Last week, it was reported that NFL legend Randy Moss was stepping away from his role as an analyst on “Sunday NFL Countdown” due to some personal health concerns.
Moss posted a video to his Instagram just before the news, in which he encouraged men to get regular checkups and revealed that he was dealing with a health condition, but did not say exactly what.
Randy Moss’ Son Refutes Liver Cancer Announcement By Larry Fitzgerald Sr.
After some speculation fueled by Moss having a yellowish tint in his eyes, longtime reporter Larry Fitzgerald Sr., the father of former Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald Jr., took to social media with a message saying that he’d learned that Moss was battling liver cancer.
“66th NFF Hall of Fame Ceremony here in Las Vegas just heard that Vikings HOF Randy Moss has liver cancer,” Fitzgerald wrote. “Let’s show the power of prayer and pull Moss through this. I love you Randy.”
In a crazy twist of events, Moss’ son, former NFL tight end Thaddeus Moss, however, refuted that claim and called out Fitzgerald for making private matters public for “the sake of engagement”.
“This is disgusting,” he wrote. “You have no right to try to make private matters public for the sake of engagement. I do not believe my father talks to you, so check your f–g sources.”
We will reserve judgment on the exact illness that Moss is battling until he reports it.
Former NFL Player Brandon Bolden Played Games With Cancer
However, former NFL running back Brandon Bolden, a two-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots, tells The Shadow League “Locker Room” podcast that he was diagnosed with epidermoid carcinoma, a form of skin cancer, following the Patriots’ loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII. Bolden temporarily lost function of the right side of his face, but he says thanks to a strong support system, he managed to play the entire 2018 season with the condition.
“To be honest it was family… it’s all the athletes, the people we share a locker room, a court, a field, whatever and that’s part of a family,” says Bolden, attributing his current cancer-free life to the people who helped him overcome it.
“A few teammates and coaches knew, and they helped me get through, it and that was a tough time,” Bolden recalled.
Bolden played 16 games in 2018, 15 in 2019, had a COVID opt-out in 2020 and then played at least 16 games the last three seasons of his career. He never missed a beat.
“You’re dealing with something that’s outside of football, and you don’t want to be a distraction to the locker room, and you go about the business being done,” Bolden said. “Outside of football I had my kids and my wife at the time, staying on me, helping me make the right choices and making sure this wasn’t the end for me. Keeping me in high spirits. They kept me going, so I had to keep showing up for everybody who was showing up for me.”
Bolden Spent Nine Hours In Skin Cancer Surgery: He’s Still Trying To Regain Full Feeling In Face
Bolden’s surgery wasn’t a simple procedure.
“When I went in for surgery of course the doctor was gonna play it small,” Bolden recalls. “He says we are just going to make this little incision and go to get this off the nerve, and that will be the end of it.”
Bolden says, however, when he came out of surgery his wife was crying because what was projected as a two-hour surgery took nine hours of delicate maneuvering.
“Where the cancer was, “ Bolden explains, “was on the nerve endings of my face, so they had to cut out a piece of my skull to get to it and flip (this part of my face up) to work that nerve.”
Two days after his surgery Bolden realized that the affected side of his face was drooping.
“I looked like Two-Face from Batman,” Bolden said. “Because I couldn’t close one eye and couldn’t smile.”
Bolden, who can still see the scar, says he had to get an aluminum plate to close his eyelids shut just to sleep properly.
Bolden tells TSL’s “Locker Room” that he’s still trying to regain full use of his facial muscles.
“Even now I’m trying to still get full function of my face and now it’s like…I’ll start eating and because I chew with my right side the other entire side of my face will start sweating.”
Bolden says it’s just his nerves waking up.
“Still trying to work through that. The function that I do have now has been awesome,” he said.
How Did Playing With Cancer In NFL Affect Brandon Bolden’s Game?
Bolden says the NFL went as far as to allow him to play in a dark visor because, “I didn’t want people seeing that I can’t control my eyes. Sometimes it’s up and sometimes it’s down,” he said.
When it comes to the cancer’s direct effect on his physical ability to execute the craft, Bolden says there were minor setbacks.
“I could barely talk. Putting the mouthpiece in was probably the toughest thing at the beginning. Eight to nine weeks into the season I was able to get at least a half of a smile on this side. It was a process.
For the most part it was hard to communicate because I was talking like Rocky because I can’t work one side of my face, so I had to lean in especially on special teams because we talk a lot. That was the hardest part,” Bolden reveals.
Miami Coaches Helped Bolden Work Through Effects Of Cancer: He Shouts Out Randy Moss
Bolden says the special teams coordinator in Miami at the time, Darren Rizzi, who’s now head coach of the New Orleans Saints, developed hand signals so he could communicate with other guys on the field.
The 12-year veteran, who stepped away in 2023, will never forget that when he got that phone call confirming his cancer diagnosis. And if Randy Moss is indeed experiencing something similar, Bolden has some words for him.
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“Shout out to Randy. I know it’s difficult, I know it’s hard. You have fans and brothers in arms, and we are all praying for you and wishing you nothing but the best,” he implored.
