“A Bills Fan’s Battle with CF:
Hope for Victory at Last”
Robert “Bobby” Scholl III was born in July of 1985.
Unfortunately for Rob, his life was not one without hardship. At the age of six months old, he was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a rare disease that affects the mucous glands in your lungs and your intestines. Even though a diagnosis of CF at that time came with a pretty bleak prognosis, Rob seemed to, time and again, defy the odds. His CF rarely held him back in any aspects of his life as a child, and if anything, it made him mentally and physically tougher than most of his peers.
It was always remarkable the way Rob excelled in all sports regardless of his condition. He would win the mile race every year in his class. He would do the most pull ups. He was the most flexible. The one sport, however, that was his true love was the game of football. Anyone that played with Rob knew what kind of player he was. He was the hardest hitter on the field, both sides of the ball. His understanding and instincts of the game were uncanny. We used to wonder how he knew where to be on every play without anyone telling him. He was just always where he was supposed to be at the right time. This was the kid with the deadly, incurable lung disease! But he never used it as an excuse; he always used the odds against him to fuel his determination to excel at whatever sport he was playing.
Growing up at the New Jersey shore, it was rare that you would find any Buffalo Bills fans within 100 miles. Our father, Bob Jr., was one of those rare fans and little did he know, that through his fandom, a tribe of Bills fans would blossom for years and years to come. Our dad told the story that we became Bills fans because Rob mistook the Bills for the New York Giants on TV one day (we lived in NY Giant territory). The Bills at the time were amazing, led by Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith, and Andre Reed, so we just jumped on the bandwagon and became Bills fans. From then on, everyone around knew the Scholl family as unabashedly proud Bills Mafia members.
Anyone that knows football, though, knows it’s not easy being a Bills fan. The heartbreak of being a Bills fan has felt daunting at times. From the four back to back Super Bowl losses starting in the 1990 season, all the way to 2023 and the unimaginable pain of watching Damar Hamlin’s near-death experience, being a Bills fan can feel like insurmountable odds at times…almost as insurmountable as a diagnosis of cystic fibrosis. But just like Bills fans, CF kids and their families are tough as nails. They may get knocked down 7 times, but they get up 8.
Throughout Rob’s life, he endured more loss than most people his age could imagine. We lost our dad in 1999 to cancer when Rob was only in middle school, and then we lost our beloved momma in 2013. These incredible losses rocked our family, but it never broke us apart. The adversity only brought us closer together, stronger and more loyal to each other.
Tragically, on June 9, 2020, our family had to endure another unimaginable
loss with the news that our brother, Rob, had passed away suddenly. He was a month shy of his 35th birthday, and he had battled cystic fibrosis his whole life.
Due to covid restrictions at the time, we held Rob’s funeral in our sister’s backyard. At his funeral, the Bills flag waved in the air in the background while Rob’s best friends delivered his eulogy to the backdrop of a beautiful sunset. As the last speaker ended his speech, he said, “I’m not a betting man, but I think every person here should put some money on the Buffalo Bills this season because with Rob up in heaven pulling his strings, they are going to win it all.”
Our brother was loved by so many. He had a smile and laugh that could light up the room, and he was truer than true. Just a simple guy who loved his family, friends, and the Buffalo Bills.
For Rob and our family, being a Bills fan has always felt bigger than just having a favorite team on Sundays to root for. It has felt like believing in the underdog, dreaming for the impossible, and trusting that one day, all of the pain and loss would be redeemed in victory.
As Rob’s family, we believe in a loving God who gives beauty for ashes and joy for mourning. We believe that one day we will have an awesome, joyful reunion in heaven with Rob and our parents. We believe that one day our Bills will finally have their day, and every last weary, faithful Bills fan will feel the joy of victory at last. And, most importantly, we believe that one day a cure for CF will be discovered, and it will become a disease of the past.
(The picture is of the last game the Scholl siblings all went to together at Met Life Stadium. Our brother, Rob, is on the right.)
