, so far, "but we'll continue to monitor."

Burkholder emphasized that team internist Dr. Gary Dorshimer and Johnson's oncologists, based out of Pennsylvania Hospital, are "very optimistic, and Jim is really upbeat about it. Vicky, his wife is upbeat about it."

Burkholder said no surgery is planned.

"The radiation will calm some of that pain down and let him get back to a little more normal walking," Burkholder said.

Several oncologists contacted by the Daily News indicated that, given the description of the set of circumstances, Johnson's outlook likely is very dire, unless he is extremely lucky. Without direct access to tests and exams, the oncologists declined to offer a specific prognosis."

Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, asked about Johnson before an ESPN appearance, said he was told about the diagnosis in a phone call from coach Andy Reid.

"He's a fighter ... That's kind of tough to hear, about a guy like that," McNabb said. "He cares about people. He's willing to do whatever, for anyone. To see him go through this is tough. But we're all behind him. We'll provide support for him, continue to pray for him. He'll go through his treatments and do what he has to do."

Burkholder said the medical staff began to strongly suspect a cancerous tumor in the final days before the Eagles' Jan. 18 NFC Championship Game loss at Arizona.

"Thursday and Friday, going into the Arizona game, we were suspicious that he needed more testing. He had more testing done on Monday, when we got back, and that's what proved for sure that it was cancer," Burkholder said.

Johnson, much more demonstrative on the sideline than Eagles coach Andy Reid, is the only defensive coordinator the Birds have employed since Reid became their head coach 10 years ago. They were not friends when Reid hired Johnson; rather, Reid appreciated how difficult it was to score against Johnson's Indianapolis Colts defenses, when Reid was an assistant with the Packers.

Johnson is known for his unorthodox blitz schemes, which produced 342 sacks from 2000-2007, tying his defense for first in the NFL. His unit was the strength of the team early in the decade, then wavered as key players aged. It emerged with a new group of standouts this past season, ranking third in the NFL, propelling the Eagles' march to the NFC Championship game, where its performance was a keen disappointment. Johnson has not spoken publicly since that loss, which we now know virtually coincided with his cancer diagnosis.

The week before, Reid joked affectionately about his defensive mastermind, after the Eagles did not allow a touchdown in their upset of the defending Super Bowl champion Giants.

"I'm partial, but I've got the best defensive coordinator in the National Football League," Reid said. "These guys believe in him and the things he does, he's kept it fresh for them. He's kept it fresh for 'em, even though he's 100 years old. You noticed today he was up in the box. The poor guy's in the box. His back's aching a little bit, so he called it from up there."

Reid was not available for comment Thursday.