Every October organizations such as the American Cancer Society team up with the National Football League to raise awareness. The NFL kindly advertises “A Crucial Catch,” a campaign for breast cancer. Once the month of October starts, the league transforms everything to pink. Players will be seen with pink equipment, referees have pink penalty flags, and breast cancer ribbons are painted onto the field.

The NFL uses this campaign to encourage women to get checked for breast cancer. They produce commercials using NFL players to get the message across to women. Tina A from Staten Island, who saw the players on television, noticed they were all wearing pink while watching a Jets game in October 2011, she asked her husband why and he said it was for breast cancer. This made Tina very aware because the choice of getting checked could be life changing. “That night for the first time ever I gave myself a self-breast exam… I am a 34 year old mother of 3 and I was diagnosed 2 weeks later with breast cancer. The outcome, had I not seen that game and the players wearing pink, would have more than likely been tragic because the cancer had already started to spread and was making its way toward my lymph nodes… It is a year later and I am here and cancer free,” said Tina.

The National Football League is surely doing their part to raise awareness and it seems to be working.  It is great to see everyone in the NFL coming together and taking part in the fight against breast cancer.