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Mark Herzlich's parents broke the news to him in May.

Herzlich, a star linebacker at Boston College, would have to go see an oncologist.

What, Herzlich asked them, was an oncologist?

He was just 21 years old. In 2008, he had been named the Atlantic Coast Conference defensive player of the year and a third-team Associated Press All-American. He was a sure-fire National Football League prospect who was looking forward to his senior season.

There was no history of cancer in his family. He was friends with guys who got football injuries, not cancer. How was he supposed to know what an oncologist treated?

He soon learned.

Herzlich was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. The pain in his left leg turned out to be from a tumor in his left femur and the muscle mass around it.

"He was on top of the world. ... All of a sudden, his life took a 90-degree turn," Herzlich's father, Sandon Herzlich, said this week.

Mark Herzlich will be at BC's game Saturday at Virginia Tech, but he won't be making any tackles. He will root for his teammates from the sideline, going onto the field only to accept a check from a Hokie fundraising effort that is expected to be for $9,494.94, in honor of his BC jersey number, 94.

Herzlich has already scored the most important of victories, though. Last week, his father gave him some more news. The latest MRI looked good. The chemotherapy and radiation seem to have worked. The oncologist was 99 percent sure the cancer was gone.

"This is just another opponent, whether it's going to be my guys going out there and battling against Virginia Tech on Saturday, or whether it's me this past Monday going in for another chemo round," Herzlich said. "There's an end goal in sight, and for me it's to be cancer-free and to keep the cancer away."

Stunning news

Herzlich, from Wayne, Pa., recorded a team-high 110 tackles and six interceptions as a BC junior last season.

After taking his finals in May, Herzlich returned home for a visit before starting summer school. But the left leg that had been hurting all spring was still bothering him. His parents took him to several doctors.

On May 12, while Herzlich and his parents drove back from one of those doctor visits, his parents got a call from an orthopedist with bad news about the MRI Herzlich had the previous day. The orthopedist said Herzlich needed to see an oncologist for a biopsy.

When they got back from the oncologist, the stunned Herzlich went up to his room.

"I ... laid in my bed and curled up in a ball, basically, for two hours and had different thoughts running into my mind about my future," he said.

Two days later, another oncologist delivered encouraging news: The cancer had not spread to other parts of his body.

Herzlich and his parents were told he had a 65 percent chance of survival.

"As soon as I found out it hadn't metastasized on his lungs and hadn't spread, I had no doubt he was going to beat it," Herzlich's father said. "I know how tough he is."

That was the day Herzlich went public with the news that he had cancer.

"You go from thinking, 'This is going to be my year,' -- preseason All-American, go to the NFL, that's the whole life you're going to live. ... Then this kind of pops up out of nowhere," Herzlich said this week. "That whole change from football player to fighting against cancer is a huge one."

Return to football?

Herzlich and his doctors opted for radiation treatment instead of surgery to remove a portion of his femur.

He had chemotherapy treatments for two months, followed by a five-week stretch in which he had both chemotherapy and radiation. In August, he finished his 50 radiation treatments and returned to BC for the start of classes. He has two more chemotherapy treatments remaining.

The 6-foot-4, 242-pound Herzlich lost his hair but did not lose weight.

Herzlich was at a movie last week when his father called with the good news from the oncologist.

"It's awesome to know that it's gone," Herzlich said. "The biggest thing now is to hope and pray that it doesn't come back."

Herzlich's father said the family has been told that if the cancer has not returned in two years, there is a "very, very good chance" that it won't, and that if the cancer has not come back in five years, Herzlich can consider himself cured.

"His mom and I are still concerned," Herzlich's father said. "We're four years and seven months away from being sure that he's over with it."

Herzlich hopes to play football for BC next season.

A rod will be inserted in Herzlich's left femur next month to strengthen the bone. In December, he intends to start running.

Because of the cancer and radiation, he now has a higher possibility of breaking his left leg. Doctors are concerned that the leg could have a hard time healing if it breaks.

If his leg holds up during his winter workouts, Herzlich will be more certain about his football future and whether he should risk playing.

The doctors would rather Herzlich not resume his football career, Herzlich's father said.

Raising money

Herzlich has continued to serve as one of the leaders of the Eagles this season, encouraging his teammates while watching practices and games.

Before last weekend's home win over Florida State, Herzlich addressed the fans to fire them up. During the game, he talked to his teammates to fire them up as well.

Herzlich, who turned 22 last month, said his bonds with his teammates have become tighter.

"When you're 18, 19, 20 years old, you feel invincible," he said. "You're out on the football field in front of a national television audience, playing a game that you love ... and then something like this happens. ... My team has really rallied around my fight."

Herzlich has also received support from opponents. He has traded messages with Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor and other Hokies. Former Virginia linebacker Clint Sintim, now in the NFL, also has been in touch.

Some of Herzlich's teammates started a BC chapter of Uplifting Athletes, a national organization of college football players that raises money for rare diseases such as Ewing's sarcoma. BC held a fundraiser that brought in $31,541 for the organization.

Other ACC schools have joined in. When Clemson hosted BC last month, Tigers coach Dabo Swinney not only presented Herzlich with a No. 94 Clemson jersey -- but also with a personal $5,000 check for Uplifting Athletes. Last weekend, Florida State presented him with a check for $9,400 for the organization.

Hokies coach Frank Beamer also wanted to do something in honor of Herzlich. Associate athletic director John Ballein read about Uplifting Athletes and contacted the organization.

The Tech football team has used the sale of wristbands to raise money for causes such as the United Way and the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund. Beamer and Ballein decided the wristbands, which say "Team United" and "Beamerball" on them, would be a good fundraiser for Uplifting Athletes.

Two weeks ago, Tech began selling the wristbands for $1 apiece. The initial goal was to raise $5,094, but Tech was already so close to that goal last week that Beamer and Ballein set a new goal of $9,400. The goal has been revised again, to $9,494.94.

The Tech bookstores have sold out of their allotment of wristbands, raising $5,000. The Tech football team has raised more than $4,000, not only from players selling the wristbands in parking lots before their Sept. 26 home game, but also from secretary Lisa Marie taking orders over the phone.

Tech will meet its goal in time for Saturday's game, Ballein predicted.

During the first half of the game, injured Tech running back Darren Evans will present Herzlich with a check for the BC chapter of Uplifting Athletes. He will also give Herzlich a special helmet that says both "VT" and "BC." The Tech coaches and team captains have signed the helmet.

The fundraising efforts of Tech and other schools mean a lot to Herzlich.

"The fact that I'm able to help raise money for people that are going to be going through this, ... it gives them resources, it gives the doctors and chemists more resources," he said. "You get put into the position where you're able to help people, and you can either walk away from it and just want to better yourself or you can embrace it and really try to push the cause."

But next year, Herzlich hopes to return to his old role on the field.

"I want to run back out on that field with those 100 guys for the first game next year," he said. "I just really want to be there with my friends, with my teammates, running out on the field, battling again."