suffer the same fate as his other male relatives who all died from cancer. The memory of watching his father lose his battle against lung cancer alone still affects him to this day. Fortunately, Shannon Sharpe is now using his story and platform to change that outcome for other Black men and their families.
Janessen’s New Campaign Goes Into Effect
Additionally, Sharpe’s story has touched millions of people from around the world. Furthermore, health giant Janssen reached out to the NFL star to help spread the word about prostate cancer in the Black community. Furthermore, the company has collaborated with Black-owned advertising agencies and leaders to spread messages that would resonate with the Black community. In particular, the company’s president of U.S Oncology, Tyrone Brewer, spoke with Sharpe about his own experience with the chronic illness and why it’s important to have an open dialogue.
“Among the Black community, there’s this mistrust around medical care and also a misperception that prostate cancer is not a serious disease. It’s often considered the ‘good cancer,’ and the reality is it’s far from that. Black men are twice as likely to die from prostate cancer compared to other men,” Brewer says.
What better person to open up the conversation than Shannon Sharpe? Through their newly implemented campaign, Talk That Talk, Brewer hopes to promote awareness among Black men and push them to get early screening. With Sharpe’s help, he hopes to encourage more Black men to seek out help before it’s too late.
Sharpes Spreads The Word About Prostate Cancer
Furthermore, Sharpe told Men’s Health that he jumped at the opportunity to help Janssen get the word out to the public. In fact, the sports spokesman has used his daily FOX Sports soapbox to increase awareness for the Talk That Talk campaign website. Additionally, his notoriety has helped to secure coverage in the New York Post, Daily Mail, and other big-name news outlets.
In the end, Brewer hopes that between the push from Sharpe and the campaign’s website, that everyone will walk away with three key messages: the importance of diagnosis, the need to seek treatment and the truth about survival rates.
“When it is diagnosed early, you could be a part of the 96% that survive,” Brewer says. He further notes that Shannon considers himself in the upper percentile because he took a leap of faith. The pro-football player took advantage of early screening, and it ended up saving his life. Together, Shannon and Brewer hope to silence misconceptions about prostate cancer and encourage more men to be healthy. More importantly, they strive to save lives.