MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — He took things day by day, hour by hour by hour, sometimes minute by minute. It’s a blur now. The 70 pounds he lost. The feeding tube. The 4:30 a.m. wakeup calls and two-hour plus drives — five days a week for months— to Ann Arbor for radiation and chemotherapy treatments.
The journey back to school each time to begin his day, to watch film and prepare for practice and shepherd his Central Michigan football team.
He never took a break.
Never gave cancer the satisfaction.
Those who know John Bonamego best insist he’s the toughest sort you will ever encounter, and that it’s this level of inner strength that defines his program, a Mid-American Conference side that has been to bowl games seven of the past 10 years.