WASHINGTON — Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera has been diagnosed with lymph node cancer, according to WUSA9 sports director Darren Haynes. The coach said the lump was detected in a self-care check, and called his cancer "very treatable and curable."
Rivera, 58, broke the news of his diagnosis to the Washington Football team Thursday evening, and running back Adrian Peterson responded to the news with a simple phrase: "It sucks."
A team statement said that Rivera intends to coach this season.
"Coach Rivera has consulted with leading Doctors and Oncology Specialists and is establishing his treatment plan in conjunction with the team’s medical staff and his outside physicians," a statement from the Washington Football Team said. "For now, Coach has asked that the team keep things business as usual and remain focused, but a 'Plan B' is in place if it is determined that he should take some time off."
Since Rivera accepted the position as Washington's head coach in January, the organization announced it would retire the name it has used since 1993 and temporarily rebrand as Washington Football Team until further notice, allegations of sexual harassment and verbal abuse surrounding five members of upper management surfaced and Derrius Guice was released from the team after he was arrested on felony domestic violence charges.
“We’re trying to create a new culture here” Rivera said. “We’re hoping to get people to understand that they need to judge us on where we are and where we’re going, as opposed to where we’ve been."
Rivera declined to comment on the firings of two members of the scouting department, Alex Santos and Richard Mann II, both of whom were among those alleged to have sexually harassed and verbally abused the women the Washington Post spoke to.
But Rivera cited his family's involvement with the organization as a reason he would not tolerate harassment at any level. Rivera's daughter, Courtney Rivera, works in the social media department of Washington's NFL team. She started there in March of 2020.
“Biggest thing is that we have to move forward from this and make sure everybody understands we have policies that we will follow and that we have an open-door policy with no retribution," he said. "Plus my daughter works for the team and I sure as hell am not going to allow any of this! ... Dan Snyder brought me here to change culture and create an environment of inclusion among employees. I believe everyone that works for this franchise has a vested interest in our success."
With so many changes in the first seven months on the job, before a down of football has even been played, Rivera was asked in a CBS interview if he regrets joining this franchise, and he was quick to answer.
"Absolutely not! I took this job because of what I saw in the football team and who I saw in the young players that this team has," he said. "To me, there's a lot of young quality football players that have a bright future, and we as coaches have to coach these guys up and give them the opportunity for success."
Rivera grew up a fan of the Washington franchise and said he hopes to win over this fan base with his football.
"I think the thing that people are going to have to understand is that this is going to be a bit of a transition, it's not going to happen immediately," Rivera said. "But we are going to try and win the fans over by playing good football, more so than anything else because when you play well and you win football games, people are going to get behind you."
