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iNSiDE thiS iSSuE...Redskins Kick Off Another National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
The Women of Washington Redskins: Who We Are
Photo Gallery of the Breast Cancer Awareness game presented by
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By: Danny Heifetz
Before the start of the Red-skins-Eagles game, Mrs. Snyder hosted the survi-vors and their families for a pre-game tailgate party where she spoke with each individual survivor and
shared words of encouragement. Before kickoff, the survivors were
honored on the field and formed the tunnel for the Redskins player introductions.
“It’s a bittersweet moment, but I love what Tanya is doing with the American Cancer Society, it’s really awesome,” Chanda White, a breast cancer survivor from Hampton, Va., said. “It lets me know I’m not the only one out here fighting. Never give up hope. To be amongst other survivors, it makes you feel good and lets you know to keep going on in your journey.”
Since Tanya Snyder and the Wash-ington Redskins launched breast cancer awareness efforts in the NFL in 1999, the awareness campaign has been adopted league-wide and October has become synonymous with breast cancer awareness.
“This event means a variety of things,” Jane Rodgers, executive direc-tor of the Washington Redskins Chari-table Foundation, said. “Number one is that we’re really helping women know how to take care of themselves. That’s the most important thing. But it also feels like history, since this franchise launched pink in the NFL.I’m always reminded of Tanya Snyder’s efforts to take on a cause and use the power of the NFL brand and really move that forward. We feel great about what we do around it and every year we try to add something exciting.”
Rodgers said early diagnosis and testing had an extra emphasis at this year’s event.
To raise awareness before the Breast Cancer Awareness game, Mrs. Snyder invited hundreds of members of Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity to hand out pink ribbons and speak with fans. Zeta Tau Alpha works with NFL teams around the country to raise donations and awareness for cancer. For the Zeta members in attendance, speaking with survivors is a sobering and inspiring experience.
“It’s amazing to see these people, because some people will come up and they’ll get very emotional and say ‘we love what you’re doing,’ because they’ve gone through it, their family has gone through it, and they love to talk to you and see what you’re doing. It’s so nice to see their faces glow up,” VCU sophomore and Zeta member Sarah Stryhn said.
Ashley Sutton, a Zeta alumna who graduated from George Mason in 2001, attended the game with her family and was among the Zetas handing
out ribbons with Mrs. Snyder. For the Suttons, breast cancer is personal. Ashley’s husband, Joe, lost his mother to breast cancer, and he shared an emotional moment recounting his story with Mrs. Snyder. With watery eyes, Joe offered Mrs. Snyder a pink breast cancer awareness pin, which Mrs. Snyder wore during the game, and the two embraced in an emotional hug.
“It’s a personal gift for [Mrs. Sny-der] for the work and to say thank you for everything she does for breast cancer. We wanted to say thank you,” Joe said. Ashley summed up the gift as, “just giving back.”
For Lynn Hansen of Reston, Va., a survivor nearing the end her che-motherapy, the day represented the beginning of a new chapter in her life. “It’s the celebration of the end of a long journey that I didn’t ever plan on.”
Redskins Kick Off Another National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Tanya Snyder, wife of Redskins owner Dan Snyder, and the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation, hosted 31 breast cancer survivors as a part of the ninth annual All-Star Survivors Celebration in partnership with the
American Cancer Society during the breast cancer awareness game on Sunday, Oct. 16.
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Center Spencer Long“I think everyone in some way has
been affected by not only breast can-cer, but cancer itself in some way. One of my best friend’s mom, whose loved me since I was a little kid, she was af-fected by it and you just kind of think of those people when you put on those pink cleats and pink gloves and the pink tape… [It] shows you life is bigger than the game of football.”
Linebacker Mason Foster“Any type of cancer is a terrible dis-
ease. My mom had esophageal cancer, she survived it. So we went through that as a family. It’s tough, man. I feel for anybody that has to go through it and it’s a great thing we do and hope-fully we can keep it going and keep raising awareness, keep doing good things for the breast cancer survivors.”
Left tackle Trent Williams:“I think it’s a great salute and
another way to show our support and show the women and other people dealing with this type of disease that they’re not alone and we have a bunch of people out here pulling for them as they continue to fight.”
Cornerback Greg Toler:“It’s something that I hold to heart
because I have a few family members that dealt with breast cancer and different types of cancer. Cancer is tough – you see people wither away.
We try to just show support anyway we can and just seeing how they fight through situations, just livelihood. We go through the injuries and complain about it, it just reminds you, it gives you insight – it’s bigger than this. It’s
bigger than playing football. It’s defi-nitely a big issue.”
Running back Chris Thompson:“It’s huge that just the NFL as a
whole takes on this breast cancer awareness month seriously. It shows that we as a whole, as a group, meaning the whole NFL – we care. Just trying to do something for a great cause.”
Cornerback Josh Norman:“It’s big. Any time you play in a
game that’s aimed at breast cancer awareness week it’s a big week for the women that have breast cancer. That severity of the diagnosis is always big for us to come back and show our sup-port and show that we really do care and what they’re going through. God is always able to heal whatever is needed. We’ll always be grateful for what we do have and what we don’t. The women that’s here with us today, the women that are not due to this tragic prob-lem. But we’re still being focused on what God can do for us when we have faith and heal the ones who have this problem.”
Redskins Players Reflect On Breast Cancer Awareness Month
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Stephanie Akbari, MDBreast Cancer Surgeon
A woman’s lifelong health is at the heart of Inova’s approach to personalized medicine, including the
area’s most robust program of predictive genomic testing and counseling for women’s cancers. Our
breast cancer specialists and genetic counselors work as a team to review the particular genetic makeup
of a patient’s cancer – including a detailed family medical history on both the mother’s and father’s side.
Preventing disease is always preferable to curing it, so let’s make a proactive plan.
Text GAMEPLAN to 99000 for mammogram and breast self-exam reminders from Inova.
Official Breast Cancer Awareness Partner and Health System of the Washington Redskins
Let’s determine if you’re going to get breast cancer, like your mother did.
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The Women of Washington Redskins: Who We Are
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S ince its inception in 2011, the Women of Washing-ton Redskins (WOW) has evolved into the largest women’s program in the NFL with over 122,000
members. Along with free year-round programming and events like behind-the-scene opportunities with the team and football clinics, WOW also offers a unique avenue for leadership develop-ment and fitness classes, embodying their mission to provide a complete platform to empower female fans – mind, body and spirit.
Throughout National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, WOW hosted a full line-up of events in support of the cause and staying active. To kickoff October, the women’s club teamed up with the Redskins Charitable Founda-tion, along with Redskins two-time Super Bowl Champions Gary Clark and Ravin Caldwell, at SoulCycle to sup-port the Brem Foundation for a charity ride. WOW continued their campaign to get fit with a free Fitness Boot Camp for members, led by Nike Trainer Deanna Jefferson at FedExField. WOW members were encouraged to bring a
gently used or new bra to support the Brem Foundation’s Re-Bra initiative, a bra-donation program that provides bras to low-income women. In support of the Redskins Charitable Foundation, WOW made a donation on behalf of every member who donated a bra, with each donor receiving a limited edition BCA T-shirt. Nearly 300 bras were col-lected from the event.
WOW’s expansive portfolio of events and programming doesn’t stop in October. In addition to pregame parties before every home game this
season, WOW is scheduled to host their annual football camp for women, with a big twist. Members will get the opportunity to experience a “Day in the Life” of a player – from drills, film review and more, there’s nothing like this unique experience. The women’s club will also host their second boot camp of the season to kick-off the New Year.
For more information or to join the largest women’s club in the NFL for free, visit WOWRedskins.com.
WOW Calendar of Events:
November 13 Vikings vs. Redskins:
WOW VIP Pregame Party
November 14 WOW | WISE Career
Discovery Series
November 20 Packers vs. Redskins:
WOW VIP Pregame Party
December 3 WOW Football Camp
December 19 Panthers vs. Redskins:
WOW VIP Pregame Party
January New Year, New You Fitness Boot Camp
Visit WOWRedskins.com for more information on upcoming events.
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By: Jake kring-SchreifelS
Before the morning festivities began, former Redskins tight end and current radio personality Chris Cooley made a brief introduction to kick off the ninth annual All-Star Survivors Celebration.
“Let everyone take care of you,” he implored the 31 women sitting in the Redskins dining room, all of whom were in various stages battling breast cancer.
Moments later, that’s exactly what they did, splitting into five groups and rotating through pampering stations around the Inova Sports Performance
Center at Redskins Park. The survivors had opportunities to apply makeup, take home a new pair of Gap Jeans, receive a massage, try on a wig or head scarf and tour the facility. The tender love and care was not done without some help.
The 31 survivors, who also par-ticipated in pregame field ceremonies during Sunday’s victory over the Eagles, were joined in solidarity by Tanya Snyder, wife of Redskins owner Dan Snyder, Kiersten Allen, Sherry Gruden, Jessica McCloughan as well as wives of players and coaches, and Redskins players -- Colt McCoy, Chris Baker, Anthony Lanier, Houston Bates, Will Compton, Arie Kouadjio, Dustin
Hopkins, Nick Sundberg, Brandon Scherff and Ryan Grant – who pro-vided an extra layer of support.
Besides allowing the women to take selfies with them and autograph memorabilia, players took part in the activities themselves. Hopkins was the first to volunteer to have his hair sprayed with pink and purple, while Lanier tried out nearly every wig that was available.
“The lipstick kind of scares me, I can’t look at a mirror without putting it down,” Kouandjio said. “But these ladies are having fun and I’m happy to show them a good time.”
“I got my hair colored, then we started a trend within our whole
group,” Hopkins said. “Some of the other ladies got their hair colored as well. So once we did that, we kind of got a group bonding experience. This make-up session, I don’t know if I’m looking forward to it after seeing some of the other fellas.”
“Besides the touchup and makeup and getting all pretty, this is a hard time in their lives,” Bates said. “To have a day like this just to spend with us, have fun, joke around, get some makeup, a massage, take a tour of the facility, it really means a lot to them, makes their day. Anytime I can do that, we’re all for it. Day off or not, we’re
Redskins Host Ninth-Annual All-Star Survivors Celebration
The Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation on Monday hosted the ninth annual All-Star Survivors Celebration for 31 women currently battling breast cancer.
» see SURVIVORS | C9
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here for them.”Delighted by it all was Cheryl
Bland, who was diagnosed with breast cancer last December. At her doctor’s advice, she underwent a lumpectomy on her right breast and has followed each medical course of action without a complaint.
“I’ve gone through harsh chemo-therapy, I’ve gone through surgery, ra-diation, and now I have to go back and do maintenance chemo,” said Bland, a Woodbridge, Va., native. “But God is good, because I’ve not been down, I’ve worked through all of this. I didn’t stop working.”
Supported by her sisters, who live nearby, and her eldest son, Bland said that coming to an event like this is an ideal remedy for doubts and despair.
“It is special, especially when ev-erybody is so upbeat with this horrible disease,” she said. “Everybody’s so up-lifted, upbeat, nobody’s thinking about ‘Oh, it’s the end.’ Through modern sci-ence, technology and medicine, it’s not the end. I think this is awesome.”
The event has grown considerably since Cooley first started it. Watching his mother, Nancy, fight through breast cancer and the emotional rollercoaster attached to the diagnosis, the surger-ies and physical transformation during chemotherapy, inspired him to provide a day for women who needed comfort in their lives.
He worked closely with Tanya Sny-der, a breast cancer survivor herself, to create this celebration. It has since grown with the support of the Ameri-can Cancer Society, which provided the new wigs and scarves.
“This was an inspiration that came from him out of the love for his mom, which is really powerful,” Tanya Sny-der said of Cooley. “Yesterday I got a chance to hug and say hello to every-body and it was really special to meet everybody…I’m so proud to be a part of this event and so proud to get to know everybody here.”
After a special lunch, the survivors all received gift baskets from the IIIB’s Foundation, culminating in hugs, tears and more conversation.
“Being able to hang with them and see how encouraged they are and how brave they are, whether they have faced or still facing a disease that is obviously scary, is encouraging to us,” Hopkins said. “As players, just know-ing whatever we’re facing is relatively small compared to what they’re going through -- they can still have a smile on their face and enjoy themselves. It’s a gift to us being a part of their lives today.”
SURVIVORSFrom page C8
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By Jake kring-SchreifelS
Before his mother, Nancy, was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer in 2008, Chris Cooley didn’t know anything about the disease that would impact her, and subsequently his, life in the
coming years. “Initially, when you have someone
diagnosed with breast cancer, you realize that everyone has had someone that’s close to them diagnosed with breast cancer,” Chris said. “It’s ex-tremely common, which is extremely unfortunate. It’s scary.”
Nancy found out she had a three-inch, aggressive tumor inside her right breast, known medically as ductile carcinoma. She would eventually have a bilateral mastectomy after promptly meeting with doctors and determining a surgery plan, setting her up for the fast-est track possible to be cancer-free.
After she began chemotherapy, Chris shaved his mother’s head once her locks started falling out, something he had never realized could be such a life-changing moment. His mother, he said, didn’t care about how she looked being sick, and carried a fighting spirit from the moment she was diagnosed.
“It was consistently, ‘I will beat cancer, I will win,” and not just that, but, ‘I will not let it change my life,’” Chris said of his mom’s attitude. “She went to every football game, she went to every event that I had, to a fault, where she shouldn’t have been out doing things after having surgery. I was just com-pletely wowed by what she handled and how she dealt with something that was that life changing and life threatening.”
Chris and his brother, Tanner, would visit the hospital and sit with Nancy while she went through chemo treat-ments. They also began “Cooleys for the Cure,” a fundraising event to raise awareness and money for the Virginia Hospital Center and “The IIIb’s,” a local organization that supports women going through cancer treatment.
“I went through four months of chemotherapy, surgeries – six now, and 28 radiation treatments over the past three years,” Nancy wrote in 2011. “Re-construction has been ongoing to try to rebuild my broken body. I know that these treatments would not be available without the help of the money raised for research of this horrible disease.”
The events, and the groups of women who were battling cancer with Nancy, gave Chris a better
understanding of the support network available to those in need. Nancy found it through doctors, friends and family and sometimes with people she had only just met who were experiencing the same disease.
“One of the reasons I wanted to do our event was in slightly recogniz-ing, when you bring 50 women with breast cancer together, they have an opportunity to openly talk about their treatments, their cares, their concerns,” Chris said. “I think it’s nice to be able to get some of your worries and thoughts off of your chest with people that are going through the exact same thing as you.”
Nancy has been in remission since ending her cancer treatment, and Chris noted his mother’s change in diet – she’s become a vegetarian – as part of the many lifestyle changes she has com-mitted to herself to stay healthy. When Chris strapped on pink as a player, and when he does it now as a radio
personality and game analyst, he still has one thought.
“Every time I think of this, I just think of my mom is a badass,” Chris said. “She really, truly is. She was always there for us, she did everything she could do as single parent, put herself through school after she got divorced, always worked her guts out. To watch her deal with this emotionally and physically really showed me a lot about her. And that teaches you some-thing about yourself when you see your parent do that.”
Chris has continued to support those impacted by breast cancer, raising awareness with the Washington Red-skins Charitable Foundation. As part of his artistic endeavors, the Foundation asked him to design the logo for this year’s pink merchandized team T-Shirt, and utilized the Redskins’ fight song “Hail to the Redskins” for its lyrical relevance.
“I loved the ‘fight’ and ‘victory,’”
Chris said, “two terms that should be highlighted when it comes to this.”
Now, eight years removed from the fateful call his mother received, Chris has gained immense appreciation for his mother’s journey, and the ones many other women fighting the disease go through each year.
“There’s no picking or choosing or determining who gets cancer,” Chris said. “There’s a million ways to say that something causes it or something prevents it, but there’s not true vector that I necessarily know of or that we’re told. It’s just about how you handle the situations that you’re put in in life. Some of it’s scary and it’s extremely unfortu-nate. It’s really a test to life, and I was proud of my mom for the way she truly changed her life.”
To purchase a Redskins Fight Breast Cancer T-shirt or for more information, visit www.Redskins.com/FightBreastCancer. Limited supplies available.
Breast Cancer BattledChris Cooley reflects on his mother Nancy’s journey through breast cancer
and what he learned about the disease that has changed his family’s life.
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carefirst.com/livefearless
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Check regularly.
Washington Area Toyota Dealers will donate $50 to the American Cancer Society for every catch (reception) made by the Redskins this season to encourage fans to make the “Crucial Catch” and get screened annually.
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BCA Game Photo Gallery:Washington Redskins vs. Philadelphia Eagles
10/16 Breast Cancer Awareness Game
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Presented by:
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*As a partner of WOW, Toyota will match WOW’s $1 donation to benefit breast cancer research and outreach programs for each new member up to $4,000.
THE WOMEN OF WASHINGTON REDSKINS AND TOYOTA WILL DONATE $2 TO THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY ON BEHALF OF EACH NEW MEMBER WHO JOINS WOW THROUGHOUT OCTOBER.
JOIN FOR FREE TODAYEXCLUSIVE EVENTS, PROGRAMS, CONTENT, GIVEAWAYS, GAMEDAY PARTIES AND MORE!
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