NFL Launches ‘Crucial Catch’ Campaign to Tackle Cancer

NEW YORK, NY – This past weekend, the National Football League teamed up with the American Cancer Society for a 13th consecutive season to help tackle cancer while kicking off its impactful month-long Crucial Catch public service campaign.

The league-wide initiative, which will be highlighted through Week 6 games, addresses early detection and risk reduction efforts across multiple types of cancers. This year’s Crucial Catch: Intercept Cancer theme is synonymous with the NFL’s It Takes All of Us cause brand platform.

“At the height of the pandemic, some cancer screenings declined by 90 percent,” Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians, a two-time cancer survivor (2007, 2017) said in the 30-second TV spot.

In the powerful message, Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Calvin Johnson continued by suggesting the ‘fear of COVID-19 overshadowed the fear of cancer, especially in underserved communities.’ In 2013, Johnson's mother was diagnosed with, and successfully battled, pancreatic cancer.

Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera, who recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of being cancer-free, explained in the video that doctors are diagnosing later staged cancers that could have been detected and treated much sooner.

Rivera courageously coached throughout the 2020 season and was named NFC Coach of the Year while leading Washington to its first division title in five seasons.

Through Crucial Catch, the NFL and ACS are allocating resources dedicated to safely restarting cancer screenings in communities with the most need. For many forms of cancer (breast, cervical, colorectal and prostate), the five-year survival rate is above 90% when detected early before it has a chance to spread.

"The COVID -19 pandemic has had a dramatic impact on cancer screenings, with a screening decline that the American Cancer Society expects to lead to more late cancer diagnoses and increased cancer deaths in the future," said Dr. Karen Knudsen, MBA, PhD, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society. "This year, it is critical to safely restart cancer screenings and to ensure that everyone has access to lifesaving screening.

“The strong, ongoing support of the NFL and Crucial Catch is invaluable to the American Cancer Society's work to increase cancer screenings, especially in under-served communities that need them most."

Since 2012, the NFL has funded ACS' Community Health Advocates Implementation Nationwide Grants for Empowerment and Equity (CHANGE) grants, which have contributed to over 600,000 screenings in underserved communities and reached more than 1,100,000 million individuals with education, screening reminders and patient navigation, bringing these life-saving messages and screening services to those who need them most.

NFL-issued Crucial Catch gameday apparel will feature a multi-colored logo representing all cancers. New this year, New Era and Nike have created newly designed Crucial Catch gear, highlighting the NFL's commitment to drawing awareness to and supporting multiple cancer prevention efforts. Fans can purchase NFL-licensed Crucial Catch apparel on NFLShop.com.

Beginning on Sunday, Oct.3, and continuing through Week 6, NFL Crucial Catch games will feature:

• Game balls with the Crucial Catch logo
• Multi-colored equipment for players, including helmet decals, captains' patches, sideline caps and quarterback towels.
• Multi-colored ribbon pins for coaches and teams
• Caps and pins for game officials
• On-field multi-colored Crucial Catch stencils
• Multi-colored goal post wraps in end zones
• Field-wall banners in the color(s) of the cancer awareness movement(s) that each club supports

Game-worn Crucial Catch merchandise will be auctioned on the NFL Auction with all proceeds going to the American Cancer Society to support its CHANGE grant program.

For more information on Crucial Catch and resources for getting screened, visit www.NFL.com/CrucialCatch.