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After Conquering Cancer, Lifelong Cowboys Fan Cheers America's Team

NBCUniversal, Inc.

A Pennsylvania man who beat cancer with the help of America’s Team, his favorite, is back in North Texas for the Cowboys’ Thanksgiving Day game.

The Scattone family blended into a sea of Cowboys faithful who were tailgating hours before kickoff at AT&T Stadium.

They’ve got a lot to be thankful for.

“I’m thankful for my health, my kids,” said Jamie Scattone looking at her husband. “We’re all here because of the miracle that happened to him.”

Returning to Cowboy’s Nation is a homecoming of sorts for dad, Mike. It's an emotional return when you consider the last time he was in North Texas.

It was 27 years ago in 1995 when as a Make-A-Wish child, he had just one wish: to see America’s Team play.

“As a kid [I] always loved the Dallas Cowboys,” he said. “’Make-A-Wish’ thought it was the coolest thing because kids my age, they wanted a computer. They wanted to go to Disney World… I was like, I want to meet Emmitt Smith, Michael Irving, Jerry Jones.”

Meeting all the greats, he says, gave him the strength to beat Leukemia, twice.

Cancer free and now a husband and father of two, Scattone made the trip back to DFW. The family has been in town all week, touring training facilities at the Star in Frisco, meeting a new generation of players and Scattone’s all-time favorites.

The family had long been planning to attend the Cowboys’ annual Thanksgiving game, but they’ve noticed many "eerie" similarities to Scattone’s last trip here.

“It’s raining today and back in ’95, believe it or not, it was raining too,” he said. “We played the Giants. The last time I was here in 1995 was the last time the Dallas Cowboys won the Super Bowl so maybe I am the good luck charm. We’ll find out!”

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