Derek McCartney Honored As Member Of AFCA Good Works Team
November 15, 2016 | Football, B.G. Brooks
Buffs LB donated peripheral stem cells that helped with cancer patient's recovery
BOULDER – Derek McCartney had little idea of the difference he might make when he missed a couple of days of spring football practice last March to donate peripheral blood stem cells.
Eight months later, the difference is clear to him – as well as a deeply grateful and still anonymous recipient.
All "D-Mac" knows at this point is that his blood stem cells went to a male in his 50s or 60s. But he knows this with certainty: He helped save a life, and on Tuesday he was honored for his giving spirit by being named to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. The team is comprised of 25 members – 12 players from DI, 12 from DII, DIII and the NAIA and one honorary coach.
"The first thing I thought is that it was a real blessing that someone was able to be helped by something like this," he said. "I got the chills when I first read (the letter from the recipient) because it was so cool. I didn't know what to expect when I read it. It's just such a blessing to see how I could help somebody else."
Standing before his University of Colorado teammates at the conclusion of Tuesday morning's practice, McCartney was presented an AFCA Good Works Team trophy. Also attending the practice were McCartney's mom, Kristy, and his grandfather, Bill, the legendary former Buffaloes coach.
Derek McCartney later attended a news conference that preceded CU coach Mike MacIntyre's weekly briefing. McCartney called the AFCA award "a great honor . . . the coolest part about it is really the reason I got the award. I got to donate blood stem cells to a man with cancer and recently received a letter that he's cancer free now."
"That's the most rewarding thing about it, knowing that someone gets to live life a little bit longer," he continued. "It was really cool to be in front of the team and them get to hear what I did and everything and see the impact that you can have on other people. That's the cool part about it for me."
McCartney's involvement in the donor program was initiated by MacIntyre's push to have his staff and players take part in the Be The Match organization. The group matches patients suffering from life-threatening blood disorders with healthy donors. It is part of the National Marrow Donor program.
"When coach MacIntyre got here, he really wanted us to give back to the community in different ways, however we could," McCartney said. "One of the biggest things was signing up for Be The Match. I really didn't know what I was signing up for at the time. But I did it because he asked me to. It was really cool to see how things unfolded. Over the years we've done different things and
helped out different places with kids. We've gone to the Children's Hospital a lot. It's just been really cool helping out over the years."
Receiving the award comes at a time that might find McCartney needing a lift. A knee injury suffered in the third game of game of the season (Michigan) required surgery and ended his junior year.
He's watching from the periphery as his teammates chase a Pac-12 South Division championship and a berth in the conference championship game on Dec. 2.
CU, 8-2 overall and 6-1 in the league, plays North Division leader Washington State on Saturday at Folsom Field (1:30 p.m., Fox).
"Honestly I'm really proud of these guys. It's been really fun to see all of their success from all of the hard work they put in. I just know firsthand how much work they've put in and it's really cool to see where they are because of all of that hard work," said McCartney, who is currently in his first semester of graduate school at CU. He is working on a Masters in physiology and hopes to receive that in December and return to the football field next season.
MacIntyre said McCartney's response to his season-ending injury was no surprise to anyone who knows the player: "He's a young man that has deep faith . . . he is a shining example of a young man that lives it, walks it, breathes it. He's handled that with grace. He was very down but he's been at the training room every day. He's been to practice; he's been to games. He's doing exactly what you would think and the good thing is that we have him back for another year next year. So he handled it exactly how I thought it he would."
McCartney said his daily rehab work is going well and that he is "getting stronger every day, which is encouraging. That's the good part. I'm super excited for the guys to keep playing and pushing this week and for the next couple of weeks."
McCartney will be invited to the 2017 Allstate Sugar Bowl in January to be honored at halftime with other members of the AFCA Good Works Team. His participation in that ceremony will be dependent on CU's postseason plan; the Buffs are bowl eligible for the first time since 2007.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
Eight months later, the difference is clear to him – as well as a deeply grateful and still anonymous recipient.
All "D-Mac" knows at this point is that his blood stem cells went to a male in his 50s or 60s. But he knows this with certainty: He helped save a life, and on Tuesday he was honored for his giving spirit by being named to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. The team is comprised of 25 members – 12 players from DI, 12 from DII, DIII and the NAIA and one honorary coach.
"The first thing I thought is that it was a real blessing that someone was able to be helped by something like this," he said. "I got the chills when I first read (the letter from the recipient) because it was so cool. I didn't know what to expect when I read it. It's just such a blessing to see how I could help somebody else."
Standing before his University of Colorado teammates at the conclusion of Tuesday morning's practice, McCartney was presented an AFCA Good Works Team trophy. Also attending the practice were McCartney's mom, Kristy, and his grandfather, Bill, the legendary former Buffaloes coach.
Derek McCartney later attended a news conference that preceded CU coach Mike MacIntyre's weekly briefing. McCartney called the AFCA award "a great honor . . . the coolest part about it is really the reason I got the award. I got to donate blood stem cells to a man with cancer and recently received a letter that he's cancer free now."
"That's the most rewarding thing about it, knowing that someone gets to live life a little bit longer," he continued. "It was really cool to be in front of the team and them get to hear what I did and everything and see the impact that you can have on other people. That's the cool part about it for me."
McCartney's involvement in the donor program was initiated by MacIntyre's push to have his staff and players take part in the Be The Match organization. The group matches patients suffering from life-threatening blood disorders with healthy donors. It is part of the National Marrow Donor program.
"When coach MacIntyre got here, he really wanted us to give back to the community in different ways, however we could," McCartney said. "One of the biggest things was signing up for Be The Match. I really didn't know what I was signing up for at the time. But I did it because he asked me to. It was really cool to see how things unfolded. Over the years we've done different things and
helped out different places with kids. We've gone to the Children's Hospital a lot. It's just been really cool helping out over the years."
Receiving the award comes at a time that might find McCartney needing a lift. A knee injury suffered in the third game of game of the season (Michigan) required surgery and ended his junior year.
He's watching from the periphery as his teammates chase a Pac-12 South Division championship and a berth in the conference championship game on Dec. 2.
CU, 8-2 overall and 6-1 in the league, plays North Division leader Washington State on Saturday at Folsom Field (1:30 p.m., Fox).
"Honestly I'm really proud of these guys. It's been really fun to see all of their success from all of the hard work they put in. I just know firsthand how much work they've put in and it's really cool to see where they are because of all of that hard work," said McCartney, who is currently in his first semester of graduate school at CU. He is working on a Masters in physiology and hopes to receive that in December and return to the football field next season.
MacIntyre said McCartney's response to his season-ending injury was no surprise to anyone who knows the player: "He's a young man that has deep faith . . . he is a shining example of a young man that lives it, walks it, breathes it. He's handled that with grace. He was very down but he's been at the training room every day. He's been to practice; he's been to games. He's doing exactly what you would think and the good thing is that we have him back for another year next year. So he handled it exactly how I thought it he would."
McCartney said his daily rehab work is going well and that he is "getting stronger every day, which is encouraging. That's the good part. I'm super excited for the guys to keep playing and pushing this week and for the next couple of weeks."
McCartney will be invited to the 2017 Allstate Sugar Bowl in January to be honored at halftime with other members of the AFCA Good Works Team. His participation in that ceremony will be dependent on CU's postseason plan; the Buffs are bowl eligible for the first time since 2007.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
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