Oregon Ducks' Dan Lanning Reacts to Phil Knight's Generous Gift

Lanning also reposted a video from OHSU Knight Cancer Institute that he voiced. The video features black and white photos of cancer patients and doctors at the Knight Institute as Lanning speaks to the impact the disease has on families like his own.

"Cancer is the biggest fight in the history of the world. We will win. It will be hard. We're built for it. We care," Lanning said in part during the promotional video.

The video ends with the saying "Give Cancer Hell" a hallmark of Knight's mission for the institute.

"This fight is and always will be personal," Lanning also said in the video.

That saying rings true for Lanning and his family. Lanning's wife, Sauphia Lanning, is seven years cancer free after battling a rare and aggressive form of bone cancer called osteosarcoma.

Just last year, the Lanning family came together with Nike and Van Horne Designs to create the Heroes uniform; a tribute to Sauphia's triumph and folks battling all different types of cancer. The idea for the uniform came from athletic director Rob Mullens as a way to welcome the Lannings to Oregon back in 2022.

The Lanning children (Caden, Kniles, and Titan) and Sauphia helped design several elements of the uniform, including a waffle cone pattern and ice cream cone logo reflecting the sentiment, "a world without cancer is like ice cream on a summer day."

Since Sauphia's final treatment in 2017, the Lanning family continues to back efforts meant to raise awareness and resources to help combat the disease in its different forms.

The Knight's donation intends to do just that, with the Knight Cancer Institute reporting funds will contribute to various resources, including psychological, genetic and financial counseling, symptom management, nutritional support and survivorship care. The institute will also be able to self govern with this new donation, allowing the program to create a board of directors for more effective care.

“We couldn’t be more excited about the transformational potential of this work for humanity,” the Knights said in the statement about the donation.

In 2021, the Knight's donations to the University of Oregon totaled to around $1 billion. The Wall Street Journal estimates the Knights are responsible for $4 billion in donations to both OHSU and the University of Oregon.