Greg Olsen proud to wear pink

The pink rubber wristband is always there on Greg Olsen's right arm. When he sleeps. When he showers. Even when he plays, tucked neatly beneath his glove.

"Share beauty, spread hope," it reads.

It has been there for every catch, every block and every high five.

He hasn't been without one in eight years, not since his mother Sue was diagnosed with breast cancer. His first one broke, and he quickly replaced it.

So wearing pink to support breast cancer awareness is nothing new for Olsen. But wearing pink gear (cleats, gloves, helmet decals, etc.) for a game will be.

Olsen was happy -- tickled pink, you might say -- to step forward to be part of an initiative the NFL is calling "A Crucial Catch: Annual Screening Saves Lives." Starting Sunday and continuing through the month, the league is encouraging annual mammograms for women older than 40 by having players wear pink gear.

Jay Cutler, Lance Briggs and Juaquin Iglesias also will participate for the Bears.

When Olsen was a sophomore at Wayne Hills High School in New Jersey, his mother Sue, a teacher, felt something wasn't right during a breast self-examination. She went in for tests and on May 29, 2001, her wedding anniversary, she and her husband and three sons were all together, getting ready to go out to dinner.

The phone rang. It was her doctor. The news wasn't good. She had breast cancer.

"You almost feel you are getting a death sentence," she said. "It was devastating.

"Then you realize you are going to get the best care you can, and you have the support of your family. I have three great kids and a great husband. You say, 'I can do this. I'm going to beat this.' "

First came a lumpectomy. Then chemotherapy and radiation. The treatment went on for more than one year.

"It was the first time in our early lives, me and my brothers, that we had true adversity as a family -- beyond losing a football game or basketball game or not hit the winning shot," Greg said. "It was our first and biggest ordeal as a family."

Olsen still remembers vividly when his mother starting feeling adverse effects of treatment. It was the week of 9/11, and she had to miss his first football game ever -- opening day that season.

But now the good news: 57-year-old Sue Olsen is a healthy, proud cancer survivor. She flew to Chicago to watch her son play against the Steelers a little more than two weeks ago.

"We all stuck together and by the grace of God I was able to have the treatment I needed and a great doctor," she said. "Eight years later I'm here to tell everybody to keep on fighting."

There is no doubt her illness has changed her, as it has her son. She says he is more sensitive, maybe tougher.

"It gives you perspective on what's really important," Greg said. "At that time I probably thought the most important thing was winning a game. You realize there are a lot more things that are a lot more serious in this world."

And so Olsen has carried the torch for breast cancer awareness, participating in fund-raising events and starting his own foundation, Receptions for Research. The foundation will have its first main event in Chicago, Shake the Lake Festival, Nov. 13 at Joe's Bar.

Sue Olsen says she is touched that because of her, Greg is helping to raise money to help others.

So if Olsen gets a jab or two from an opponent or teammate about his pink apparel, he won't mind.

"If it raises awareness, that's what matters," Olsen said. "People will be watching on TV and find out October is breast cancer awareness month. ... I'd like to help others any way I can."



(chicagotribune.com)