Clay Henry: Facing adversity, former Hog Moss is inspiring others

Facing adversity, former Hog Moss is inspiring others
By Clay Henry, Hogs+ Senior Contributor

There was a series of texts with Dahrron Moss about one month after a long sit-down interview on camera for Hogs+. It was about fact checking and a full accounting of family members. There is a big family, all highly educated.

There is wife Karie, daughters Shonqawnicka, Dahranesha, Lauryn and sons AJ and Austin. There will soon be five University of Arkansas degrees in that bunch and that still leaves Austin, a fifth grader, with a shot at another one or two. Shonqawnicka is the odd one, with a UCA diploma.

After providing a heads-up on the timing of the release of the story, I asked for an update on his health.

“Feeling blessed,” his text read.

Then, came Moss’ thoughts on what I was writing:

“I pray that it blesses the masses with hope.”

That was classic Moss. That was his thought when I asked to visit when we reunited after almost two decades. He was the same as the guy I remembered as four-year football letterman at Arkansas (1996-99). He’s that same energetic, upbeat guy who helped beat Texas and win so many other big games.

You would never guess that he’s been battling stage IV pancreatic cancer for the last 17 months.

“He’s unique,” said Anthony Hicks, his older teammate who was charged with hosting him on his recruiting visit and sort of “bought” Moss.

“I gave him $20 and I he was worth a lot more than that,” Hick said. “He’s one of our greatest Razorbacks and I say that like I talk about Brandon Burslworth, just so much given to our school.

“He took an awful lot, too.”

Took?

“I’m talking about what the seniors like Steve Conley and Marcus Adair gave him and guys like Brandon Burslworth on our scout team,” Hicks said. “That’s when you see someone is going to be great, how they take both the verbal hits and the physical hits. They took it all and became great players and even better men.

“There is not a better man than Dahron Moss, a great family man with a great wife. Karie is amazing. I’ve been around them a lot because our kids have run track together and we just know our families.”

There will be more on that recruiting visit, later, but you can’t bury the lead. That’s the Moss battle with pancreatic cancer, nastier than anything Conley or Adair could hand out.

“It’s been told to people (that pancreatic cancer) is nasty stuff,” Moss said. “I don’t view it that way.

“I’ve been blessed my entire life. I never did without. I got exactly what I needed. I earned it usually, but I got it.”

So far, there have been two courses of treatment. There was a trip to Mayo Clinic and chemotherapy. That dealt the tumor a nasty blow, but it’s still there, just smaller. He’s now on an unusual form of immunotherapy.

“I was approved in a trial,” Moss said. “There are 107 in it worldwide, seven in Arkansas. I’m the only one trying it with pancreatic cancer.

“So far, it’s going really well. This is a lot better on your body than chemo. I’m still tired, but I’m doing pretty well.”

Maybe that is an understatement.

“When I got to Mayo—and I heard this from my doctor here—that I should be far sicker than what they were seeing,” he said. “I should be in greater pain. They’ve never seen anything like it in the last 30 years.”

That’s why he is quick to use “blessed” and refer to quality time with his family as extra sweet.

“I’ve got some friends who might think I’m catfishing,” he said. “Because I don’t look like I’m sick.”

In fact, when he spoke to the entire group early in the day at the Burlsworth Camp, everyone snapped to attention because even at 46, Moss still looks like he could play football.

“Well, I can’t run any longer,” he said. “This (disease) has taken that from me. I lost 20 pounds in chemo, but I’ve gained a lot of that back. I’m blessed.”

The message to the Burlsworth campers was about his S.O.F.T. philosophy. Little did the campers know that Moss is battling cancer. It probably would have provided extra meaning to his detailed description of that acronym. He did a nice job with that for our Hogs+ cameras, with references to his cancer battle that the kids didn’t hear.

When Moss talks about losing the ability to run, there has to be a clear knowledge of what he once could do on the field and the track. No one was any faster off the edge than Moss, a slightly built cornerback from Helena-West Helena.

Read the full column & watch the interview from Hogs+ Senior Contributor Clay Henry — only on Hogs+