Earlier this football season, Fox’s Terry Bradshaw was seen visibly out of breath, holding on to Howie Long after tossing a football around for a segment on set. The negative response to his physical struggle was so great that it led Bradshaw to share some news that he had been keeping very quiet: Over the last year, he’s dealt with multiple forms of cancer.
After a successful bout with bladder cancer stemming from a diagnosis last November, Bradshaw revealed he experienced nerve discomfort in his neck and shoulder, something he wasn’t overly concerned about because of lingering injury issues stemming from his football career. He was eventually diagnosed with a rare skin cancer known as Merkel cell carcinoma, and had a tumor near his shoulder surgically removed.
“Folks, I may not look like my old self, but I feel like my old self,” Bradshaw said on Fox in October. “I’m cancer-free. I’m feeling great. And over time, I’m going to be back to where I normally am. So I appreciate your prayers and concern.”
On Wednesday, Bradshaw opened up more about his cancer experience and struggles to address the illness both in private with his family and with the public, during an appearance on Today.
“How do you talk about your problems when everyone else has got the same problems?” Bradshaw said. “I didn’t talk about it because a lot of celebrities—unfortunately, I’m one of those—when they say this, I think the perception around America with all the millions of people is, ‘Aw, look at him. Bless his heart. He has cancer. Well, my husband died of cancer! My kids are …’ I didn’t want that. … Took me a long time before I told my family.”
While Bradshaw says he’s feeling well and seems very optimistic about his outlook, the back-to-back cancer diagnoses taught him he should live his life to the fullest right now, no matter what.
“I may have 25, 30 years left, but I’m going to act like I got one.”
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