Kristin Juszczyk is best known for turning NFL jerseys into fashion, but this time she was talking about something much harder. The wife of 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk opened up about her mother’s fight with cancer and got visibly emotional as she did.
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“I’m almost like under-acknowledged, and I should know so much more because they were very protective parents and didn’t want to scare their kids,” Juszczyk said. “My mom lived high with… I’m getting choked up already. It affects so many people, and I think it’s so important to spread awareness and be open and honest with your family, especially your daughters. It’s important for them to know their bodies and learn their bodies, and to show them how to do self-exams. I just feel like I want to do that for her.”
Kristin was 18 and living on Long Island when her mom died. Her mother had been diagnosed and treated early, but the cancer came back. That is not unusual, since more than one in three breast cancer survivors diagnosed early face a recurrence.
It’s why Kristin has teamed up with Novartis on Understand eBC Risk, a campaign that helps people with early breast cancer understand their personal risk of it returning and learn how maintenance therapy may improve their chances.
For her, cancer was simply part of growing up. She explained it to The Healthy in 2024.
“Mom was diagnosed with cancer before I really even knew the world,” she said. “It was when I was a baby. She had cancer my whole life. She was in and out of remission. I remember times my mom didn’t have cancer, and then I remember times when it came back, but to me, that was my norm.”
She also doesn’t dwell only on what she lost.
“I had 18 beautiful years with my mom, and I wouldn’t be where I am, or I wouldn’t be the person I am without those 18 years,” she added. “So even though it was definitely cut short, I’m blessed with that time.”
Ahead of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, that same year, she shared a video with Novartis. She narrated over old clips of herself and her mom, walking viewers through the diagnosis and the loss.
“I never truly understood how serious my mom’s breast cancer diagnosis was until she passed away 12 years ago,” she says in the reel. “Even as I saw her cancer come back again and again, I always thought it was going to be okay.”
Things shifted for her as she got older.
“Once I turned 30, right around the time my mom was diagnosed, that’s when I really started to educate myself about breast cancer,” she said.
Her efforts reach well beyond words. In 2024, her one-of-a-kind Super Bowl LVIII puffer vest, the first officially licensed one the NFL has put out, went to auction and closed at nearly $75,000 (reportedly). She donated every dollar to the National Breast Cancer Foundation in her mother’s memory.
“We were just completely overwhelmed, and surprised with the news just like everybody else,” said Ashley Miller, the foundation’s Director of Public Relations and Spokesperson.
Last year, she also joined forces with Athleta on a limited edition version of the Train Free Sports Bra during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It was designed to honor her mom and survivors everywhere, with 13% of proceeds going to Susan G. Komen.
Through all of it, her message stays simple and direct.
“You need to advocate for yourself. You need to be the person who takes your health into your own hands. If you’re watching this and you’re a woman, do your self-exam.”
Juszczyk is turning her family’s pain into a push for others to take their health seriously