CREDIT: NBC NEWS / TODAY
Tammy Bradshaw, a former radiation therapist, told TODAY that when she learned of her husband’s cancer, she thought, “I knew where this could go.”
By: Ariana Brockington
Tammy Bradshaw is opening up about struggling to stay strong while her husband, former Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw, was diagnosed with two types of cancer in less than a year.
Last month, the 74-year-old TV sports analyst revealed during a “Fox NFL Sunday” segment that he learned he had bladder cancer in November 2021.
After receiving treatment at the Yale University Medical Center, he became cancer free. But in March 2022, an MRI showed he had a Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare and aggressive form of skin cancer.
Tammy Bradshaw spoke to NBC News correspondent Harry Smith in a TODAY show segment aired Wednesday, Nov. 2, about her reaction to her husband’s health scares, in particular his second cancer bout.
“The doctor calls me to tell me what it is, and then I’m shook because I was a radiation therapist for 10 years,” she said. “I knew where this could go. I knew what the outcomes could be. And it did scare me the second time with that diagnosis.”
“I never said this to him, but inside I carried a lot more worry and stress than what I let him know I think,” Tammy Bradshaw, 61, added.
When Smith asked if she ever cried after learning about her husband’s bladder and skin cancers, she replied, “In front of him? No.”
Terry and Tammy Bradshaw have been married since 2014. He has two daughters, Erin and Rachel, with ex-wife Charlotte Hopkins. Tammy Bradshaw also has a daughter, Lacey, with former partner David Luttrull.
In Wednesday’s interview on TODAY, Terry Bradshaw expressed to Smith how grateful he is for his wife’s constant support.
“I can’t imagine not holding her hand when we take off on a plane,” the Football Hall of Famer said. “Or when we land or when we snuggle up when we’re in bed together. Or when she’s sitting over there with our sick puppy.”
He added: “And I look at her and she doesn’t know I’m looking at her and I’m so thankful. Now I’m getting emotional.”
Last month, Terry Bradshaw explained that he had surgery to remove the Merkel cell tumor at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He assured the audience that he was feeling like his old self again on “Fox NFL Sunday.”
“I’m feeling great and over time, I’m going to be back to where I normally am. So I appreciate your prayers and your concern,” he said.
With a clean bill of health, the Bradshaws are ready to spend time together and travel the world.
Terry Bradshaw told Smith: “We’re going to go to Europe, going to go to Paris, going to go to wherever we want to go. I’m going to get all this in because I feel like I don’t want to put this off anymore.
The former athlete laughed and said, “I may have 25, 30 years left, but I’m going to act like I got one.”