Tight End Comes Back Strong Following Cancer

Jeff Pankratz went home to Boise over Christmas break in 1994. He would have been fortunate to find a stocking with a lump of coal.

Instead, he found out he had cancer.

The University of Idaho freshman football player had noticed swollen, cloudy masses in his neck and chest, unusual conditions for a fit, 215-pound tight end. “It looked like a bad case of mumps,” he said.

After a biopsy and X-rays, Pankratz and his mother sat in the doctor’s office and were told he had lymphatic cancer.

“It was real emotional,” Pankratz said. “They sat me down and laid everything out in about 5 minutes. It was a big shock. Within 30 minutes, they had done three or four tests on me and I was like, ‘Whoa, hold on. I wasn’t ready for what you told me and now you’re doing all these tests.”’

Intensive chemotherapy over the next six months seems to have abolished the cancer. He also had less aggressive follow-up chemo treatments, but these days he just undergoes monthly checkups. All have given him a clean bill of health.

“I just looked at this as something I had to take on. I looked at it and said, ‘This is what I want to be doing by June, and I want to be back in school and start working out again.’ (Playing football again) definitely helped me focus,” he said.

“I kept in touch with (former) Coach (John L.)

Smith and he was like, ‘Pankratz, you just have to get back up here, dammit. Get out out of bed and go work out.’ You know how he is. I would be throwing up in bed.”

Pankratz is back in Moscow after missing one semester of school. He’s listed as the No. 3 tight end, playing well enough to allow John LaJeunesse to move to defensive end.

“He’s really tenacious,” new UI coach Chris Tormey said. “He’s made a lot of progress since I got the job on Jan. 9th. He’s put on pounds and his endurance and stamina are way up.”

Recalling his first few practices this spring, Pankratz said he got knocked around a couple times. “After that, my body said, ‘Oh, it’s time to get back into it.’ I don’t expect anybody to take it easy on me. That’s not going to make me any better and I definitely want to improve some things.”

He already has, according to Jim Mills, a senior offensive lineman whose older brother, Jay, was a UI player who came back from testicular cancer.

“Jeff mostly talked to my brother, but I realized what he was going through,” Jim said. “A lot of people would have just given up. He’s come back stronger.”

Punt, pass … no kick

Sophomore Brian Brennan has put his best foot forward and is currently UI’s top punter. This fall, when Eric Hisaw returns to full strength, Brennan will try to earn the starting quarterback job. Brennan punted in high school and averaged 41 yards per kick.

Hisaw is making a speedy recovery from his January knee surgery. He is throwing well and regaining his mobility, a key to his success last season. Hisaw isn’t participating in spring drills as he’s been advised to take it slow.

Scrimmage today

The Vandals hold their third scrimmage of the spring today at 10 a.m. at the Kibbie Dome. Admission is free.

xxxx