As I got ready to watch football games with my family over fall break, I turned on the TV to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Cleveland Browns. It was quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s debut game this season, and the hype of his return and the rivalry between the two teams was overshadowed by the abundance of hot pink accessories worn by the players and coaches on the field.
Players, coaches and fans could be seen wearing accents of hot pink towels, sweatbands, shoes, shoelaces, hats, skull caps, sweatshirts, t-shirts and more.† The juxtaposition of some of America’s most athletic and masculine men wearing hot pink succeeded in starting the conversation about breast cancer awareness.† As the game went on, though, I couldn’t help but wonder was any of this necessary? Was anybody unaware that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month? Could NFL players wearing pink really help save the lives of women with breast cancer?
The majority of Americans are acutely aware that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Foundations such as the Susan G. Komen Foundation sponsor thousands of 5Ks across the nation to bring awareness and support women who have or have had breast cancer.† Celebrities lend their names to the cause, urging women over 40 to get a mammogram every year with the hope of preventing or discovering breast cancer at an early stage. Some Facebook posts are supposed to remind women to schedule yearly mammograms and do self-checks for breast cancer throughout the years.
It seemed to me that Americans are very aware of breast cancer during the month of October, and that the NFL’s abundance of pink accessories was unnecessary and way over the top.
While many are aware of breast cancer, doctors and researchers still need the funding to discover new ways of treating the disease or even to find a cure.† With the money that the NFL spent to outfit its players and coaches in pink gear, it could have cut a check to several foundations or research centers and used the money to directly help women suffering from the disease.
Since there are already so many organizations championing the awareness of breast cancer, I wondered if the NFL would consider using its power and prestige as an institution to highlight another organization.† For example, October is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month, an that issue has affected a number of NFL players and their families.
I think it would be much more powerful to have these football players, some who have been accused of committing violent acts against women, to stand up and put an end to domestic violence.
Those women, perhaps more than women suffering from breast cancer, need people to speak for them by creating awareness about domestic violence.
I don’t think that the NFL is wrong to support breast cancer awareness or that it’s not a meaningful cause for many people in the NFL or who support its teams.† However, it seems to me that the gaudy display of pink in the name of awareness could be used to support another cause that is in need of support and the NFL’s powerful position could bring relief to others as well.