Randy Moss speaks for the first time about his cancer diagnosis.
On Friday, Dec. 13, the Minnesota Vikings wide receiver-turned-ESPN analyst, 47, shared in an Instagram Live shot from his couch that he underwent surgery and was hospitalized for nearly a week. He addressed his followers from his home, using a walking stick.
The NFL commentator says he noticed his urine had changed color and sought medical attention. Then the doctors diagnosed him with cancer.
“So I had cancer,” he revealed. “They found it in the bile duct right between the pancreas and the liver and that the cancer was right outside the bile duct.”
During Live, Moss explained that he underwent the first of several surgeries on Thanksgiving Day to have a stent implanted in his liver.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer shared that he underwent another six-hour surgery on Saturday, Dec. 7, and just returned home after six days. Moss said he had a Whipple procedure — surgery that treats tumors and other conditions in the pancreas, small intestine and bile ducts, according to the Mayo Clinic — and the cancer was just outside his bile duct.
Randy Moss plays for the Vikings in 2003.
Albert Dickson/Sporting News via Getty
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“It’s been a tough week, tough time. Again, I thank you all,” he said, naming several of the doctors and nurses who treated him in Charlotte, NC. “Thank you and your team for nursing me back to health and bringing me back here with my family.”
Moss says the surgery will be followed by radiation and chemotherapy. He encouraged his followers, especially his fellow blacks, to get regular cancer screenings.
“By the grace of God, my liver started working worse,” he said, adding elsewhere in the stream, “I didn’t think I’d ever be in this position, as healthy as I thought I was.”
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Moss previously said he was taking an extended leave of absence due to his anchor duties at ESPN.
“For nearly a decade, Randy has been an invaluable member of the team, constantly elevating Countdown with his insight and passion. He has ESPN’s full support and we look forward to welcoming him back when he is ready,” the network said in a Dec. 6 statement.
“My goal is to get back on that TV with my team,” Moss added during his Instagram Live, saying he will launch a new line of “Let’s Moss Cancer” t-shirts along with the fundraiser, with a portion of the proceeds going to cancer research.
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Prior to Friday, Moss did not disclose details of his condition. Earlier this week, his son Thaddeus blasted fellow sportswriter Larry Fitzgerald Sr. for tweeting about his father’s diagnosis. Moss was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018 after playing 14 seasons in the NFL, including with the Vikings, Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots, according to the Associated Press. He holds numerous league records, including second-most touchdown catches with 156 during his career, and broke the record in 2007 when he made 23 touchdown receptions for the Patriots.
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