Terry Bradshaw made an emotional revelation during Fox NFL Sunday this weekend. The NFL Hall of Famer said he was treated for two different forms of cancer within the past year. Bradshaw, 74, made the announcement when explaining what happened to him when he ran out of breath during the Sept. 25 broadcast.
“Last week on this show, I ran out of breath, and Howie [Long] helped me up. And a lot of people are asking what’s wrong with me, what’s happened to me physically,” Bradshaw began. “I just want to address it and let you know what has happened in my life.”
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The four-time Super Bowl champion said he was diagnosed with bladder cancer in November 2021. He was treated at Yale University Medical Center. “As of today, I am bladder cancer free. That’s the good news,” Bradshaw said.
In March, he got an MRI after a “bad” neck pain. His doctors discovered a tumor on the left side of his neck. “And it’s a Merkel cell tumor, which is a rare form of skin cancer. So I had that surgery done at M.D. Anderson in Houston,” Bradshaw said. Bradshaw sought to ease fans’ concerns, noting that he feels like himself today. “Folks, I may not look like my old self, but I feel like my old self. I’m cancer free, I’m feeling great,” Bradshaw said. “And over time, I’m going to be back to where I normally am.”
Bradshaw spent his entire career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, playing from 1970 to 1983. He won Super Bowls IX, X, XIII, and XIV with the Steelers, won two Super Bowl MVP awards, and was named the NFL’s MVP in 1978. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1989.
Since retiring from football in 1984, Bradshaw has been a constant presence on television, first at CBS then joining Fox NFL Sunday. He has also acted in movies and television shows, and his family stars in the E! Network reality show The Bradshaw Bunch. The show’s second season wrapped in January. It’s unclear if there will be a third season, but in February, Bradshaw told PopCulture he was in talks with the network.
In that same interview with PopCulture, Bradshaw joked that he works in television because he needs the job, unlike Tom Brady. “He’s got way too much money. He doesn’t want to be tied down for 23 weekends a year,” Bradshaw told us in February. “Guys like me, I need the job. He doesn’t need the job. When I retired I was making 300 grand a year and now these guys are making 40, 50 million dollars, or so. I need the job, he doesn’t need it. And he’s got business ventures I’m sure he’s looking into.”
