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Washington Football Team coach Ron Rivera is cancer-free

By Zac Wassink | Last updated Jan 28, 2021 6:19 PM ET

Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera was unable to guide his club past the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during a Jan. 9 playoff game.

He nevertheless is a big winner as the end of the month approaches.

Rivera's daughter, Courtney, tweeted on Thursday that the 59-year-old coach is free of cancer after battling the illness throughout the season:

Thank you all for the love and prayers ❤️ just got off the phone with mom and dad leaving the hospital @RiverboatRonHC is officially cancer free!!! https://t.co/zxHls7WV7g
— Courtney Rivera (@NFL2Ucla) January 28, 2021

Rivera's wife, Stephanie, also addressed the happy news:

Prayers have been answered. Thx to all the Drs & nurses who “Coached up” @RiverboatRonHC and me and gave us the winning game plan to defeat cancer. The PET scan said it all, cancer you lost this fight! #RiveraStrong
— Stephanie Rivera (@CoachRiv2) January 28, 2021

As Adam Maya noted for the NFL's website, Rivera was diagnosed with squamous cell cancer in August but vowed to continue working through treatments. While Rivera missed some practices, he was on the sidelines for all 16 regular-season games and the playoff matchup against Tampa Bay.

According to ESPN's John Keim, Rivera lost 36 pounds during his cancer bout.

Washington won the NFC East and secured a home postseason game against the Bucs with a 20-14 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on the final Sunday night of the regular season.

"This team, watching him, understood when he said we're going to have opportunities and we're going to win and we'll change the culture; they saw it firsthand because they saw what he'll go through," assistant defensive backs coach Richard Rodgers said in December. "He stayed consistent in what he wanted done."

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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