Rob Long is the Executive Director at Uplifting Athletes, a nonprofit organization that inspires the rare disease community with hope through the power of sport. In 1020, as a Pre-Season All-American playing for the Syracuse Orange Football team, he was contemplating which NFL team he wanted to be on. Until he was diagnosed out of the blue with a Grade III Anaplastic Astrocytoma, a rare form of pediatric brain cancer. Eleven years later, he's paying it forward, raising money and awareness for needed rare disease research. He joined Matthew Zachary for a candid conversation about the terrible privilege of surviving cancer, and, as a fellow SUNY Alum, they heavily bond over their mutual love of Wegmans. NORDpod is the official podcast of The National Organization for Rare Disorders. For more information, contact [email protected]. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.