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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — On Monday, Nov. 3, a day after leading the Denver Broncos with 10 tackles in their 18-15 win over the Houston Texans, Alex Singleton was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
“Thankfully, we believe the cancer was caught early with a great prognosis for me and my family,” Singleton stated.
The week before, a random NFL drug test revealed elevated levels of the hormone hcG, which promoted Singleton to see a urologist. After immediate appointments with Dr. Andrew Zilavy and Dr. Geoff Ledgerwood on that Monday, Singleton was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
Singleton had “successful” surgery on Friday to remove the testicular tumor. The cancer has not spread to any other parts of his body, which is a “great sign,” as Singleton pointed out.
“The surgery went really well,” he told reporters on Monday.
The night before surgery, Singleton remarkably played in the Broncos’ 10-7 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. Singleton played in all 60 of Denver‘s defensive snaps.
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“Which is what I wanted to do, was just focus on football for the week for the Thursday game and just not let it change my life yet if that makes sense,” Singleton said, explaining why he played in the game.
Singleton’s display of mental and physical toughness playing on Thursday Night Football is hard to put into words. But on Monday, Singleton went a step further with his courage and bravery.
During the team’s Monday morning meeting, Singleton reveled his cancer diagnosis to his teammates. Two hours later, he revealed it to the world.
“I wrestled with sharing such personal information publicly. But the fact is, if it helps one person decide to pay closer attention to their body, then it is well worth it,” Singleton wrote in a post on social media.
“Early detection and regular screenings save lives and can save loved ones from a lot of grief,” Singleton continued. “Heck, I have a wife, Sam, and daughter, Tallyn, along with an amazing family back in California.”
In less than two hours, Singleton’s posts on social media reached well over one million people. His bravery and courage very well could accomplish his goal of helping one person to pay closer attention to their body.
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“Don’t be afraid of the doctor because I was for a long time,” Singleton said.
Singleton then went an extra step further by speaking to local media, to raise awareness for others.
“If we can get the word out to get everybody screened and checked,” he stated.
The way Singleton is carrying himself in such a difficult time of his life isn’t the least bit surprising. Just last year, Singleton was named the Broncos Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee. The award “recognizes a player for his outstanding leadership both on the field and in the community,” according to the Broncos. His leadership and bravery surrounding his recent cancer diagnosis clearly fits that bill to a tee.
Singleton “100 percent” wants to become an advocate for early screening and protection.
“I figured I found out early, so I 100 percent want to, as I learn more, be a voice for this,” he stated. “I think it’s important.”
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Singleton will know more about the “long run” later this week when more tests come back.
While football certainly comes second over his health, Singleton expects to return to the football field this year.
“I fully expect to return to the field in the coming weeks,” he stated.
While Singleton certainly will be out for Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs, he does not expect to miss months.
“My health in the long run is more important than football even though sometimes this—even to me—seems like the biggest thing in the world,” Singleton said. “So it was good that it’s optimistically not going to be four, five, six weeks, thankfully.”
As Singleton recovers, he wants to remind everybody to get screened and checked.
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