Cowboys Coach Brian Schottenheimer opens up about his own cancer battle

OXNARD, Calif. - Coach Brian Schottenheimer also beat cancer years ago.

Dallas’ new head coach talked about his own battle with thyroid cancer on Wednesday after news about team owner Jerry Jones’ Stage 4 melanoma broke.

Brian Schottenheimer’s Cancer

What we know:

Schottenheimer told reporters he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2002. He was 28 years old and an assistant coach for the San Diego Chargers at the time.

He said he got word from the doctor during training camp and immediately went to his dad, Marty, who was the team’s head coach.

Marty Schottenheimer then called former Washington owner Dan Snyder, who had been diagnosed with the same cancer just a few years prior.

Snyder made a call, and within the next couple of days, Schottenheimer had surgery to remove his thyroid and 17 lymph nodes.

What they're saying:

From training camp in Oxnard, Schottenheimer commended Jones for opening up the conversation.

"I think it's an incredible story. I had heard it from Jerry. He and I shared that. It shows your health, it doesn’t discriminate against anybody. Mine was less serious. I was 28. Nothing like Stage 4, nothing like Jerry and what other people go through. You hear cancer and it scares the hell out of you," he said.

He said he was concerned he might lose his ability to speak, which would have likely ended his coaching career. Thankfully, he made a full recovery.

Schottenheimer also acknowledged that he’s lucky to have connections in the NFL with people like Snyder, who connected him with specialists at the Mayo Clinic.

Jerry Jones’ Cancer Diagnosis

The backstory:

On Wednesday, Jones opened up about his secret battle with Stage 4 melanoma, or skin cancer, and the experimental treatment that he said saved his life.

The 82-year-old was diagnosed in 2010, and over the next decade, he underwent two lung surgeries and two lymph node surgeries. 

He said his tumors finally went away after he underwent trials for a therapy called Programmed Cell Death Protein 1, or PD-1.

"I got to be a part of a trial that was propitious. It really worked. It's called PD-1 and it really, really, really worked. It ate my hips up. I had to have both hips replaced because it was rough on your bones. But other than that, I'm so proud to get to be sitting here with you guys and to be getting to do what we do," Jones told reporters.

Dr. Daniel Wang, an oncologist at UT Southwestern, said immunotherapy like PD-1 has since become a game-changer in how doctors are able to successfully treat aggressive cancers like Stage 4 melanoma.

"With these discoveries and melanoma being the poster child for immunotherapy, we've discovered how well they work in these settings. And now it's considered the standard care for patients with Stage 4 melanoma," he said.