After setting an initial goal of raising $20,000 for his former high school principal69传媒檚 cancer battle, Kansas State sophomore quarterback Avery Johnson69传媒檚 fundraising efforts have far surpassed that with help from fans both of K-State and other Wildcat opponents69传媒 across the country.
Dr. Chris Botts69传媒, the principal at Maize High School, was diagnosed with large-cell neuroendocrine thymic cancer in March of 2022, according to Johnson69传媒檚 fundraiser profile on
In October of 2022, Botts received the news that he was cancer free, but in January of 2023, it returned and had spread, giving Botts a stage-four diagnosis.
The profile states that he69传媒檚 exhausted all approved chemotherapy options and is now showing promising results with a clinical trial which requires weekly trips to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
That69传媒檚 where Johnson comes in. The quarterback announced on September 18 that he would be dedicating every touchdown he scored for the rest of the 2024 season to helping raise money for Botts69传媒 treatment. People can either pledge a certain amount per score, or donate a lump sum.
Following K-State69传媒檚 loss to BYU, the fundraising total began to spike. Comments on the fundraising page are full of Cougar fans offering thoughts, prayers and donations for Botts.
69传媒淚 think it was kind of cool because my dad sent me a screenshot that we had already hit the ($20,000 mark),69传媒 Johnson said on Monday. 69传媒淪o I just want to say thank you to everybody who did donate, and everybody that69传媒檚 going to continue to donate as we go forward.
On the fundraising page, Botts69传媒 is described as, 69传媒渁 close mentor to Avery, and Dr. Botts69传媒 passion for Kansas State helped shape Avery69传媒檚 drive to play for the Wildcats.69传媒 The sophomore star concurred with that when asked.
69传媒淒r. Botts69传媒 is a great guy,69传媒 Johnson said. 69传媒淗e69传媒檚 a huge 69传媒楥ats fan, and he never pressured me to come (to K-State) or anything but he always would put his two cents in and say that he would love to have me (in 69传媒).
69传媒(It69传媒檚 just about) everything he69传媒檚 done for me and his character that showed throughout the whole school, and everything he69传媒檚 done for all of his . You can tell he cares about people and wants to make an impact on people69传媒檚 lives. So being able to give back to him any way I can definitely makes me feel a lot better as a person. Just to be able to give back to somebody who needs it and somebody who deserves it as much as he does.69传媒
As of press time, the fundraising goal has been raised from $20,000 to $80,000. Currently, the total sits at $57,068 and will continue to rise over the season as Johnson racks up trips to the end zone.
69传媒淚t just goes to show you know that there69传媒檚 a lot of great people in this world, and it69传媒檚 bigger than football,69传媒 Johnson said. 69传媒淚t69传媒檚 great to see that there69传媒檚 so many encouraging people and people that still want to do good in the world.69传媒
