‘My body feels a lot better, now it’s just about having fun,’ Texans wide receiver, leukemia survivor John Metchie III

CANTON, Ohio – John Metchie III broke crisply into his route, convincingly selling his intentions as he planted his cleats suddenly before accelerating downfield as he went deep.

The pass from quarterback Davis Mills hit Metchie in stride as he raced toward the end zone.

For the Texans’ third-year wide receiver, he’s been able to focus solely on football and having fun on the practice field. He’s been explosive and decisive in his work on the practice field at training camp and he looks even more comfortable than he did a year ago when he returned to play after recovering from acute promyelocytic leukemia and missing his entire rookie season.

Having more energy, being further removed from the treatment he received at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center has given Metchie another boost as he competes for playing time as part of an ultra-talented receiving corps that includes Stefon Diggs, Nico Collins and Tank Dell.

“Absolutely, you kind of figure it will feel better, it is only a matter of time,” Metchie said. “You go through so long with treatment for so long and even though you are done you are not really done. You have to give it some time for your body to flush it out and for you to able to keep building and just flush it out. I kind of expected it would be better.”

Metchie caught 16 receptions for 158 yards in 16 regular-season games last season as he made his NFL debut for the AFC South champions. He also had three receptions for 44 yards in the Texans’ 45-14 playoff victory over the Cleveland Browns, including a 27-yard sideline reception off a C.J. Stroud pass.

A year makes a big difference, especially in his knowledge of offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik’s intricate playbook.

Whether it’s his footwork, conditioning and general confidence, Metchie is looking good for the Texans and has made strides in every area as a wide receiver.

“I think I am just more comfortable overall,” Metchie said. “Of course, it is the second year in the playbook, so you know it a lot more, you are not thinking at all when you are out there. My body feels a lot better.

“Now it is just about having fun, really. I don’t have to think about a new scheme or about being on the field, or anything new. Now it is just completely having fun.”

The Texans have seen a lot of progress and growth from Metchie beyond his clean bill of health.

“Yeah, I mean he’s in much better football shape and that’s to be expected,” Slowik said. “What he went through, I mean that was what? Two years he couldn’t do a football workout. And then he all of a sudden rolls onto the field last year and he just has to go roll. That’s really, really difficult. I think it’s a credit to him as a person, that he was able to do even what he did last year. And then now he was able to have an offseason, a spring, a summer, a fall to really kind of get back into football shape.

“Be where he wants to be physically and then obviously, second year in the system for everybody mentally has really slowed everyone down, calmed everyone down in that regard. So, he’s able to just go play football and that’s when John Metchie is at his best is when he can just go play football, do what he loves and he doesn’t have to worry about all the stuff he’s been worrying about for two, three years now. It’s been really fun to watch.”

A former second-round draft pick, Metchie is accustomed to playing with a lot of talent. At Alabama, Metchie played with top wide receivers, including DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle, Jameson Williams, Henry Ruggs and Jerry Jeudy.

Now, Metchie is making his bid for playing time in a stacked depth chart. He’s competing with Noah Brown, Robert Woods, Ben Skowronek and Xavier Hutchinson for his place in line.

It’s a friendly competition. The Texans’ receivers are cheering each other on.

“I think a lot of people don’t really know the feeling of having a lot of talent in one room,” Metchie said. “And, outside looking in you could say it could be cutthroat or this and that. But honestly being in there, it’s the best feeling because you have a lot of like-minded people and they’re just like you, and everybody’s just trying to get better and nobody’s trying to dim the other person’s light to shine. We’re all trying to help each other, and that’s the definition of team. Right? We all win more together, and if everybody wins, you’re going to win more individually. It’s like the Alabama way, for sure.”

Metchie turned the page quickly on last season. He’s not consumed by the past. He’s looking forward to the future and soaking up every moment.

“I don’t think about last season at all, and not in a good or a bad way,” Metchie said. “I just continue to keep moving forward. This practice, I’m going to go from it, I’m going to learn from it, like every practice I have. I learn from it as much as I can, but once it’s done, it’s done, and now I’m looking forward and I’m trying to take whatever I can and whatever I learned on to the next day.”

Heading into a preseason opener Thursday night in the Pro Football Hall of Fame game against the Chicago Bears, Metchie is excited. He’s expected to play extensively as he’ll be playing with Mills as the Texans rest Stroud and other starters.

“I think just play good, winning football,” Metchie said. “That’s about it – good, winning football. I trust in my teammates, I trust in my ability and I just want to play good, winning football every time we play. …

“My expectations aren’t bigger than the day. And that’s something I started practicing towards the end of last season, and it carried on in the offseason. Like, my expectations don’t go farther than next week. My expectations are on today to make sure I’m checking off everything on my process every day.”

Metchie said he’s learning a lot from Diggs, a four-time Pro Bowl selection who joined the Texans this offseason in a trade from the Buffalo Bills. They have a lot of conversations and not only about the gae.

“It depends, it can be about anything honestly. I know a lot of time because we are on the field it looks like football, but it is like on the field, off the field stuff, mental,” Metchie said. “It can be about anything, the craft, we talk about the craft a lot. But just him being one of the guys now, one of your brothers, especially in the room playing your same position. A lot of things in our lives are very similar, all of us, on the field and off the field. So, it is good to have brothers relate to those things and just share those experiences with.”

Metchie’s teammates voted him the Texans’ annual Ed Block Courage Award, recognizing his grit. The annual prestigious award salutes a player’s superb efforts both on and off the field and their ability to overcome great adversity.

“It means a lot, just being recognized by my teammates for all the things I’ve overcome in these past few years,” Metchie said after being voted the award. “It means a lot, especially when it comes from the guys you spend every day with. When it comes from fans or other people that don’t know you as well, it’s different. When it comes from the guys you spend every day with and they really know the struggle and work you put in, the things you go through, it means a lot.”

SEE ALSO Texans wide receiver John Metchie III exercises patience: ‘I have to be ready whenever my number is called’

Metchie was in the fight of his life last year. While Metchie wondered if he would play football again, he could see where he wanted to go a few miles away at NRG Stadium.

Metchie experienced the gamut of emotions, including doubt. Ultimately, his faith and determination brought him back to the game and he is working to build his role within the Texans’ offense after spending last year on the non-football illness list.

“Patience has definitely been a theme to me, and it’s something I’ve had a lot of practice with in the last year,” Metchie said last season. “Of course, it’s knowing I have to remain consistent and keep showing up and time will come. I just have to be ready.”

Metchie caught 96 receptions for 1,142 yards and eight touchdowns as a junior at Alabama in 2021, but tore a knee ligament in the Southeastern Conference championship game on Dec. 4, 2021. He finished his college career with 155 catches for 2,081 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Metchie is a native of Canada who attended high school in the United States in Maryland and New Jersey before earning a football scholarship to Alabama and whose family originally moved from Ghana, is soaking up every moment. Back on the football field, back to running sharp routes and catching passes, Metchie is an inspiration to his teammates, coaches and his fellow patients and doctors.

And Metchie has inspired his teammates.

“I would say he’s a good teammate to have,” wide receiver Robert Woods said. “I know he’s younger, but he’s also a role model to me, somebody who pushes through and doesn’t let outside factors, outside struggles ever get him down. He’s a very positive person. Seeing him battle cancer and his treatment and being able to bounce back from an early hamstring injury and getting back to make plays, he’s very inspiring to us and hopefully all of Houston as well.”

During his medical crisis, Metchie leaned heavily on his faith, his family, his friends, the Texans, Alabama coach Nick Saban and his former college teammates.

He was initially diagnosed after dealing with cold symptoms and a recurring headache.

According to medical journals, APL is a “unique subtype of acute myeloid leukemia with cells in the bone marrow that produce blood cells (red cells, white cells, and platelets) that do not develop and function normally. APL begins with one or more acquired changes (mutations) to the DNA of a single blood-forming cell. APL cells have a very specific abnormality that involves chromosomes 15 and 17, leading to the formation of an abnormal fusion gene PML/RARα. This mutated gene causes many of the features of the disease.”

And Metchie wondered and prayed and thought deeply about a lot of things, including whether he would make it back from this medical ordeal. What was going to happen to him? Would he ever regain his health and his old life?

“I guess an answer to tie into that is faith, right?” Metchie said. “One of the most curable forms of cancer, but very tough at the beginning. So, I was very blessed and grateful to have one of the most curable forms of cancer. As you saw, I didn’t lose my hair and a lot of stuff like that. So, I was very grateful and very blessed for that, but at the very beginning of it when you’re diagnosed, it’s a very tough part.

“You can only rely on your faith in those situations. In situations where you are forced to be faced with your own mortality, you see what it is you really believe in and who it is you really believe in. So, my faith in God is really what kept me comfortable in a belief that this was all for a greater purpose and a bigger reason.”

resses you have, you realize that the biggest gift you have is your breath and your heartbeat.”

There’s a long-standing tradition at MD Anderson Cancer Center of ringing the bell when a patient is cancer-free.

Metchie will never forget that feeling.

“That moment was special,” Metchie said. “It seemed to be more special for the people around me, but it was extremely special for me just because, when you get diagnosed and you’re in the hospital, you don’t really have an end clock. The best you can really do is just take it day by day and stack brick by brick. So, you’re not really looking too far down the road when you’re there.

“The other patients and I, we’re just worried about winning our fight every day. When it got to the end, you kind of look up and you’re like, ‘Damn, we’ve accumulated a lot of treatments and a lot of days.’ And that’s kind of when you start thinking about it, but I think going into that day, it was kind of the same thing for me. I was just winning the next day.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com