Terry Bradshaw has candidly discussed the profound changes he’s experienced following the NFL legend’s double cancer scare.
The revered Pittsburgh Steelers icon, now 76, grappled with bladder cancer in November 2021 and then confronted a rare and aggressive form of skin cancer on his neck shortly after. Bradshaw’s health struggles came to light when fans noticed his labored breathing during a FOX NFL Sunday segment in September 2022, prompting him to go public with his condition.
In an intimate conversation with AARP, Bradshaw shared insights into how his brush with death has altered his outlook: “I’m a milder guy, I think, more involved with the kids. I think I’m a better husband.
“I am travelling more now. Maybe quietly, subconsciously, I’m thinking, ‘I need to travel more in case I die’. Going to Scotland, going to Ireland, going to France. I’ve been to Canada, I’m going to Alaska. So maybe that’s the impact right there.”
Despite the grim nature of his health battles, Bradshaw maintains that he never succumbed to fear of death, approaching his treatment with characteristic boldness, which ultimately led to a clean bill of health.
Reflecting on his attitude towards the life-threatening challenges, he remarked: “I’m kind of a fearless guy, to a fault. The two bouts of cancer… I never thought I was going to die. It never crossed my mind. I wasn’t even nervous.”
“For the follow-ups, I was nervous, ‘You’re cancer-free, we’ll see you in 90s days’. Blood work, PET scans, waiting three days later [for the results], then the phone rings and your wife goes, ‘Good news, you’re cancer-free,’ and you’re like, ‘Phew’.”
He also explained his choice to keep his health struggles out of the public eye, as he shared with TODAY: “I didn’t talk about it because I didn’t want pity.
“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! I didn’t want that.”
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Reflecting on an episode on FOX that sparked concern among viewers, he recounted: “I couldn’t breathe. That’s when everybody notices. ‘What’s wrong with him?’ social media went, ‘Get rid of him. He needs to be off the air. He’s an embarrassment’. And I was like, ‘Embarrassment? I got cancer’.”
