Bengals defensive tackle Devon Still is, by all indications, a great father. His Instagram feed is filled with photos of his 4-year-old daughter Leah, and Still has spent the last few months traveling back and forth between Cincinnati and Delaware in order to take Leah—who has a rare pediatric cancer called neuroblastoma—to her frequent hospital treatments. He has provided one of the best feel-good stories in recent NFL history and helped the league raise more than $1 million for pediatric cancer research.
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However, Leah's mother Channing Smythe claims that Still isn't doing all that he could be doing for his daughter. She just spoke with the New York Daily News and revealed that, while Still has been great about spending time with his daughter and helping her through her cancer treatments, he is four months behind on child support payments. She also claims that, while Still is playing in the NFL, her and her daughter are living with one of her friends and using food stamps to eat.
"I don't consider him a deadbeat dad," Smythe told the Daily News. "I know he loves and cares for his daughter and he is there for her. I just need him to help me financially."
And Smythe is prepared to try and force Still to help her more. She just hired high-profile attorney Gloria Allred to represent her, and Allred has already written a letter to the NFL asking them to look into whether or not Still has violated the league's Personal Conduct Policy by not paying child support since July. Smythe also addressed the league in a letter and reportedly told them that she is unable to work because of her daughter's illness, which is why she is now going public with her child support battle.
The Bengals, the NFL, and Still's agent Drew Rosenhaus did not respond to the Daily News when the newspaper reached out to them for a comment. But very early this morning, Still did post this quote to Instagram, which seems to be a response to Smythe's claims:
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Stay tuned to see how all of this plays out in the coming weeks and months.
[via New York Daily News]
