The National Football League, the NFL Players Association and the American Cancer Society are teaming up for the seventh year to support October's National Breast Cancer Awareness Month with "A Crucial Catch: Annual Screening Saves Lives," campaign, reminding women about the importance of having a regular mammogram and taking control of their breast health.
The Titans will kick off breast cancer awareness month this week in a variety of ways, including honoring survivors on the field at the game. Additionally, all fans attending the contest at Nissan Stadium will receive pink sunglasses displaying the breast cancer ribbon decal, courtesy of Saint Thomas Health and Coca-Cola. Fans will also receive pink ribbons courtesy of the Zeta Tau Alpha Nashville Alumnae Chapter.
Prior to kickoff, the Titans and Saint Thomas Health will honor male and female breast cancer survivors. Following the game, the Titans will donate new and game-worn BCA apparel and equipment to six local high school football teams in an effort to promote the importance of annual screenings and early detection at the high school level.
On Oct. 13, the Titans will support A Crucial Catch Day at Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center. Current and alumni players, as well as Titans cheerleaders, will be on-site to support women as they are screened for breast cancer.
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Finally, on Oct. 26, the Titans will host the fourth annual Football 101 for Ladies to benefit the Tennessee Breast Cancer Coalition (the TBCC). The TBCC uses the money raised through this event to provide financial assistance to women in need due to inability to work or mounting medical expenses incurred while undergoing treatment for breast cancer, from preventing evictions to paying utility and health insurance bills.
More than $8 million has been raised for the American Cancer Society through the partnership, with the majority of the donation coming from the sale of pink merchandise at retail and the NFL Auction website. 100% of proceeds from pink products auctioned on NFL Auction go directly to the American Cancer Society (ACS). The NFL does not profit from the sale or auction of pink merchandise. For more information, visit nfl.com/pink.
Money raised through A Crucial Catch supports the American Cancer Society's Community Health Advocates implementing Nationwide Grants for Empowerment (CHANGE) program that provides outreach and breast cancer screenings to women in underserved communities. This season marks the first year all 32 NFL team markets will receive a $50,000 CHANGE grant. Since 2012, grant recipients have provided more than 64,000 screenings and nearly 150,000 women have received education on the benefits and importance of breast cancer screenings.
CHANGE grant recipients, the American Cancer Society and the NFL are teaming for the second annual A Crucial Catch Day on Oct. 13. On that day, all 32 grant recipients will host education sessions and screenings at their facilities and many NFL teams will participate in these awareness activities, bringing these potentially life-saving messages and screening services to the women who need them most. Fans may participate in A Crucial Catch Day and the fight against breast cancer by visiting NFL.com/pink and signing up for a personal screening reminder, donating to the American Cancer Society and posting a social pledge to get screened using #NFLPink.
Continuing throughout the month, NFL breast cancer awareness games will feature:
• Game balls with pink ribbon decals used for every down and pink kicking tees
• Pink equipment for players including: cleats, wristbands, gloves, sideline caps, helmet decals, captains' patches, chin straps, shoe laces, skull caps, sideline towels, eye shield decals and quarterback towels
• Pink Bose headsets for coaches
• Pink coins used for the coin toss
• Team specific New Era hats with pink accents for coaches and sideline personnel
• Pink ribbon pins for coaches and teams
• Pink caps, wristbands, whistles and pins for game officials
• On-field pink ribbon stencils and A Crucial Catch wall banners
• Pink goal post padding in end zones
• Breast cancer awareness pompoms, shirts and wristbands for cheerleaders
Game-worn pink merchandise and footballs will be autographed post-game and auctioned at NFL Auction (nfl.com/auction). All NFL Auction proceeds from the sale of breast cancer awareness items during the month of October will go-to the American Cancer Society.
From cleats to gloves, towels to caps, NFL partners including Gatorade, Nike, Under Armour, New Era and Wilson are creating pink merchandise for breast cancer awareness games. Pink Bose headsets and pink Gatorade towels will be used on the sidelines at every A Crucial Catch game. Many other partners including P&G and EA will support A Crucial Catch through products and promotions.
Ticketmaster, the Official Ticket Exchange of the NFL and NFL clubs, will contribute one dollar for every NFL ticket sold on Ticketmaster and the NFL Ticket Exchange during the month of October to the American Cancer Society, up to $35,000.
