STAUNTON, Va. — The Washington Commanders have a ton of devoted “superfans.” But “Hogfarmer” Chris Bryant has a story that goes deeper than football.
Chris Bryant lives in Staunton, Virginia, which is 177 miles from Northwest Stadium. The season ticket holder drives almost three hours each way on gamedays. But Chris Bryant’s favorite athletes are his 7-year-old daughter Quinn and 12-year-old daughter Emma, who are both travel cheerleaders. And their big sister, 13-year-old Amiyah, is never far from the action.
“That’s at the core of who I am, a family man,” Chris Bryant said. “When I’m here in this home I’m dad, and I’m Chris to my wife.”
But every Sunday, Chris Bryant pulls out all the stops, for a different group of players.
“I’ve got the Ryan Kerrigan Jersey,” he said as he sorts through his collection of 60-70 jerseys in his Commanders man cave at home. “The Brandon Scherff jersey still has the tags on it. I have so many jerseys, man.”
Chris Bryant is part of a group of season ticket holders that call themselves, not surprisingly, the Hogfarmers. The friends are at every home game, sitting in the front row of the end zone. Screaming for the Commanders on every play.
Chris Bryant’s wife, Carmella Bryant, says she happily stays at home with their girls.
“I enjoy the peace and quiet,” Carmela Bryant said with a laugh.
Chris Bryant says the Hogfarmers mean more than just football.
“I’ve got a little small area over here, of you know, a bunch of the kids we helped,” he said as he pointed to a collection of photos of children suffering from pediatric cancer.
It all started six years ago when Chris Bryant and the other Hogfarmers met a young girl named Abby. She was fighting cancer, and the Hogfarmers decided to raise money for her.
“Seeing her and everything she was going through, it kind of just touched our hearts,” Chris Bryant said. “So, it’s like man, like, we want to continue to do that."
Thus the Hogfarmers Charitable Foundation was born. They’ve held golf tournaments, Halloween events and Christmas drives, raising $500,000 and counting.
For Chris Bryant, the mission of helping the families of children suffering from pediatric cancer is personal.
“My oldest daughter, she went through ... ” he paused as he began to cry. “She went through some troubles when she was younger, and I know the feeling of going through that.”
When his oldest daughter Amiyah was just two, she was diagnosed with Neurofibromatosis, commonly known as NF1. It’s a rare genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow in the nervous system and skin. The tumors are not cancerous, but Amiyah had one growing in her head, putting pressure on her skull. By age four, the tumor had reached the size of a softball, and doctors had no choice but to operate.
“It was hard,” Carmella Bryant said, wiping away tears. “Because she struggled.”
The Byrants spent seven months making weekly trips to Duke University Hospital in North Carolina, which was a four-hour drive each way. There, specialists inserted a special balloon in Amiyah’s head to loosen the skin around her skull, so they had room to surgically remove the tumor.
“I would have to bear hug her and they would put a needle in in her head, and inflate it with water,” Chris Bryant said, tears rolling down his cheeks. “So having to do that every week, watching your kid scream, that was tough. And then holding her, that’s tough.”
Amiyah and her parents bravely fought through that pain, and doctors successfully removed the tumor in her brain. While she still faces serious medical challenges from her NF1, Amiyah is expected to live a full life.
But don’t expect to catch her at a Commanders game anytime soon.
“He’s crazy, no,” Amiyah said with a laugh as she stood with her sister Quinn in her dad's Commanders man cave. “Crazy.”
Despite everything they’ve been though, the Bryants say they remain thankful for the life they and their daughters share.
“You wake up and see your kids every day, and they’re happy,” Carmella Bryant said. “As long as they’re happy there’s nothing else that matters.”
“Things can be at the lowest but you’ll get through it,” Chris Bryant added. “You’ll get through it with your family. You’ll get through it with your friends. And be a better person on the other side.”
On Saturday, Chris Bryant and the rest of the Hogfarmers will be holding their latest fundraiser to benefit the families of children with Pediatric Cancer with their annual Putt Putt for pediatric cancer at the Wharf. For more information or to sign up, click here.