Even though his coaching days with the Indianapolis Colts came to an unceremonious end in 2018, Chuck Pagano’s foundation “Chuck Strong” lives on and thrives in the hearts of his former team.
On Thursday, the seventh annual Chuck Strong gala took place in Indianapolis to raise money for leukemia, the disease Pagano was diagnosed with in 2012 during his first season as the Colts’ head coach.
The event was attended by nearly 500 people, including many of his former players and coaches along with Colts owner Jim Irsay.
But Pagano’s new team also made the trip down I-65 to show their support as members of the Chicago Bears were in attendance, including chairman George McCaskey and head coach Matt Nagy.
While Pagano has only been on the staff for a few months, he’s already making making an impact on his new team and is in love with his new job.
‘‘He’s a great guy,’’ Roquan Smith told Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun Times back in April. ‘‘Great sense of humor. Love him. Love his character, and he comes to work every day with a positive attitude.’’
Pagano lives and breathes football, but he knows this event is more important than his day job and marveled at how two teams can work together for a great cause.
“It was an amazing night,” Pagano told Larry Mayer of ChicagoBears.com. “We raised a ton of money for cancer research. It was pretty much something that you’re probably never going to see again where you’ve got two teams coming together, putting football aside for a night and doing something that’s way bigger than football.”
The event raised more than $1.8 million dollars for the foundation, with Irsay contributing $1 million himself.
Pagano was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia in September of 2012. He took a leave of absence to seek treatment and doctors announced his cancer was in remission in early November.
He returned to the sidelines in late December of 2012 after then-offensive coordinator Bruce Arians led the team to a playoff berth in his absence. The Chuck Strong fundraiser began in 2013. Pagano led the Colts to six playoff appearances as head coach.
