"It possibly saved my life" - Shannon Sharpe reflects on battle with prostate cancer in emotional on-air segment

Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless spend most of their time making wild claims about professional and college sports on FS1's "Undisputed with Skip and Shannon." On Sunday during an interview with Fox NFL Sunday host Curt Menefee, the former tight end broke down during an emotionally charged on-air segment regarding his battle with prostate cancer.

With September being Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, Shannon Sharpe shared his story about how he retired from football and got screened for the disease after being approached by Janssen, Johnson & Johnson's parent company, in order to begin an awareness campaign for black men, which is a particularly vulnerable group, and how it saved his life:

"This month, September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. And I was approached a couple of months ago about sharing my story. And at the time they asked me to do it, they had no idea that I had been diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer, and black men ... you and I ... we're two times more likely to develop prostate cancer."

"But there's a 90%-96% survival rate. If screened early and detected early. I'm a part of that 96%... And the thing was that I had no idea this (was) so silent. And I felt great. And the thing was, what happened was, it was like three weeks before I was supposed to come here and do this job for Undisputed."

"And so I was like, You know what, I'll just wait till I get out there. I'll get screened because I started getting screened in my mid-30s, although they recommend in your early 40s, mid to early 40s."

"But because my my dad died at 39 from cancer ... he had a brother who died in his 40s, another brother that barely made it to 50. So I felt that I needed to get screened early."

"So once I retired from football, I retired about two weeks before my 36th birthday. I started getting screened because I knew the likelihood I was in a high percentile of developing some sort of cancer. And so it possibly saved my life."

Shannon Sharpe supports Janssen's Talk That Talk campaign

SiriusXM At Super Bowl LIV - Day 1

Shannon Sharpe feels "cancer-free" right now, and he wants others to overcome the same disease, which is one that often goes undetectable. His support for the Talk That Talk campaign is how he plans on helping black men everywhere avoid the pain he felt when he lost his father to the disease.

This is the Talk That Talk mission statement, which can be found on their website:

"We work hard to provide for ourselves and those around us. Despite the many barriers we face, we always find a way to persevere. What’s one problem that threatens our progress? Prostate cancer (PC)."

"When it comes to prostate cancer, it’s about 'talking the talk and walking the walk, if we want Black men to be proactive about their prostate health."

Kudos to Shannon Sharpe for moving the needle forward for society with action and not just statements backed by zero substance.

---

If you use any of the above quotes, please credit Fox NFL Sunday and H/T Sportskeeda.