Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott had a pretty productive weekend.
Not only did his team defeat the reigning NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday Night Football, Prescott was also named as a spokesman for a campaign raising awareness of colon cancer.
The Colorectal Cancer Alliance and actor Ryan Reynolds’ creative agency Maximum Effort announced Friday that the NFL MVP frontrunner joined the Lead From Behind campaign to promote colon cancer awareness.
Prescott is lending his considerable athletic profile to encourage others to overcome the stigmas associated with colon health and either schedule a screening with a doctor or use a Cologuard at-home kit.
In a nearly 90-second commercial with an “important ass message,” Prescott underscores the necessity of talking shit.
Specifically, Prescott shows how easy it is to use a Cologuard at-home screening test to evaluate one’s personal health while also “talking shit,” or expressing their discontent, on everything from marine life to old-timey prospectors.
Viewers are encouraged to visit LeadFromBehind.org to see if they should schedule a colon cancer screening and order their own set of stickers for their Cologuard.
Supporting this effort is a personal cause for the reigning Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, whose mother passed away from colon cancer in 2013.
Outside of skin cancers, the American Cancer Society (ACS) stated that colon cancer is the third-most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women across the country, with nearly 107,000 new cases estimated for this year.
“Losing my mother to colon cancer was devastating and no one should have to go through that,” Prescott said in a statement. “That’s why I started the colon cancer screening and research pillar of my Faith Fight Finish Foundation. Partnering with the Colorectal Cancer Alliance and Lead From Behind is another way I can let people, especially Black Americans who are at greater risk, know that colon cancer is preventable and there are a variety of screening options.”
Prescott’s involvement in healthcare-related causes doesn’t end at colon cancer.
In addition to his work with Lead From Behind, Prescott is also the global brand ambassador for the ACS, which is a longtime partner of the NFL.
In late September, the NFL, ACS and wellness technology company Sleep Number teamed on an annual initiative to encourage greater awareness of cancer and promote early detection.
Drafting Prescott into the fight against colon cancer is the latest and most significant development for Lead From Behind.
Over the summer, the campaign enlisted actor Terry Crews to reprise his role as President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho from the 2006 movie Idiocracy. While in character, Crews received a colonoscopy as part of a four-minute video.
This came about a year after Reynolds and fellow actor Rob McElhenney filmed their respective colonoscopies, which were viewed more than 18 million times online and led to the number of colonoscopies scheduled on ZocDoc to increase by 36%.
Lead From Behind also launched the But, Stuff… public service announcement earlier this year to remind patients, especially those over the age of 45, to prioritize colonoscopies. The 60-second spot supporting the campaign featured a patient who intends to get a cancer screening, “but, stuff” keeps coming up.
