On Thursday, New England Patriots running back Brandon Bolden shared over his TikTok and Instagram accounts that he fought and beat cancer during the 2018 offseason.
In a video featuring a montage of photos from his hospital trips, Bolden publicly shared for the first time that he had an epidermoid carcinoma (a form of skin cancer) removed from his face but as a result, was later able to play in all 16 games in 2018 following his recovery from the procedure. He did however
After the initial diagnosis in February 2018 just days after playing in Super Bowl LII, Bolden said he feared his football career could end, but responded well to treatment following surgery and is now cancer-free.
“It changed my perspective about a lot. I thought I was doing everything to prevent stuff like that from happening and it happened,” Bolden said Thursday. “I had surgery and that was kind of my reset. I was able to redo it and reprocess how I was doing everything in my life, and here we are like I said going on four years of being cancer-free.”
So why did Bolden choose to share the news this week?
“It was just one of those moments where I was messing with my son and my little brother about this, I actually looked in the mirror and I was like, ‘I’ve got my full face back’ and that’s what made me go through the pictures and everything else,’’ Bolden replied.
“Just to show like I had cancer and I didn’t think I was going to play another down in the NFL and here I am three years, going on four years, after having the surgery and still working strong. It was kind of one of those inspirational-type deals for me because that took a lot. It was a lot of naysay from doctors and everything else and then I am here to prove people wrong and grow and get stronger.”
You can view Bolden’s full post below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CYG5XPZhLT7/
Bolden is currently in the midst of his ninth professional season in the NFL and eighth with the Patriots. In 2018, Bolden joined the Miami Dolphins for a season only to rejoin the Patriots in 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bolden elected to opt out of the 2020 season.
Now back in action during the 2021 season, Bolden has seen an increase in work on offense following the season-ending injury to James White, He is presently up to a career-high 540 scrimmage yards at running back after seeing primary usage on special teams most of his career.
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