WRAL's Chris Lea spoke with North Carolina native Jennifer King, the first African-American female assistant football coach in the NFL, about Ron Rivera, his cancer diagnosis and how the team learned of the news.
EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN IN OUR POWER TO KEEP THEM SAFE. >> LAST NIGHT WE LEARNED RON RIVERA HAD LIMP NODE CANCER. TODAY WE'RE LEARNING MORE ABOUT HOW HE BROKE THE NEWS TO HIS TEAM. TODAY I SPOKE TO JENNIFER KING, A FULL-TIME FEMALE COACH IN THE NFL. SHE WAS HIRED BY RON RIVERA. KING SAYS ON THURSDAY IT WAS A NORMAL DAY AT PRACTICE, BUT THEN AT THE END OF PRACTICE RIVERA TOLD EVERYONE ABOUT HIS DIAGNOSIS FOR THE FIRST TIME, AND HE ASSURED HIS PLAYERS HE'LL FIGHT WITH THEM EVERY SUNDAY. RIVERA GAVE KING A SHOT TO MAKE HISTORY. SHE SAYS SHE WILL BE FIGHTING ALONGSIDE HIM. >> HE MEANS EVERYTHING AS FAR AS WHERE I AM TODAY IN MY EVOLUTION THROUGH FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL. FOR ME IT'S ONE OF THOSE RALLY CHECKS. YOU KNOW, YOU WORK SUPER LONG DAYS, ALL FOOTBALL, ALL FOOTBALL, TRYING TO WIN GAMES. THEN IT'S LIKE BOOM, A REALITY CHECK HITS WITH SOMETHING WAY
