People mostly know Will Compton as the one cracking jokes on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast. The former Nebraska linebacker turned old football stories, locker-room chaos, and road-trip banter into one of the biggest football podcasts around. But during a May 26 podcast episode, Compton dropped news that proved to shock many who have followed him.

“That’s a completely different side quest that I’ve been on. I was apparently born with a cyst in my cerebellum,” Compton said on the podcast with his co-host, Taylor Lewan, and standup comedian, Nate Bargatze, as a guest. “Learned this throughout free agency. They found it on C-spine MRIs. They found this white mass. We’ve just been monitoring over the years. It’s grown to where you see the photo, and it’s like, ‘I hope everything’s okay.'”

According to Compton, the cyst was first discovered during the NFL free agency years ago (in 2016). Since then, he has undergone repeated scans to monitor if the cyst was growing. Eventually, the situation became serious enough that doctors ordered a contrast MRI using dye to determine whether anything had changed over time.

“I had to do a contrast MRI to put dye in it to see if anything’s developed in the last several years cuz I’ve gotten different MRIs. It’s a full story I can tell you outside,” Compton told Nate Bargatze.

For all the laughs and chaos surrounding his public personality, there was real fear sitting underneath it all. The cerebellum, where Compton’s cyst is located, sits near the lower back portion of the brain and helps control balance, coordination, and movement.

During Compton’s playing career, he was known to be relentless and played aggressive football. At Nebraska, under coach Bo Pelini, he played from 2008 to 2012, getting an All-Big Ten selection in 2012. He finished his Cornhuskers career with 247 total tackles and later fought his way into the NFL despite going undrafted in 2013. Nothing came easily for him professionally.

Compton bounced between teams, including the Washington Commanders, Tennessee Titans, Las Vegas Raiders, and the New Orleans Saints. There were cuts, practice squad appearances, short contracts, and injuries. The usual NFL grind that most fans never fully see. And through parts of that journey, according to his own story, he also carried the mental weight of monitoring a brain cyst.

At different points, Compton hinted there was an even longer story behind everything. “It’s a full story I can tell you outside,” he said during the podcast. That sentence alone reflected how much probably happened privately behind the scenes. And honestly, it fits the strange emotional reality athletes often live in. Publicly, people see the podcast host laughing with former teammates. They see viral clips. Tailgate stories. Sponsorships. Jokes.

Privately, there can be MRI appointments, anxiety, medical terminology, and quiet moments wondering whether everything is okay. Compton never displayed any serious emotion, even during the episode in which he revealed the news. If anything, he almost minimized it with humor, calling it a “side quest.”

Bussin’ with the Boys co-host, Taylor Lewan, described Will Compton’s ‘odd’ demeanor while breaking serious news

Throughout Will Compton’s relentless journey to fight through that cyst, he kept the same ‘light-hearted’ and ‘unserious’ demeanor. Because, for him, fighting through it was going to be a lifestyle. Compton’s co-host and close friend, Michigan legend Taylor Lewan, recounted one such unserious instance that had the most ‘serious’ context.

“He’s been monitoring this thing for a while. I’ve known about this since pretty much we met,” Taylor Lewan said on the podcast. “Yesterday, my daughter graduated from kindergarten, and we had dinner at the house with a bunch of people over. And at one point, at dinner, I looked down at my phone, and I had a missed call from Will Compton and a text. So, I press the text, and it’s just two MRI photos.”

Upon seeing the MRI photos that Compton sent, Lewan was clueless. There were just two “little circles,” and one was bigger. And amid his dinner, filled with celebrations, Lewan felt something was serious with Compton. He quickly dialed up his buddy and asked him about his recent MRI. That’s when the former UM tackle’s worries got doused.

“I had to go and tell him (Compton) like, ‘Hey, you all good?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, everything seems like it’s fine,'” Lewan explained. “I’m like, ‘Well, we could have led with that.’ Like, ‘All good. Here’s a fun photo for you to look at.'”

Despite that conversation, Compton has always been the ‘unserious’ guy about the most serious things. He had a situation with Dave Portnoy’s Barstool Sports recently, and still carried the same demeanor. Even when it comes to trashing personalities like Emmanuel Acho? Compton doesn’t hesitate for a moment. So, when it was a health scare, why not fight it with a smile on his face.