Photos of William Tennent’s Nate Night game provided courtesy of Kadi Schenk. To view a gallery of photos, click on the following link: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/p530016056
By Mary Jane Souder
Make no mistake about it - Nate Gonzalez is passionate about football.
Yes, the William Tennent sophomore played soccer for years, but when football entered the picture in middle school, Gonzalez was hooked.
It took Colin Leach no time at all to find out just how much Gonzalez loved the sport when he took over the reins of William Tennent’s struggling program in January of this year.
“I sent out a Hudl message to the team,” the Tennent coach said. “I sent a survey to get information, and the first player to respond was Nate.
“In that survey, he said, ‘Coach, I wanted to let you know I’m coming through treatments for my cancer, but I hope to be back as soon as possible to help this team win.’”
That’s all anyone needs to know about Nate Gonzalez – he’s a competitor, and he’s also a fighter. It turns out the sophomore lineman has had to find every ounce of fight he’s had in him to take on an opponent much more formidable than opposing linemen.
In December of 2022, the then freshman was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a rare form of brain cancer that typically affects children.
“It was definitely a shock,” Gonzalez said. “There was not a thought in my mind that it was what it was.”
It marked the beginning of an unexpected journey that reached a milestone on Sept. 7 when Gonzalez rang the bell at CHOP, marking the end of his final week of in-patient chemo treatments.
The following night, Gonzalez joined his team on the sidelines for its home game against Upper Merion. It was billed as Pediatric Cancer Awareness Night to the public, but it was actually Nate Night.
“Basically, we surprised him,” Leach said. “We sent out the memo, we sent out all the social media stuff.
“What we did behind the scenes - we put his freshman jersey he wore last year in a plaque and presented it to him, and we named it Nate Night, so some of the proceeds from tickets, concessions – we were able to donate to the cause and also funds to help the family.”
Prior to the game, Gonzalez was surprised to find himself the focal point of the crowd’s attention.
“I really thought I was just going to watch my team play,” he said. “I was totally not prepared. The whole crowd was smiling.
“They told me how they’re all here for my journey, and (the team) added a sticker of my initials that they’re wearing on their helmets. They presented my uniform from last year, and they retired my number. It was the greatest feeling ever.”
“We did a walkout,” Leach said of the pregame event. “(Athletic director) John Creighton gave a speech. Then we went out for the coin toss, and the whole family took the coin toss. He was able to be on the sidelines pretty much the entire game. He was in the golf cart for some of it.”
Creighton acknowledged that Gonzalez’s battle with brain cancer has impacted the entire school community.
“Nate Gonzalez's journey has had a profound and positive impact on his teammates by fostering unity, motivation, and a greater sense of purpose within the team,” Creighton said. “It also reminds everyone of the importance of supporting each other through life's challenges.”
The pregame activities were followed by a game they’ll be talking about for a long, long time.
The Panthers, who trailed Upper Merion 17-7 at halftime, rallied for a 21-20 win. Gonzalez may not have played a role on the field, but his presence certainly had a role in the comeback.
“Nate went into halftime with us,” Leach said. “We were actually able to get him through security into our locker room.
“I wound up giving a speech and included him in the speech, asking players to find that next gear, to find that next level of heart that Nate has. I said, ‘Nate has shown during this entire process that he’s used to fighting, and I want you guys to find that fight.’
“That was my speech. It wasn’t yelling and screaming. It was flat out telling them – Nate’s here with us, he’s our heart and soul. We need to find it through him together as a family. We went out there, and we found a way to win. It was an awesome experience.”
Gonzalez was also part of the team’s postgame huddle.
“It was my first career win, so the coaches awarded me with the game ball,” Leach said. “I asked for a second ball, and I awarded the game ball to Nate.
“We gave him the ball, we broke the huddle. We walked over with Nate and the team to the fans, and we thanked the fans. Nate was so thankful and so happy. He’s got such a great personality. He’s such an awesome kid to be around. The family is amazing. It was a great night for him.”
*****
Nate Gonzalez was diagnosed with brain cancer on Dec. 21, 2022, but the symptoms actually began five months earlier during football training camp in August of that year.
“He was putting his helmet on and off and was constantly throwing up, and they couldn’t figure out way,” Leach said.
Still, Gonzalez persevered, playing on both the offensive and defensive lines.
“Never in, ever in a million years would I have thought that my son had brain cancer,” said his mother, Nicole Gonzalez, her voice breaking with emotion. “My mom’s side, my husband’s side, my dad’s side – my aunts and cousins have migraines. They’re on medication, and my daughter is on it. That’s what I thought it was.
“We’ve seen cardiologists, a gastroenterologist and had an endoscopy. I’ve taken him to every specialist I could have thought of, and nothing came of it.”
Then, on Dec. 13, while in class, Gonzalez experienced blurry vision.
“He had a horrible headache, and he went to put his head down, hoping it would go away,” his mother said. “That’s when he passed out and had a seizure.”
Gonzalez was rushed to the local hospital where he had a brain scan and then was sent to CHOP. Two days after the transfer, Gonzalez underwent brain surgery and was diagnosed with medulloblastoma.
“I was just hoping and praying they could figure out what was wrong with me,” Nate said. “I thought it was just too much to be doing football.
“(The news) was not a good thing, but it was good to know I actually had a reason for feeling the way I felt.”
For six weeks in January, Gonzalez underwent daily radiation treatments and also had two weeks of chemo.
“In April, he began intense chemo treatments,” Nicole Gonzalez said. “He had six rounds of chemo – 28-day cycles. One week of every cycle, he was in-patient receiving chemo continuously for three days.”
Five days after ringing the bell marking the end of his in-patient treatments, Gonzalez rang it yet again, this time signifying the end of his out-patient treatments. The Tennent sophomore – who weighed 218 pounds prior to his illness – lost 61 pounds, reaching a low of 157.
It was an unimaginable experience for a family that has lived with too many cancer diagnoses.
“The chemo made him very lethargic and tired, and he was sleeping more than he was eating,” said his mother, who lost her father to liver cancer in April. “For nutrient’s sake and to try and get some pounds on, he continuously uses a feeding tube and needs to be fed every two hours. If he can eat, we can either decrease the feed or skip a feed.”
“It took me out of school,” Nate said. “In the early stages, there were a couple of really bad times when I had no energy. It has very rough moments.”
Although his chemo treatments are over, Gonzalez’s journey is not over. Every three months he must follow up with his doctors and also with an audiologist.
“One of the chemo affects and causes permanent ear loss,” she said. “He does have a decrease in hearing, so every three months he has to have audio graphs done to make sure that it’s not significant and that he would need hearing aids. He needs to have bloodwork, and he will have MRIs of his brain and spine.
“With his form of cancer, five percent of children get cancer cells in their spinal fluid, and believe it or not, Nathan was one of those children, so every three months with his MRIs – he also has to be put to sleep for lumbar punctures. Basically, they take some of the spinal fluid out to see if there are any cancer cells present. That’s what we’ll have in store for the next year. The year after that it will be every four months, the year after that will be every six months, and after that, we would go to a year.”
Gonzalez is back to attending school for half days.
“It feels amazing,” he said. “There’s no sense of normalcy, but it is kind of a sense of normalcy. I get to see my friends and everyone.”
“I bring him home,” his mother said. “He can rest, do his homework and stuff like that so he’s ready to go the next day. We’ll do it for a couple of weeks and then maybe we can extend it a half hour.”
According to his coach, the impact of Gonzalez’s experience on the football team has been profound.
“The positive behind it is the fact that he has such a strong will, and they use it as motivation,” Leach said. “Everybody knows who Nate Gonzalez is and his story. They use it as such a positive thing, it’s a motivational thing for the kids, and I love the way they reacted. They’re so supportive of each other and Nate. William Tennent’s one big family, and this situation is awful, but it’s brought a community together.
Gonzalez – who says he feels “perfectly fine” - has a singular goal.
“Getting back to school fulltime and mostly just to be who I was before all this happened,” he said. “That’s the goal.”
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