Men and health don’t always coexist. In most cases, health situations hardly dominate a conversation over sports and politics. Even worse, health involving Black men remains a taboo subject. Fortunately, the narrative on Black men’s health is changing. In fact, the Movember movement from 2003 argued the idea that “mustaches” could help initiate conversations about men’s health topics, which often included prostate cancer. In the end, discussing these topics could essentially save the lives of millions.
According to research, Black men are often at a high risk of developing prostate cancer in comparison to white men. Further research notes that 1 in 6 Black men will develop prostate cancer in his lifetime. Making matters worse, African-American men are more likely to die from the disease. One conversation and open dialogue could change that statistic forever.
Pro-football hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe definitely seeks to make that a reality. The spokesman has occasionally discussed his battle with Prostate Cancer in 2016.
Fortunately, he beat the chronic disease and happily reported that he’s in remission. In the end, Sharpe’s personal experience led him to reach out to the other men and spread awareness. Through a partnership with Janessen’s Talk That Talk Campaign, Sharpe hopes to change long-held misconceptions about prostate cancer and more importantly, save lives.
RELATED: Shannon Sharpe On Prostate Cancer Screening: “Saved My Life”
Having built a career centered around talking about sports, we’d think that Shannon Sharpe would have plenty to say about men’s health. After all, the Pro-football hall of Famer believes wholeheartedly in the power of conversation. The star sports spokesman especially opened up about his battle with prostate cancer with Men’s Health magazine back in November 2022.
Sharpe stated throughout the interview that he kept his diagnosis a secret from his family. Behind the scenes, the spokesman for FOX’s Undisputed the rest of his time in and out of doctors appointments.
Furthermore, he endured countless blood tests every three months for 18 months after his 2016 diagnosis. Then in the year after, he underwent a surgical procedure called prostate seed implantation surgery. Sharpe explained that the doctors implanted radioactive seeds directly into his prostate. Thanks to early screening and his knowledge of his family’s history with cancer, Sharpe saved himself from becoming a statistic.
In his conversation with Men’s Health, the star explained that he didn’t have any reservations about his upcoming surgery. Though, he did ask how long before he could get back to his old self. Clearly, the star was eager to return to his life, not just as a spokesman but also to his family.
In fact, Sharpe didn’t tell his family about his procedure until after everything was said and done. He and his family were especially thrilled after Sharpe became officially cancer-free in 2019. The former NFL star became a cancer survivor and a major success story. He refused to suffer the same fate as his other male relatives who all died from cancer. The memory of watching his father lose his battle against lung cancer alone still affects him to this day. Fortunately, Shannon Sharpe is now using his story and platform to change that outcome for other Black men and their families.
Additionally, Sharpe’s story has touched millions of people from around the world. Furthermore, health giant Janssen reached out to the NFL star to help spread the word about prostate cancer in the Black community. Furthermore, the company has collaborated with Black-owned advertising agencies and leaders to spread messages that would resonate with the Black community. In particular, the company’s president of U.S Oncology, Tyrone Brewer, spoke with Sharpe about his own experience with the chronic illness and why it’s important to have an open dialogue.
“Among the Black community, there’s this mistrust around medical care and also a misperception that prostate cancer is not a serious disease. It’s often considered the ‘good cancer,’ and the reality is it’s far from that. Black men are twice as likely to die from prostate cancer compared to other men,” Brewer says.
What better person to open up the conversation than Shannon Sharpe? Through their newly implemented campaign, Talk That Talk, Brewer hopes to promote awareness among Black men and push them to get early screening. With Sharpe’s help, he hopes to encourage more Black men to seek out help before it’s too late.
Furthermore, Sharpe told Men’s Health that he jumped at the opportunity to help Janssen get the word out to the public. In fact, the sports spokesman has used his daily FOX Sports soapbox to increase awareness for the Talk That Talk campaign website. Additionally, his notoriety has helped to secure coverage in the New York Post, Daily Mail, and other big-name news outlets.
In the end, Brewer hopes that between the push from Sharpe and the campaign’s website, that everyone will walk away with three key messages: the importance of diagnosis, the need to seek treatment and the truth about survival rates.
“When it is diagnosed early, you could be a part of the 96% that survive,” Brewer says. He further notes that Shannon considers himself in the upper percentile because he took a leap of faith. The pro-football player took advantage of early screening, and it ended up saving his life. Together, Shannon and Brewer hope to silence misconceptions about prostate cancer and encourage more men to be healthy. More importantly, they strive to save lives.
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