As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, no one is immune from Pinktober. Not even football fans.
Those who tune in on Sundays, Mondays or Thursdays in October are well aware of the NFL’s campaign: “A Crucial Catch: Annual Screening Saves Lives,” which “reminds women 40 and older about the importance of having an annual mammogram.” Ah, yes. Women 40 and older — the NFL’s target audience. Although you might be used to seeing pink cleats, wristbands, gloves, chinstraps, shoelaces, skullcaps, towels, coins and goal post padding, you probably don’t know exactly why everything is all bubblegum and Pepto-Bismol.
Since 2009, the NFL has teamed up with the American Cancer Society to help raise awareness for “A Crucial Catch,” the campaign that helps raise awareness for breast cancer screenings. There’s that word again. In short, the NFL is raising awareness for awareness. As goofy as that might sound, it’s actually managed to raise approximately $8 million in the past five years by auctioning off of apparel. This sounds like a huge win for the NFL, until you compare it to some other numbers. Over the same period of time, players have been hit with almost $76.9 million in fines. While it seems like the NFL is boasting big numbers in donations to the American Cancer Society, it’s bringing in substantially more for itself from its own players.
So, how much does the NFL really care about your breast health? Not much, DeAngelo Williams found out last week. Williams, a running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, is all too familiar with this disease, after watching his mother and 4 of his aunts fight and lose to breast cancer. The NFL has capitalized on William’s loss by making him the unspoken mascot for its campaign efforts — his mom is the inspiration behind the NFL’s decision to allow pink cleats in the first place. In a recent Sports Illustrated article he insisted that “pink is really so much more than just a color.”
Williams recently asked the NFL if he could continue wearing pink past October. The NFL told Williams that although it’s “committed to saving lives from breast cancer,” it’s not that committed, and if he tries to make Pinkvember or Pinkcember happen, he’ll be fined. In short, instead of continuing to raise money for breast cancer, the NFL threatened to bring in more money for itself. Williams responded by offering to pay for 53 mammograms at a Charlotte, North Carolina, hospital out of his own pocket. At $243 a pop on average, this is no small gesture.
But, is it really about the money? This is a great opportunity to once again reflect on the true purpose of all the pink. Awareness. If one woman reads the headline of William’s feature in Sports Illustrated or flips channels to sees pink cleats and is reminded to book a doctor’s appointment, Pinktober has done its job. Although I see the wrongs in the NFL’s ways, and there are a lot of them, they cannot detract from the inherent goodness of this cause. Although the NFL won’t commit to year round breast cancer support, Williams urges you to still “wear a pink shirt at least once a month, and make it a point to tell people that you’re doing so to help remind everyone that breast cancer awareness is 365 days a year.” Although you may not like the NFL’s true colors, you can’t hate the pink.
