Raiders RB Raheem Mostert turns personal loss into mission to raise melanoma awareness

HENDERSON (KTNV) — For Raheem Mostert, football has always been about more than wins and losses. Today, it has become a platform for something deeply personal.

Mostert, now a running back for the Las Vegas Raiders, is turning the loss of his childhood mentor, Michael “Coach Chop” Stokes, into a mission to raise awareness about melanoma and the importance of early detection.

Taylor Rocha shares how Raheem Mostert is turning his personal loss into a mission to raise awareness for others:

Growing up in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, Mostert said his childhood was unstable.

“It was a lot of good times and a lot of rough times — just from a family aspect,” he said. “I didn’t have much, but I always tried to look at the positives.”

Football became an escape — and a structure — early in his life. So did surfing, which briefly offered another outlet.

“When I was 14, I got offered by Billabong to surf for them,” Mostert said. But football ultimately remained his path forward. “That was the only thing I knew could get me out.”

At age 6, Mostert met Coach Chop during his first year of Pop Warner football — a relationship that would shape the rest of his life.

“It was one of those things where you just latch on to good people,” he said. “He treated us like we were his own.”

The lessons went far beyond the field.

“You see how he raises his family,” Mostert said. “It’s like, man, that’s what you want in life — especially when times are rough in your own household.”

In 2019, as Mostert was preparing to welcome his first child, Coach Chop was diagnosed with melanoma that had spread to his brain.

“He came to the baby shower, and once he left, a couple days later, that’s when we found out he was diagnosed with cancer,” Mostert said. “I really had a lot of questions for him once my son came.”

Coach Chop died just four weeks after his diagnosis at age 53.

“That season was tough,” Mostert said. “I dedicated every game to him.”

That same year, Mostert helped lead San Francisco to the Super Bowl. After scoring in the NFC Championship Game, he paused.

“I scored, and I just looked up, and I said thank you,” he said. “He had the best seat in the house.”

Not long after, Mostert faced his own health scare.

“I had a mole — I thought it was nothing,” he said. “Turned out it was precancerous.”

The moment shifted his priorities.

“Just go to a dermatologist,” Mostert said. “Truly think about your body — as football players, they always tell us our body is our temple. Why can’t you do that outside the football world?”

Now a father of four, his mission is rooted in family.

“I want to do everything I can as a father and as a parent to have the best for my kids,” he said.

And when asked what he would say to Coach Chop today, Mostert didn’t hesitate.

“Why didn’t they give me a playbook on how to raise kids?” he said, smiling.

“It’s always going to live on with me,” he added.