Dear NFL. . .
Dear NFL,
It was hard to miss all of the pink once October started. Breast Cancer Awareness Month has prompted the NFL to add pink ribbons to the fields, honor survivors and has encouraged players to wear pink cleats, gloves and towels. Every person who has been affected by Breast Cancer is grateful. It is so incredible to see the support.
Did you know that September is Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month? Did you know that it is also Leukemia Awareness Month, the most common pediatric cancer? You must not have, because there wasn’t one single gold ribbon-not on a field, not on a player, not anywhere. Did you know that pediatric cancer is one of the least funded cancers? Did you know, with the influence of the NFL, that could change? Did you know that team owners, who are already loved and respected in their local communities, would be promoted to sainthood if they provided assistance to small charities, in their greater communities, where volunteers spend endless hours working to support patients and families struggling through a pediatric cancer diagnosis? Did you know that there is nothing more horrific than watching your child struggle, watching the chemo drip into their small, delicate bodies, knowing that the poison is the only hope you and they have, and be absolutely helpless?
There are more questions….
Did you know that October is also Liver Cancer Awareness month? Or that November is Pancreatic Cancer, Lung Cancer, Stomach Cancer and Carcinoid Cancer Awareness month? It seems that every month, sadly, has to have an awareness for multiple cancers. Is there a reason you focus on Breast Cancer Awareness, and not all the others?
We are grateful for the money, and publicity the NFL has raised for Breast Cancer Research. You know the old adage, “Women and children should be the first ones saved"? It seems as though you are doing a great job saving the women. It is commendable. Breast cancer has affected countless women and research is crucial to survival and cures. One last question. Can you, the NFL, put as much time, money and resources into saving children? Next September, perhaps the fields and the players will shine with gold and the survivors of pediatric cancer will decorate the sidelines.