Taft principal Grishaber, Crown Point coach Buzea meet before game; both are survivors of leukemia 

by BRIAN NADIG

The Aug. 25 football game between Taft High School and Crown Point High School in Indiana was all about “orange,” the color for leukemia awareness.

Taft principal Mark Grishaber and Crown Point coach Craig Buzea are both survivors of the disease.

Grishaber said that he reached out to Buzea when the coach was going through his treatments and hoped that the two schools could eventually connect on the football field.

They shook hands and talked before the game while meeting at the 50-yard line.

“Great game, with many thousands raised for leukemia research,” Grishaber said, adding that about 4,000 attended the game. “Crown Point did a great job.”

Former Indianapolis Colts football head coach Chuck Pagano. a leukemia survivor himself, recorded a video that was shown at the game, which Crown Point won.

The  Mayo Clinic describes the disease as “cancer of the body’s blood-forming tissues, including the bone marrow and the lymphatic system.” Several types of leukemia exist.

In 2020 there were an estimated 490,875 people living with leukemia in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute.