Forget about football, which New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis routinely does as he segues between husband, father and activist.

It was the husband and father roles – the family role – that had Davis all smiles Thursday, as he provided the latest update on his year-old daughter, Carly-Faith. Carly-Faith was diagnosed with an eye tumor, retinoblastoma, and had her left eye removed in May.

Davis, the Saints' All-Pro linebacker, detailed the difficulty – and the latest triumph – during his news conference with local media.

"Going through something like that when it's any of your children, especially your youngest child, is tough and challenging," he said. "I don't wish that on any parent. But also, know there are many parents that are going through it. It's unbelievable news. It was hard. We just put our faith in God and we made it through.

"Actually today we found out our daughter doesn't have to go through anesthesia anymore, major checkups, just normal visits from here on out.

"Nobody wants to go through something like that, but we were glad if somebody had to go through it, it was us because we know we have such a tremendous platform. And being able to use that platform to bring awareness to retinoblastoma, which is a very rare form of cancer (helps fight it).

"Only 300 children get it a year, so it's so rare that many parents miss it. If it causes parents to do a little more checkup, a little more follow-up, if they notice something in the eyes of their children, then we can be better for it and if we can bring more awareness to it then we can bring more funding for research. I think it can help a lot of other families.

"Nobody wants to go through that, but we're a family that just believes God allows everything to happen for a reason and we're going to always turn adversity into something positive and that's how we're going to use our platform to bring more awareness to it. Carly-Faith, she's doing amazing, 100 percent healthy and just praising God for that."