Randy Moss, a titan of the game, stood under the blinding Super Bowl lights, but this time, it wasn’t about football. As he stepped back onto the ESPN set, the weight of his battle with cancer pressed against him, heavier than any defender he had ever faced. Then, emotion took over. His voice wavered, his eyes brimmed with tears, and for a moment, the world saw not just the legend, but the man—the fighter. The stadium roared around him, but all he could hear was the pounding of his own heart.

Legendary NFL tight end Randy Moss made a tearful return to ESPN at Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on Sunday months after doctors found and removed a cancerous mass between his pancreas and liver.

‘Hey y’all, I couldn’t do it alone, and I really thank y’all,’ Moss said through tears on the ESPN set at the Superdome following an on-air tribute from the likes of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

‘Hey guys, it’s been hard,’ Moss continued, ‘but I got a lot of love, and a lot of people believe in me, man, so I’m happy to be here.’

ESPN host Mike Greenberg admitted immediately after the tribute ‘we told him, we wouldn’t do that,’ before promising that would be the last heartfelt moment on the program.

‘That is a message from the entire football world, and we are thrilled to have you here,’ Greenberg said to his co-host.

‘Greeny, don’t do it again,’ Moss laughed through his tears. ‘Let’s get this show started.’

Moss went on to thank a number of his supporters for helping him return to the air, including: ‘The prayer warriors, my doctors, my beautiful wife for traveling with me.’

‘I beat this thing, and my goal was to be here with you guys,’ Moss told his co-hosts Greenberg, Rex Ryan, Alex Smith and Teddy Bruschi. ‘So, man, God bless you guys for staying strong with me, with the prayers.’

Back in November, a number of fans had grown concerned about Moss’ health when his eyes appeared yellow on ESPN.

That led to Moss making the shock announcement about his health a month ago, appearing on an Instagram Live video alongside his sons to tell fans he had undergone a six-hour surgery and could not walk without a cane.

Speaking about his cancer battle in December, Moss said: ‘I’ve told y’all over the last couple of weeks about me battling something internally, and ya boy is a cancer survivor.’

He then revealed: ‘I did have cancer, they found it in the bile duct, right between the pancreas and the liver, and the cancer was sitting right outside the bile duct.

‘So my doctors went in, I had six hours’ surgery, and for a lot of you guys wondering, you can Google it. I had a Whipple procedure. The best doctor in the United States, Dr [John] Martinie, I am forever grateful.’