vs. Cancer – University of Nebraska

The Buzz Cut Fundraiser

One way of achieving that is through our support of this great initiative. Vs. Cancer is a fundraising campaign whose proceeds are split between child life programs in local hospitals and national pediatric brain tumor research.

The person that started it all was actually an 18-year-old baseball player out of the University of North Carolina. 

He was diagnosed with a Stage IV brain tumor, and his teammates worked hard to raise money and uplift him during what had to have been a terrifying time in his life.

Thankfully, he had that tumor removed, and he’s now cancer-free.

In all honesty, it was his story that really got me interested in supporting the cause, initially. That was five or six years ago.

When I was the head coach at Texas A&M, I wanted my team to give back, too. I think it’s important that we expose these young men to opportunities like that and teach them about perspective.

Not only would we help raise money for a good cause, but it’s also a great team-building experience. In many ways, it helps you appreciate the game of baseball for what it really was — you know, a game. 

You go to these hospitals and see these kids fighting for their lives, and you quickly realize it’s not a game for them. 

It’s really rewarding to see your players ‘get it’ and do whatever they can to raise funds for pediatric brain cancer. 

But raising money is one thing, right? We also shave our heads in a way to show our support. And as you can imagine, the raising money part was much easier than the head shaving for some of those young men.

Some would come in with their hair at shoulder length and still buzz it all off. I have to commend those young men for stepping up for the initiative.

Hair grows back, you know?

But the opportunity to lend a hand and possibly even help save a life is something that’ll stick with these kids forever.