Brent Venables expresses appreciation for Oklahoma fans supporting wife through cancer battle

The Oklahoma football team got off to a perfect start to the season on Saturday with a 73-0 win over Arkansas State, beginning Year 2 of the Brent Venables era on a very positive note.

There was another positive to take away from it, in the middle of trying circumstances. The Oklahoma fans have been incredibly supportive of Venables’ wife, Julie, in her cancer battle.

“The people of Oklahoma, again this is my 15th year here, and all of my children were born here in Norman, Okla., so I’m not surprised by the people of Oklahoma,” Venables said after the team’s win Saturday. “The love, the support, the compassion, the loyalty, it’s second to none. We’re incredibly grateful.”

Julie’s cancer battle began on June 16, when she was diagnosed. She then underwent an initial surgery on July 28.

Venables and his wife had been hopeful that she’d be able to avoid chemotherapy after that, but he revealed recently that she’ll likely have to undergo a couple rounds to treat the cancer.

“Julie, she’s doing good,” Venables said last week. “Probably looking at, at some point in time here in the near future, we’ll probably have to do some chemotherapy. But things have gone well up to this point, all things considered. Appreciate you asking.”

The Oklahoma faithful will certainly be hoping things continue going well in Julie’s cancer battle. While Venables first season was a bit up and down and they’ll be hoping his second goes better, some things stand out as more important than even football.

Julie’s cancer battle certainly qualifies.

Venables is also looking at their battle as a chance to be a beacon for others. The example he and Julie set can be an inspiration to others.

“For us and for Julie, as I’ve said before, there’s no question that this is an opportunity for us to be a blessing for a lot of people that are going through similar hardships or even worse,” Venables said. “There’s plenty that are a lot worse. It helps you have, again, a great appreciation. But for us we’re incredibly thankful but not surprised. So that’s cool.”

Venables had previously praised everyone in the organization for their support through this trying time.

“It’s been nothing short of amazing the group of people that have helped, whether it’s the doctors or administration, people I work with, our staff, our players, our players’ parents and certainly so many friends and the Sooner nation,” he said.