Feel-good story in the NFL! After surviving cancer, Texans star Dylan Horton is back to being an active member of the squad and is likely to make a tearful return against the Dallas Cowboys.

“We watched him play on November 19, and on Tuesday, November 21, we got a call from the doctor,” said Stacey Horton, mother of Houston Texans star Dylan Horton, looking back on the day of the harrowing diagnosis. “On Wednesday, we sat in the doctor’s office at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. It was surreal, an out-of-body experience.”

Horton was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma (lymph node cancer) in December last year. A life-threatening disease that could have ended the young edge rusher’s NFL dreams forever. But not so with Horton.

The 25-year-old underwent the necessary chemotherapy, which he completed in May. Since then, he has been considered cancer-free. The mega-talent particularly impressed those around him with his unwavering positivity, which he never lost despite the horror he experienced. On the day of the diagnosis, he wanted to call Dylan and give him courage, brother Ryan once recalled in an interview.

“But honestly, it was the other way around. In the end, he told me that everything would be fine and that everything was okay.” An extraordinary amount of optimism and faith that would carry Dylan Horton through the exhausting time.

Comeback gift in two ways

After almost a year of absence, the long-awaited comeback finally happened. The former fourth-round pick jumped from the Reserve/Non-Football Illness List at the beginning of October to the game day roster against the Buffalo Bills. Whether it was the 23-20 upset victory or his first NFL tackle after more than a year that made for the better moment, one can only speculate.

But the Week 5 game laid the foundation for Horton’s return to the biggest football stage in the world. Every week since then, the edge rusher’s name has been on the game sheet, even though his playing time has been limited. This is certainly an acceptable admission for Horton after the health struggles he has had to endure.

“It’s a great story that Dylan is back on the pitch. He has approached every day with a smile and a great attitude,” said head coach DeMeco Ryans at the press conference. But that’s not the end of the praise after what was probably one of the most emotional days in Horton’s young life.

“It was an experience that humbled us because we respect him so much,” said fellow edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. about his teammate’s return to the field and his emotional pep talk in the locker room. ‘We love him so much. He’s overcome a lot.’

But a very special moment is still to come. In the Monday Night Game of Week 11, his Houston Texans will face the Dallas Cowboys in a Southern duel. A game of sporting explosiveness, but one that is likely to be overshadowed for Horton by the most intense personal impressions.

After his comeback on the pitch, it means a homecoming for the D-Liner to one of the most monumentally important places of his youth. Growing up just 40 kilometers from the Cowboys Dome, the AT&T Stadium was the venue for various football games during Horton’s time at school as a safety at Frisco High School. Games that earned him a ticket into the illustrious world of elite sports. This ticket was almost violently snatched from him.

But Horton won the battle for survival against the aggressive disease and on Monday he will have more than a dozen tickets for his parents, brother, aunts, uncles, cousins and girlfriend. For the most irrelevant game in his NFL career, at least in terms of sport, for his entourage.