Seth Udinski, FISM News
NFL Hall of Fame quarterback and longtime Fox NFL analyst Terry Bradshaw announced during yesterday’s pregame telecast of Fox NFL Sunday that he had undergone multiple battles with cancer this past year.
Bradshaw’s announcement came as an answer to many fans’ concerns about his health after he had run out of breath during a conversation on Fox NFL Sunday the previous week. Thankfully, after two surgeries to remove two separate cancerous tumors, Bradshaw has been declared cancer-free by his health professionals.
During today's show, Terry Bradshaw shared that he has been battling cancer over the past year. As of today, he is cancer free, and he discussed his fight and plan for the future: pic.twitter.com/RSwVxlXC97
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 2, 2022
Bradshaw is beloved nationwide for his legacy as a player and his humorous analysis on air. Fans are undoubtedly thrilled to know that he is recovering and has announced no plans to retire from his position as one of the hosts of FOX NFL Sunday, a position he has held for almost 30 years.
While most younger fans know him only for his colorful analytics and career in acting, Bradshaw made a name for himself in the NFL as one of the driving factors behind the Pittsburg Steelers’ dynasty in the 1970s.
He was the starting quarterback on a team that included fellow Hall of Famers Lynn Swan and “Mean Joe” Greene. Coupled with the legendary “Steel Curtain” defense, Bradshaw led Pittsburgh to four Super Bowl championships in the 1970s, winning Super Bowl MVP in two of them. He also was a three-time Pro Bowler.
He retired from the game in 1983 and was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio in 1989.
Author’s Biblical Analysis:
Football and faith are often an unorthodox combination, yet Christians can be encouraged in several ways from Bradshaw’s story, especially considering his own profession of faith in Jesus. Bradshaw’s testimony is, like so many, a story of finding everything in Christ after seeking for so long the pleasures of this world and finding them lacking.
For Christians, there are several reminders.
First – We must put our hope in life and death in Christ, not physical health or riches.
Because of the fall, physical death is a reality all of us must face. For those without Christ, this is a harrowing fate, as death marks the end of all that is good and brings with it a bone-chilling uncertainty.
But Christians face death with a unique and profound hope. We know that death is merely the passage from the sinful, incomplete state of this world into our glorious reunion with God. While death is not an agreeable idea to any of us, we must, as Paul did, take heart in the fact that as our outward bodies waste away, the promise of perfection with God in eternity remains for all who put their hope in Christ.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16).
Second – While we hope and pray for physical healing when our bodies fail us, we put our ultimate hope in spiritual healing.
Terry Bradshaw’s recent health battle is a testament to the fact that God can and does give physical healing to His people. Bradshaw shared briefly during the telecast on Sunday a word of thanks for “the prayers and concern” he’s seen from fans and friends. We can assume that many people were praying for his healing, and as we see so often, God responds to the prayers of His people.
However, believer, do not place your entire hope on the belief that God will answer “yes” to whatever you want. As nice as this sounds to many of us, this does not exist in scripture.
Instead, we see in scripture that God does as God pleases (Psalm 115:1). We also see that God’s answer to our request may also be a “no.” Our ultimate example of this was the prayer of the Lord Jesus Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane, when He asked the Father to “let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39). God said no, and Jesus drank the cup of wrath on our behalf.
Therefore, do not put your confidence in a God who always bends to your will. Instead, put your confidence in the God who does as He pleases and who always acts for the good of His people.
This brings us back to the gospel. God acted, once and for all, for the good of His people when He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die on the cross on our behalf. In doing so, Jesus took the penalty for our sins so that we could be righteous before God.
Physical healing is wonderful, but what does it matter if you do not have spiritual healing?
So believer, pray for physical health and healing, trusting that God can and does perform great works of healing. But ultimately, your focus must be on spiritual health and the glory and will of God.
Remember this – Unlike the prayer of physical health, to which God sometimes answers “no,” He always says “yes” to a sinner who comes to Him and asks for forgiveness from sins. May we hold onto that sure anchor for our souls as our bodies waste away, knowing that, with Christ, we have the promise of complete healing — eternal freedom from sin.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)… (Ephesians 2:5).