Shelby Cassesse tells the story of former North Allegheny senior Elijah Smith, the son of former Steelers defensive lineman Aaron Smith, and his fight with Leukemia and success on the football field.
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After cancer battle, son of former Steeler is star on the field
In 2008, a virus went through the Smith household. Everyone seemed to get over it within a couple of days, except for 4-year-old Elijah.
“Seven days straight, high fever,” said Elijah’s father, Aaron. “And at the point he was showing no symptoms of like runny nose, cough, nothing. But just a high, high fever.”
Aaron Smith was still in the midst of a 13-year career as a defensive end for the Steelers. But suddenly his family's world was consumed by doctors appointments, hospital trips, tests and procedures. What seemed like a stubborn virus led to a Leukemia diagnosis for Elijah.
“‘I’ll be honest, when the doctor told me initially, I thought I was going to vomit on the floor,” Aaron Smith said. “This is the news that every parent fears and dreads the most.”
Elijah spent the next 3 and a half years in treatment, which to the now college bound high school senior feels like a blur of hospital visits and medication. He says for as much as life had changed, his parents still tried to maintain some sense of normalcy in his life.
“To me it seemed like a normal childhood,” Elijah Smith said. “They had me involved with as much as I could do. I’m thankful for that.”
Following rigorous treatment, the Smiths got the best news possible — it was working. So long as tests came back clear over the next few years, he was in remission.
“We were so excited,” Aaron Smith said. “We had been through so much at that point. I think we wanted to celebrate, but you’re so leery of celebrating.”
Through all of this, Elijah was fostering a love of — not football — but basketball, much to the relief of his father.
“I never even referenced it, because I did not want him to play,” Aaron Smith said. “We never even mentioned it, we never talked about it, it wasn’t a big deal.”
But no matter how hard you try, sometimes you can't prevent a boy looking up to his dad. Elijah Smith decided he wanted to give football a go in middle school.
“I wanted to be like him, I wanted to play football, even though football was never my biggest interest,” he said. “But I always thought, ‘oh, he did this, I want to be like him, so I’m going to play football’”
So Elijah picked up the helmet and pads for the first time. For years though, he and the sport didn't quite click.
“If you’re not very good at football, it’s not a very fun sport to play,” Elijah Smith said. “You’re getting kicked around the field, and it’s not much fun.”
But just a few years ago, Elijah made what some would call a business decision. Football was more likely to get him to college than basketball, so he committed, and with that commitment came a passion.
“I never really like trained for football or did anything,” he said. “I practiced basketball and enjoyed it more. But once I started practicing football and got better at it, I started to enjoy the game more.”
Elijah Smith began to stand out his junior season, and not long after, IUP came calling.
The 6-foot-5, 270 pound right tackle, a force on the field, is measured best by his dad's recollection of the resilient little boy he once was.
“I see the four-year-old version off him that got cancer, and how fragile and little and dependent upon us he was,” Aaron Smith said. “He was a sweet, tenderhearted boy at the time. Now, when I see him walking around, I see a grown man who has confidence, who is strong, vibrant, who treats people good. He’s a good person.”
And though those early years are a hazy memory to Elijah Smith, they're front of mind when things get tough.
“For football I‘ll go through things that are tough or I don’t like," he said. "Or there are things throughout my life that I don’t enjoy doing. But I always think back, and there aren’t many things that are harder to overcome than cancer.
“I beat that at such a young age. In my mind, I beat that, I can do pretty much anything else that I put my mind to.”