It was a moment that connected everybody, from 12-year-old Brylee Freeman to her father Ryan, the Campo Verde head football coach, along with the players and the community.
At midfield, on Oct. 6, about a year after Ryan Freeman stepped away from his team to be with his daughter during her cancer battle, Brylee was lifted out of her wheelchair by her dad as team captains from Campo Verde and Mountain Pointe stood by.
She took the coin and gave it the pregame flip.
Campo Verde won the toss, and went on to win the game, in an inspired performance.
"She's just a very strong, independent woman," senior quarterback Jonah Lubno said of Brylee. "I'm so thankful for (coach Freeman) and his family."
In 2023, Brylee was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare
bone cancer. Then, a year later, after beating that, Brylee began a new battle with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, a secondary cancer that Ryan said was caused by her chemo for Ewing's sarcoma. It's very rare to get that from the chemo she received, Ryan said.
Again, she had to go through chemotherapy, as she was transported to Tucson for specialized care. Either Ryan or her mom, Brittney, would always be by her side. Ryan would spend one week home, still teaching and coaching, while Brittney was in Tucson with Brylee. Then, they would trade off the next week, as they tried to maintain their jobs while going through this new cancer battle with Brylee.
Brylee needed a bone marrow transplant. The donor was her big brother, Bryson, now a sophomore long-snapper who also plays guard and linebacker on the varsity.
"It's been like a fever dream," Bryson said.
Ryan was told by doctors to say their goodbyes to Brylee in October of last year when the AML was diagnosed. That's when he stepped away from coaching.
"But she fought through it," Ryan said. "At this point now, she's had both hips replaced. She lost her left femur. It's been completely replaced. She's been through like 32 surgeries and different chemotherapies. She ended up being bedridden, in a medical coma for three months. She was in the hospital until April of last year. We got her home."
Athletic director Max Ragsdale, the former head coach at Campo Verde, helped lead the football program with Byrce Duffey last October after Freeman stepped away. The team knew what their coach was going through and won three of their last five games, including a 5A playoff game against Buckeye Verrado.
Freeman, who is back at the helm this season, said it was tough when he was trying to coach the team before because his head and heart were with his daughter.
"Last year, it was very hard on him," said Lubno, a Utah football commit who is one of the state's top dual-threat quarterbacks. "Believe it or not, he stepped down but he was here every day behind the scenes, doing stuff to help our program."
Freeman said Brylee is in a much better place than a year ago. She has even started seventh grade, after missing the last two years of school. She tested to be placed in the same grade as her friends, her mom said.
Brittney Freeman said there are now annual cancer nights held by the football team to show support for all cancer patients and their families.
Ryan and Brittney made a commitment in 2023 with Brylee to maintain "normalcy" as much as possible but allow people to help, which she said was a hard thing to do.
When Ryan first considered stepping down as coach in 2023 after his daughter was first diagnosed, Brylee was firm that he stay on.
"She wanted him to continue because that's the thing that makes him happy," Brittney said. "She said, 'If you're not happy, you're not going to be able to be here for me and be happy during this fight.' In 2023, we made that commitment."
But, last year, when she was very sick, Ryan and Brittney had to pull away from their jobs and practice what they preach: Family first.
"For his own mental health and support, it was for his best interest and for the program's best interest to step back," Brittney said. "He wasn't able to give it his all. He's a very honest and genuine person and if he's not able to give it 100 percent in something, he's just not going to do it. When he recognized he needed that space, he took it.''
Ryan said Brylee comes to the home games and sits in the bleachers behind the end zone.
"It's been honest conversations with her," Ryan said. "There's been some really rough times. Just talking through it with her, like, 'Honey, you got to keep fighting, because I don't know what I'd do without you.'
"She's a daddy's girl. She jokes. She says, 'Dad, you're getting into coach mode with me again.' I'm like, 'Yeah, we've got to keep you going.' But her willpower is amazing."
It was touch and go with Brylee last year, but she's better now. Her resiliency has served as an example for the family, the team, the community.
"Brylee has a sense of determination and maturity that supercedes any adult I've ever met," Brittney said. "She kind of internalizes. She is the type of person that needs to know what needs to be done and does it. She doesn't live in the negative or the dark side of what could be.
"She has grit. She just gets through. It's impressive."
Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. Catch the best high school sports coverage in the state. Sign up for Azcentral Preps Now. And be sure to subscribe to our daily sports newsletters so you don't miss a thing. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
We got the call Wednesday at 4 pm with her biopsy results; we were in the oncologist’s office the next morning at 9 am to meet with her treatment team and were admitted after the meeting. She had a spinal tap today and a central line put in, and we start chemo tomorrow morning.
Life is not fair. We don’t understand. We are broken. But true to Freeman form, we follow our girl’s lead, and she has a smile and confidence about her yet again, giving us hope.
Treating AML is intense, to say the least. We will be admitted for cycle one for a minimum of 28 days. Cycle two will start thereafter and is another 28 days inpatient; from there, we plan for a bone marrow transplant, which will take another 4 weeks inpatient.
We believe in the power of love. We believe in the power of prayer. We know that we are not alone; we are stronger facing the storm with the herd.
We thank you all for continuing to support, pray, and love as we navigate our journey ahead.
Our brave little Buffalo forges ahead, leading the way.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Campo Verde football rallies around coach, daughter in cancer fight
