Chris Malleo’s favourite occasion with John Metchie III has not anything to do with soccer.

The Houston Texans extensive receiver used to be in his post-graduate 12 months at The Peddie College, a non-public boarding college in Hightstown, Pristine Jersey, readying to loose early for the College of Alabama. Metchie was at Malleo’s space to mention adieu.

The 2 had constructed a good courting as participant and head educator. Dwelling just about 500 miles clear of his house in Brampton, Ontario, Metchie had stayed with Malleo a lot of instances. He had grown alike with the educator’s people.

However Malleo’s spouse used to be at paintings when Metchie came visiting. She used to be upset she didn’t see him ahead of he headed out.

Malleo took place to be texting with Metchie nearest he left.

“My wife is upset that she didn’t get a chance to say goodbye,” he wrote.

Upon visual that textual content, Metchie borrowed a motorcycle and rode again around the Peddie campus to Malleo’s space.

“That’s just the kind of kid that he was,” Malleo instructed FOX Sports activities.

It’s the similar individual Malleo noticed because the 23-year-old receiver confronted a up to date condition scare.

Metchie, who went directly to famous person at Alabama, is in spite of everything eager to create his NFL debut within the Texans’ house opener Sunday in opposition to the Indianapolis Colts at NRG Stadium (1 p.m. ET, FOX). With veteran Noah Brown put on injured retain this hour, the 6-foot, 195-pound Metchie figures to be within the combine with beginners Tank Dell and Xavier Hutchinson as wide-receiver intensity for rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud. 

The second one-year wideout neglected Date 1 with a hamstring trauma, delaying a long-anticipated debut only a slight bit longer. All the way through the offseason ahead of his rookie 12 months, Metchie had complications and cold-like signs for a hour or two. He were given checked in and out July 2022 used to be strike with a surprising prognosis: acute promyelocytic leukemia. Impacting 600 to 800 folk in america each and every 12 months, APL can top to over the top bleeding and blood clot formation, in keeping with the Nationwide Group for Uncommon Problems. 

Although it’s regarded as extremely treatable and essentially the most curable mode of leukemia, Metchie stated that he used to be involved within the early levels that he wouldn’t be capable to play games soccer anymore. He credit his religion for serving to him during the procedure.

“The biggest thing I took away was just to kind of show up and fight,” Metchie stated extreme while. “Like, we kind of understand and take for granted life and everything we have to do or everything we get to do during a day. But then when it’s taken away from you, whether you’re young or old in the hospital, you kind of realize that people see clearly what’s important to them and who’s important to them. Their family, their life, regardless of what they were complaining about or what stresses you had, you realize that the biggest gift you got is your breath and your heartbeat.

“In statuses while you’re pressured to be confronted with your personal mortality,” he added, “you notice what it’s you actually imagine in and who it’s you actually imagine in. So my religion in God is what saved me comfy and a trust that it used to be fascinated about a better goal and a better reason why.”

Metchie underwent treatment at Houston’s MD Anderson Cancer Center and was cleared to return to practice in July. Last fall, he hosted his hospital family — patients and staff — on a tour of NRG Stadium, a thank you for their support throughout his treatment.

“One of the crucial alternative sufferers, they most definitely had a worse prognosis and analysis than he had and he used to be considering of others when a quantity of folk would’ve most definitely been considering of themselves,” Malleo said. “While you see such things as this occur to actually excellent folk, you have got a way of tranquility since you simply know that they’re taking to care for it in some way that permits them to paintings thru difficulties in a slight bit extra of a singular method. 

“John is one of those people.”

“He did the little things right”

Metchie’s mentality used to be formed from a tender era.

The son of a Taiwanese mom and Nigerian father, Metchie used to be born in Taiwan and lived in Ghana ahead of shifting to Canada at 6 years ancient. He grew up striking out along with his 3 used brothers — the youngest of whom is just about 4 years his senior — and their buddies. At era 14, Metchie left Canada and his people to pursue his soccer dream in america — first at St. James College in Maryland for 4 seasons, later that post-grad 12 months at The Peddie College. The ones reviews pressured him to mature early.

Malleo described Metchie as a “silent killer” in the usual he eager for himself at the grassland. He handled his frame like a certified soccer participant as an adolescent. He loves studying, too. He meditates.

“John is everything a parent could ask for,” stated Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker SirVocea Dennis, who used to be Metchie’s roommate and teammate at The Peddie College. “He’s respectful. He does everything the right way. He eats his vegetables. He actually loves vegetables … like, he prefers vegetables over candy. He barely ate candy, you know what I mean? He did the little things right. He stretched at night like he was supposed to. He was respectful to teachers. He did his homework. He was just like the perfect student, the perfect kid.”

Metchie translated that regimented nature into his struggle with leukemia.

One in all his brothers, Royce, is a certified soccer participant in his personal proper — a defensive again for the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts. John used to be getting up simply as early as him, occasionally at 4 or 5 a.m., to start out remedy in Houston.

It wasn’t Metchie’s first revel in getting back from misery. He tore the ACL in his left knee within the 2021 SEC Championship Sport, sidelining him during the NFL Draft procedure and most likely costing him the probability to be a first-round pick out. He additionally neglected maximum of his freshman season of highschool nearest the invention of an enlarged middle that used to be inflicting murmurs.

“It was always like, ‘I’m OK,'” Dennis stated of Metchie’s sure angle. “He always walked around with a smile on his face, even during rehab, even during the hard days. Going into the leukemia stuff, where he had to do treatment for the cancer, everyone knew he was going to be good. He was always going into things with the right mindset. This was just another roadblock in his path, but he handled it like he always does. He just did it with a smile just because he knew he’d see the other side of it.”

Those that know Metchie perfect watched him evolve in his struggle with leukemia.

Dennis noticed him incline on his friends extra, figuring out he didn’t need to journey thru the whole lot by means of himself.

Royce watched him develop spiritually and mentally. His brother’s presence in folk’s lives, he stated, has grown.

“Even though he’s going through it, he can still stop and really understand where he’s at,” Royce defined. “Looking at those right beside him and seeing, ‘OK, I’m not just going through this by myself. There are many others going through it.’ And there are many others going through it. In all fairness, there are some going through it better, some going through it worse. At the end of the day, in terms of the perspective, there’s a lot of people going through things way worse and thankfully, he had that facility down there in Houston where was able to be taken care of and still trying to help the people around him.”

Metchie has a dependancy of serving to the folk round him, like when he used to be a freshman at Alabama.

The quarterback at The Peddie College on the year, Davis Warren — now a additional at Michigan — confronted his personal struggle with leukemia. So Metchie build a video of his Red Current teammates, together with wave Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, providing phrases of encouragement week Warren used to be within the health center.

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The Texans are visual that very same Metchie in 2023 — only one who has persevered to develop into himself.

“I think a lot of times our character is revealed in some of our darkest hours, and John has more than revealed who is,” Malleo stated. “Not only to himself or the Texans, but to the world. He’s been selfless through this process. He’s been gritty. He’s been tough. He’s been classy. He’s just done a tremendous job of being an inspiration to people with cancer, to people who aspire to take the next step in their lives.

“I like him for that, and I feel many alternative folk appreciate him for that,” he continued. “The Texans are simply getting an elite human being, any individual who’s extremely proficient however on the similar year is selfless and can carry the attic room up to he’ll carry the soccer staff.”

Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.

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