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Cancer Survivor Shannon Sharpe Gets Vocal How He Was Able to Escape Death Despite Unforgiving Family History All While Playing in the NFL

Published 09/20/2022, 5:24 PM EDT

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The Broncos legend Shannon Sharpe has been a superstar in all walks of life. After announcing his retirement from the NFL, the veteran became a full-time broadcaster and runs one of the popular talk shows, UNDISPUTED. Recently, he spoke his mind on the issue that he kept hidden for five years.

The Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe revealed that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. A type of disease usually found in men, prominently in black men. While he was speaking at Fox’s pregame show on Sunday, Sharpe explained how he managed to diagnose cancer and spoke about his family history with this disease.

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Back in 2016, Sharpe made a casual checkup in this regard, which turned out to be true. It was only three weeks before the former tight end debuted for his popular talk show, UNDISPUTED.

In the initial stages of development, he kept it away from his friends and secretly battled the disease. Alongside other panelists, Sharpe claimed that fans know him as a Hall of Famer tight end. His three Super Bowl victories and Pro Bowl selections have always been a trademark to recognize him, but only a few know he is a cancer survivor.

“What you didn’t know is that I’m a prostate cancer survivor, and thanks to early screening and early detection I was able to beat this disease. There are a 96 percent survival rate thanks to early screening and early detection. I’m a part of that 96 percent,” Sharpe said on the show.

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He also revealed that his family’s association with Cancer has been a long story. His father died at 39 and two brothers barely made it to 50. So he started frequent testing by the age of mid-30.

Shannon Sharpe revealed that black men are more vulnerable

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Although prostate cancer is often called a mild form of the disease, it can turn out ugly if kept undiagnosed for a long time. Per reports, the black men are the ones in the most danger and even Sharpe requested all his followers and friends to have a medical checkup with their doctors.

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“Black men, I’m encouraging you with September being prostate cancer awareness month, it’s time for you to talk that talk. Go visit your doctor. It could possibly save your life.” He said on the show.

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Sharpe’s storytelling was part of the healthcare campaign called Talk That Talk. Meanwhile, he also affirmed to other panelists that he was cancer free and had successfully battled the disease. The veteran recently turned 54 and is one of the fittest athletes to have played the sport.

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Written by:

Deepesh Nair

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Deepesh Nair is an NFL author at EssentiallySports. Having started his career in journalism as a trending news writer, he has published around 500 articles for various media portals. Although Deepesh comes from a Computer Science background, his fondness for writing has persuaded him to create his career in it.
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Edited by:

Deepika Bhaduri