Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Browns: Ernie Green's Crucial Catch

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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In his seven seasons with the Cleveland Browns, running back Ernie Green caught 195 passes for 20 touchdowns. However, his most important catch came long after he retired from the NFL.

Every October, the NFL partners with the American Cancer Society to hold its league-wide campaign, A Crucial Catch. Players, league officials, and fans wear pink to raise awareness for breast cancer as the league reminds women that screenings are important since early detection is key. Yet, the NFL isn’t telling the whole story.

Breast cancer isn’t just a woman’s battle. Men are effected by it as they watch the women in their lives suffer. They also carry the risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer themselves. Yes, you read that right. Men can be diagnosed with breast cancer, something former Cleveland Browns running back Ernie Green knows all too well.

Green spent all of his seven years in the NFL playing for the Cleveland Browns. Over that time, he amassed 2,036 yards and 20 touchdowns on 195 catches. However, he made the most important catch in July 2005.

After he felt a firm lump in his breast, his wife encouraged him to see a doctor. The first doctor thought the lump was a benign cyst, but Green sought out a second opinion. Good thing he did since it could’ve saved his life as Green was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer, which meant that the cancer had invaded surrounding breast tissue, but hadn’t reached the lymph nodes.

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Green underwent a mastectomy in Sept. 2005, eight sessions of chemotherapy and seven years of Tamoxifen to remove the cancer and prevent it from recurring. It was a long battle and one that the former running back never expected he would have to face. He lost two sisters from breast cancer, but never thought he could get the disease since he’s male.

Ernie Green’s former misperception that only women get breast cancer is one shared by many people. Yet, the American Cancer Society estimates that about 2,600 new cases of invasive breast cancer in men are expected in 2016 and an estimated 440 men will die from breast cancer this year. While these numbers aren’t as large as the 246,660 new cases of invasive breast cancer estimated to be diagnosed in women with an estimated 40,450 female deaths this year, they are still significant.

As we learn from Green’s story, early detection is key. It’s important for people to be vigilant of the signs of breast cancer which include a painless lump or thickening in your breast tissue; skin irritation or dimpling, changes to your nipple such as redness or scaling, a nipple that begins to turn inward, or discharge from your nipple.

Former Browns running back Ernie Green was a force to be reckoned with during his playing years. That same driving force carried him through his battle with breast cancer, a disease that Ernie’s story proves is not just a woman’s disease.

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