STEFANIE SPIELMAN Update

In 1998, after she learned she had breast cancer, Stefanie Spielman, the wife of then NFL linebacker Chris, began writing her thoughts in a journal. She showed several entries to SI later that year, including one from July 19: "I will beat this thing. I have to. [Children] Maddy and Noah are so much motivation. I will do anything for them. [For] Chris too."

Ultimately the disease proved impossible to beat; Stefanie died at home last Thursday at age 42. But she made the most of her 11-year fight, embracing the spotlight she found herself in when Chris left the Bills for the 1998 season—in the prime of his career—to help take care of her. (In a show of solidarity he also shaved his head when Stefanie lost her hair. "I would have considered myself a fraud if I didn't," he told SI at the time.) Stefanie formed a support group for young victims and held an annual event honoring breast-cancer survivors, and through her foundation the Spielmans raised $6 million for breast-cancer research at their alma mater, Ohio State. The Buckeyes wore stickers on their helmets with the letters SS and a pink buckeye leaf for last Saturday's win over Michigan. "We have lost a leader in the fight against cancer," Lance Armstrong said. "Stefanie was a living example of courage and strength to everyone around her."

PHOTO

SCOTT THODE (UPDATE)

JUST 'DO IT Chris shaved his head in solidarity with Stefanie when she lost her hair in 1998.