The NFL has partnered with NBC's "Today" for an "awesome cause" called the Tackling Cancer Challenge, according to NBC's Hoda Kotb. One NFL player each day this week will throw a pink football into a crowd at Rockefeller Center, and for "each pass that is completed, the NFL will donate $1,000 to the American Cancer Society." The program is in conjunction with the league's Breast Cancer Awareness Month initiatives. Texans CB Kareem Jackson visited the set today and said he personally knows the "devastation of cancer, what it does to a family." Jackson: "I told myself once I got into a situation where I can help other families, I definitely wanted to jump at the opportunity" ("Today," NBC, 10/24).
GETTING THE PINK SLIP? ESPN's Field Yates noted there has been "basically no talk that I’ve been aware of so far this month about the NFL and breast cancer awareness, which is shown through players wearing pink.” ESPN's Andrew Hawkins, who completed a six-year NFL career after the '16 season, said he “remembers there was always a specific week where everybody would go pink.” He added, “I don’t know if it’s still on, but here we are past the halfway point of the month and we have yet to see the pink towels and the pink wristbands and gloves. Very interesting.” Yates: “I feel like it’s gotten less attention this year, perhaps because there’s so much else going on in the NFL. That could be the reason behind it” (“Operation Football,” ESPN Radio, 10/22). ESPN's Ryan Clark noted Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky did wear a pink blazer on Sunday to highlight Breast Cancer Awareness Month ("NFL Live," ESPN, 10/23).
