Rod Walker: Foster Moreau’s Jesuit family agrees — if anyone can beat cancer, he can

Chris and Meg Jennings both still have the decade-old photo saved in their cell phones.

It’s a picture of Foster Moreau, a sophomore at Jesuit High School at the time, and their then-3-year-old son Christopher.

Moreau is lifting tiny Christopher over his head as the toddler slams the ball through the hoop.

“His first slam dunk was assisted by Foster Moreau,” said Meg Jennings, who taught Moreau during his playing days at Jesuit.

Now, the Jesuit family — and everyone in New Orleans and Baton Rouge who has ever crossed Moreau’s path — will return the favor and do their part, assisting Moreau and lifting him up, mostly with a whole lot of love, support and prayer.

This challenge is far greater than any of those Catholic League football and basketball games Moreau helped the Blue Jays win during his time there, or any opponent he faced during his time at LSU, or any of the defenses he saw in his four NFL seasons with the Oakland and Las Vegas Raiders.

This challenge is Hodgkin lymphoma, a form of cancer with which Moreau was diagnosed on a recent visit with the New Orleans Saints.

Moreau was one of the most coveted free agent tight ends in the NFL — which is a good thing, because it led to the discovery of the life-altering news, diagnosed by Saints’ team doctor John Amoss when Moreau was visiting his hometown team.

“If anyone can fight it and beat it, he’s the guy that can do it,” said former Jesuit assistant football coach Joe Chango.

Chango’s text message to Moreau Wednesday night was a simple one: “Fight the good fight.” 

That was a message Chango often preached when he was offensive coordinator at Jesuit during Moreau’s junior and senior seasons. That includes the 2014 football season, when Moreau helped Jesuit win its first state football championship since 1960.

“He was a big driving force behind the state championship because he rallied guys around him,” Chango said. “Guys want to be around him. He had that kind of personality. I think that all plays into who he is and what kind of person he is, as far as fighting this fight. Age-wise, he’s in a good spot to fight something like this. But not just that. Just him as a human and the type of dude he is.”