Iowa State defensive lineman Mitchell Meyers won the 2017 Uplifting Athletes Rare Disease Champion award Friday.

Meyers was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in February 2015. He missed the 2015 football season as he underwent chemotherapy and radiation for over a year.

In the summer of 2016, Meyers returned to the football field. He was named a team captain for the 2016 season and started in all 12 games for Iowa State on his way to being named Academic All-Big 12.

The other candidates for the Rare Disease Champion trophy were Pittsburgh running back James Conner, Michigan fullback Michael Hirsch and Notre Dame running back Dexter Williams. Meyers won an online voting contest throughout the month of January to win the award.

Meyers will be awarded the Rare Disease Champion trophy in Atlantic City on March 10 as part of the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala.