Josh Palmer

Among the many stories connected to Mansfield University and Mountaineer Athletics, Josh Palmer's stands apart.

It is not a story remembered because of statistics, awards, or the length of a playing career. It is remembered because of courage, perseverance, relationships, service, and the way Mansfield gave a young man fighting to reclaim his life the opportunity to return to the game he loved.

Palmer came to Mansfield after a terminal cancer battle that changed the direction of his life. A native of Elmira, New York, and a standout athlete at Southside High School, he began his college football career at Alfred University as a defensive back and punt returner. Like so many young college athletes, Palmer was chasing the life in front of him — school, football, friendships, independence, and a future that seemed wide open.

After his freshman season at Alfred, however, Palmer began experiencing symptoms that could not be explained away by football or the normal demands of college life. He was trying to gain weight for football, but instead he was losing it. He woke up at night drenched in sweat. He battled fatigue and struggled to eat.

Then came a moment that helped reveal something far more serious.

While on his way home from Alfred for winter break, Josh and his brother Pat were involved in a car accident during snowy conditions near Painted Post, New York. Thankfully, both survived. Pat was not injured, and Josh was badly bruised.

The next morning, Josh went outside to shovel his parents' driveway and sidewalk. When his mother, Mary, saw him unable to get up the stairs, she knew something was wrong.

At St. Joseph's Hospital, doctors discovered a mass in Josh's chest. After further testing, he was diagnosed in March 1999 with late-stage Hodgkin's disease, now commonly known as Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. His oncologist, Dr. Rose Byland, described the tumor as roughly the size of a small football.

The diagnosis changed everything. Football, school, graduation, and even the simple expectation of living a normal young adult life were suddenly uncertain. Treatment began quickly. Months of chemotherapy, radiation, appointments, tests, waiting rooms, side effects, and long nights became part of his life.

Palmer's cancer battle was physically and emotionally draining. He underwent chemotherapy every other Thursday for six months, followed by radiation treatments. His body changed dramatically. The strength he had built through years of sports faded. He lost more than 50 pounds, dropping near 119 pounds at his lowest point. There were days when even simple movement took effort.

But Josh did not face the fight alone.

His parents, Jim and Mary Palmer, were central to that battle. Jim, a teacher and athletic director, and Mary, a nurse, gave their son strength, structure, care, and belief at a time when everything felt uncertain. Their support helped carry Josh through the diagnosis, the treatments, and the recovery that followed. That family support also became part of the foundation for what would later become the Josh Palmer Fund.

During that period, Palmer began setting goals that would define the rest of his journey. His first goal was to live. After that, he wanted to continue his education, return to football, graduate, and find a way to help others facing cancer.

Even while battling cancer, Palmer was thinking about how he could help other people. He recognized that young adults fighting cancer often lacked the same type of support available to children or older adults. With the help of his parents, family, friends, and community supporters, he helped establish the Josh Palmer Fund in 1999 to support local cancer patients and families throughout the Twin Tiers.

The Fund was created to help families with the financial burdens that come with cancer diagnosis and treatment. Over the years, it has assisted with needs such as medical-related expenses, travel, lodging, wigs, child care, and other costs often not covered by insurance. What began during Palmer's own fight became a mission that would reach far beyond him.

Football gave Palmer something to fight for. Mansfield gave him the place to fight his way back.

In 2000, after a grueling battle with late-stage cancer and after being declared in remission, Palmer transferred to Mansfield and joined the Mountaineer football program under new head coach Joe Gilbert. At the time, Gilbert was working to rebuild Mansfield football with new energy, discipline, and belief. For Palmer, Mansfield became the place where the comeback he had imagined during treatment could become real.

Gilbert's role in Palmer's journey was significant. He gave Palmer a legitimate opportunity to compete as a defensive back and punt returner, but he did not treat him as a charity case or a sympathy story. Gilbert believed Palmer was good enough to play high-level Division II football in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. Palmer wanted to earn his place like every other player, and Gilbert gave him that chance.

"I don't think anyone will go easy on him," Gilbert said at the time. "And Josh doesn't want that either. He is certainly good enough to play for us. He's not receiving the job because of that disease."

That mattered deeply. Palmer had survived cancer, but he wanted more than survival. He wanted to feel like an athlete again, a teammate again, and a person capable of reclaiming the life that cancer had interrupted. At Mansfield, he was given that opportunity.

Mike Cerasuolo was another major figure in Palmer's path to Mansfield. Cerasuolo had coached Palmer at Alfred and supported him during his cancer battle, including visits during treatment. When Cerasuolo became part of the Mansfield staff, he helped connect Palmer's story to the Mountaineer program. He knew what Palmer had endured and understood what returning to football meant to him.

"The kid is the most upbeat kid you ever met, considering all he's gone through and all he's done for other people," Cerasuolo said.

Cerasuolo became one of the key bridges between Palmer's cancer battle, his football comeback, and his new life as a Mountaineer. His relationship with Palmer was rooted in more than football. It was rooted in care, belief, loyalty, and the understanding that the game could give Palmer something powerful to fight for.

At Mansfield, Palmer returned to the field as a defensive back and punt returner. He worked to rebuild his body after chemotherapy and radiation, training, lifting, running, and consuming thousands upon thousands of calories a day to regain the strength and weight treatment had taken from him. His return represented far more than a player joining a roster. It represented a young man stepping back onto a football field after facing the possibility that he might never live to see one again.

The Mansfield football staff became an important part of Palmer's life. Gilbert, Cerasuolo, Chris Woods, Ralph Isernia, and the entire Mountaineer coaching staff helped create a relationship-driven environment that stayed with Palmer long after his playing days ended. Many of those coaches went on to successful careers at the highest levels of college and professional football, but for Palmer, the most important part was never simply where those men went in the profession. It was the relationships they built, the belief they showed in him, and the way they continued to support the Fund whenever needed.

Chris Woods played a particularly meaningful role in Palmer's Mansfield journey. Woods was part of the staff as defensive coordinator and secondary coach before becoming Mansfield's head coach in 2001. After Palmer tore his ACL during the spring game and his playing career came to an end, his connection to Mansfield football did not end with it.

Palmer remained with the program as an assistant coach on Woods' staff, coaching defensive backs. That chapter became one of the most important parts of his Mansfield story. When he could no longer continue reclaiming his life as a player, Woods and the Mansfield program gave him another way to stay connected to the game — through coaching, mentoring, and serving the program.

"Josh represented everything we wanted Mansfield football to be about — toughness, character, perseverance, and team-first commitment. When his playing career ended, he still found a way to make our program better," Woods said.

That transition from player to coach showed the depth of Palmer's loyalty to Mansfield and to football. He had fought so hard to return as a player. When injury took that away, he did not walk away. He stayed with the program, contributed from the sideline, mentored other players, and continued giving back to the same game that had helped carry him through cancer.

In 2001, Mansfield opened the season with a victory over Buffalo State in Woods' head coaching debut. Later that season, the Mountaineers hosted Ithaca College in the first Josh Palmer Pigskin Classic.

The Pigskin Classic was created as a way for Mansfield football to support Palmer's story and the mission of the Josh Palmer Fund. The idea grew during the early stages of the Fund, with Cerasuolo helping spark the concept and the Mansfield football family helping bring it to life. The game became a way for the program to do something larger than football — to use the sport, the university, and the Mountaineer community to help families facing cancer.

The first Josh Palmer Pigskin Classic was played in September 2001, just days after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Because of that timing, the game carried meaning far beyond the scoreboard. It became a day of remembrance, resilience, service, and hope. The event honored the victims of 9/11 while also raising support for cancer patients and families through the Josh Palmer Fund.

Steve McCloskey, Mansfield's longtime sports information director, became one of the most important people in preserving and growing the Pigskin Classic. McCloskey helped tell Palmer's story, promote the event, and keep the connection strong between Mansfield football, the Palmer family, and the Fund. Palmer has credited McCloskey as a driving force behind the Classic, saying Steve took the idea and ran with it. Palmer also worked for McCloskey in the sports information department, where he would help open the office in the mornings.

"Josh Palmer's story has always represented the very best of Mansfield University," McCloskey said. "He came to us after fighting for his life, but what everyone saw was not someone looking for sympathy — it was someone determined to give everything he had to his teammates, his coaches, and this university. The Pigskin Classic became special because it was never just about football. It was about hope, service, and the Mansfield family coming together to help people who needed it most."

McCloskey's significance cannot be overstated. His passion for Mansfield, his ability to tell the stories of Mountaineer Athletics, and his commitment to the mission helped ensure the Pigskin Classic became more than a one-time tribute. He helped make it a Mansfield tradition.

For McCloskey, Palmer's story was also personal — a story of hope, perseverance, and refusing to give in when life became difficult.

"I have told a lot of Mansfield stories over the years, but Josh Palmer's story has always stayed with me," McCloskey said. "He is a personal favorite of mine and always will be. There are times in my life where I've wanted to give up and I think of Josh Palmer. He had every reason to feel sorry for himself, and he never did. He kept smiling, kept working, kept helping others, and turned his own battle into something that continues to make a difference for families across our region."

The Classic endured even through major changes in Mansfield football. Mansfield's traditional NCAA Division II football program ended after the 2006 season, and the university later moved to sprint football in 2008. During the period when football was away from Mansfield, the Pigskin Classic did not disappear. Through the efforts of Mansfield football people, including McCloskey, Tom Dickinson, and Jim Burns, the event continued at North Penn High School in Tioga County. When sprint football returned to Mansfield, the Classic returned with it to Karl Van Norman Field.

That endurance is one of the most powerful parts of Palmer's Mansfield story. The Pigskin Classic survived the end of one era of Mountaineer football and found its way into the next. It lasted because it was rooted in something bigger than a game: a mission to help people, a university's commitment to service, and the relationships that held the Mansfield football family together.

Through the Pigskin Classic and other events, the Josh Palmer Fund has grown into one of the region's most meaningful charitable efforts. Since 1999, the Fund has raised nearly $2 million to support local cancer patients and families. Its events have included the Pigskin Classic, the Josh Palmer Fund Holiday Classic basketball tournament, golf tournaments, and the 100-inning game event. The Holiday Classic has grown into one of the nation's largest basketball tournaments, while other events continue to provide direct help to families facing cancer.

In December 2002, Palmer reached another major Mansfield milestone when he graduated with high honors, earning a degree in secondary education and history. Just a few years earlier, he had been unsure whether he would live long enough to reach that day. For Palmer, graduation represented the fulfillment of one of the goals he had set during treatment, after the first and most important goal of surviving.

"Josh and his family epitomize our very best values," Mansfield University President John Halstead said at the time. "Josh has been a story of triumph. It's been a story of inspiration and giving back to others."

That description captured the heart of Palmer's journey. He had not only survived; he had turned survival into service.

After Mansfield, Palmer continued building a life rooted in family, work, community, and the Josh Palmer Fund. His connection to the university also became a family connection. His wife, Kelly, is a 2002 Mansfield graduate, further reflecting the deep bond between the Palmer family, Mansfield University, and the mission that began with Josh's own fight.

Palmer's Mansfield story is not measured by statistics. His opportunity to build the playing career he had fought so hard to reclaim was limited by cancer, injury, and two ACL tears. But Josh's story was never going to be defined by a stat sheet or the number of games he played. It was defined by the way he responded when life kept asking him to fight back.

At a time when doctors — and even Palmer himself — were not sure what tomorrow would bring, the football field felt impossibly far away. Simply surviving came first. Yet despite everything, he defied the odds. A car crash, a late-stage cancer diagnosis, months of treatment, countless nights of uncertainty, devastating weight loss, the long road back to strength, and the heartbreak of knee injuries all became part of a journey that revealed the true measure of his character.

Each time Palmer was knocked down, he found a way to rise. Each time the game was taken from him in one form, he found another way to stay connected to it. And each time life tested him, he turned what he had endured into something larger than himself — service, hope, and a lasting mission to help others.

His impact is measured by the opportunity Mansfield gave him to reclaim his life after cancer, the coaches who believed in him, the teammates who saw his courage up close, the relationships that lasted decades, the Pigskin Classic that continues to carry his name, and the families helped through the Josh Palmer Fund.

His story remains one of the clearest examples of what Mansfield Athletics can mean beyond competition. Mansfield gave Palmer a place to return to football, a way to stay in the game as a coach, and a community that helped turn his personal battle into a lasting mission of service. Palmer has never forgotten what Mansfield gave him, and he has continued to give back with the same unselfishness that has defined his life — putting others first, serving families in need, and using his own story to create hope for people facing their hardest days.

Josh Palmer's Mansfield story remains a lasting reminder of what it truly means to be a Mountaineer: to keep fighting, to keep believing, and to keep helping others.

Written by Terry Day, Director of Public Relations, Mansfield Univeristy 
September 18, 2012