Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry has been placed on the season-ending non-football illness list with a mass in his chest that team officials fear is lymphoma, a form of cancer. Team officials discovered the mass during an MRI on Friday.

"I am truly thankful for all of the support from family, friends, coaches, teammates and the entire Chiefs kingdom," Berry said in a released statement, according to ESPN. "At first I was in shock with the diagnosis on Saturday and did not even want to miss a game, but I understand that right now I have to concentrate on a new opponent. I have great confidence in the doctors and the plan they are going to put in place for me to win this fight. I believe that I am in God's hands and I have great peace in that.

"I know my coaches and teammates will hold things down here the rest of the season and until I am back running out of the tunnel at Arrowhead," he continued. "I am so thankful and appreciative of being a part of this franchise and playing in front of the best fans in the NFL. I will be back!"

Chiefs trainer Rick Burkholder added: "At this point in time, we don't have a definitive diagnosis. But the leading consideration for what he has right now is lymphoma. We first were alerted to something on Thursday night. It's now Monday. We still don't have a definitive answer. That's OK. We'll get to the experts and we'll get the answer. We'll get a treatment program and we'll go from there."

Berry, 25, is set to have further testing at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, where his diagnosis will take place. This was Berry's fifth year in the NFL since being tabbed by the Chiefs as a first-round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.

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(Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images)