Terry Bradshaw health struggles explored as NFL legend sparks concern filling Fox broadcast absence 

A November 16, 2025, report from the Daily Mail stated that Terry Bradshaw did not take part in Fox’s NFL coverage after he was sent home from the studio that morning. That left Week 11’s Fox NFL Sunday in the hands of Curt Menefee, Howie Long, and Michael Strahan, who opened the show without the 77-year-old analyst. The timing added to a growing uneasiness among fans. Terry Bradshaw had been the subject of retirement chatter and health-related concern following several recent appearances that worried viewers.

When he did not show up for the broadcast, speculation intensified. Terry Bradshaw stepped in to clear things up. On Instagram, he wrote:

“Just in case you notice, won't be on Fox today. Just have a cold. All good.”

His colleagues made sure to address it on air. Menefee told viewers,

“Terry Bradshaw is not with us. He came to work sick this morning so decided to go home.”

Strahan, with a laugh, amended that explanation:

“He decided to go home? We sent him home.”

Bradshaw’s tenure at Fox stretched back more than 30 years. After playing his final NFL down in 1984, he began his broadcasting career at CBS before shifting to Fox a decade later, where he became a pillar of the network’s NFL identity. As Rolling Out noted, Bradshaw often chose to speak for himself when he missed broadcasts. His preference for posting updates directly to fans aligned with the transparency he had embraced while navigating public health issues over the years.

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After viewers noticed his breathing struggle, Terry Bradshaw revealed the cancer fight he had hidden:

Terry Bradshaw had spoken candidly about how deeply his life had shifted following two cancer diagnoses. He learned he had bladder cancer in November 2021, and not long after, doctors discovered a rare and aggressive skin cancer on his neck. According to a March 30, 2025, report from Express, Bradshaw kept both illnesses private at first.

It wasn’t until September 2022, when viewers spotted his laboured breathing on Fox NFL Sunday, that he chose to explain what he had been facing. The Pittsburgh Steelers legend later told AARP that the experience had changed him in unmistakable ways, saying:

"I'm a milder guy, I think, more involved with the kids. I think I'm a better husband. I am travelling more now. Maybe quietly, subconsciously, I'm thinking, 'I need to travel more in case I die'. Going to Scotland, going to Ireland, going to France. I've been to Canada, I'm going to Alaska. So maybe that's the impact right there."

Despite the gravity of his health battles, Bradshaw insisted he never gave in to fear. He explained,

"I'm kind of a fearless guy, to a fault. The two bouts of cancer... I never thought I was going to die. It never crossed my mind. I wasn't even nervous."

What did unsettle him, however, were the follow-up checks. He recalled the anxiety of waiting for results, adding:

"For the follow-ups, I was nervous, 'You're cancer-free, we'll see you in 90 days'. Blood work, PET scans, waiting three days later [for the results], then the phone rings and your wife goes, 'Good news, you're cancer-free,' and you're like, 'Phew'."

Bradshaw later explained on Today why he had kept the diagnosis to himself for so long.

"I didn't talk about it because I didn't want pity. I didn't talk about it because a lot of celebrities - unfortunately, I'm one of those - when they say this, I think the perception around America with all the millions of people is, 'Aw, look at him. Bless his heart. He has cancer. Well, my husband died of cancer! I didn't want that," he explained.

He also revisited the moment that pushed the issue into the public eye. Speaking about the broadcast where fans noticed his struggle, he said:

"I couldn't breathe. That's when everybody notices. 'What's wrong with him?' social media went, 'Get rid of him. He needs to be off the air. He's an embarrassment.' And I was like, 'Embarrassment? I got cancer'."

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Terry Bradshaw reflected on cancer recovery and mental health:

In an interview published by The Fort Worth Star-Telegram on June 6, 2024, Terry Bradshaw reflected on his life and health from the quiet expanse of his ranch. Asked about the illnesses he had battled in recent years, Terry Bradshaw gave a straightforward update.

“I am cancer free. This is my second or third year free, I got through with one treatment, so thank God I am blessed enough to be cancer free. I still get preventative treatments for bladder cancer, and for Merkel cell there is no preventative treatment.” he told the outlet.

The discussion broadened to mental-health care, an area Bradshaw championed long before the league publicly embraced it.

“I spent three years in counseling dealing with depression, and how to cope with it,” he said.

Terry Bradshaw noted that athletes often commanded audiences they were never trained to guide.

“I am a celebrity, and a football player, and we have an audience that really we are not qualified to get. If we tell our story they may be like, ‘OK, so it wasn’t hard or courageous at all.’”

He believed acceptance had grown.

“I think (people admitting they see a counselor) is fine now,” he said.

“It’s not the ‘50s and ‘60s tough guy stuff.”

The culture he grew up in allowed little room for vulnerability.

“When I was in high school, you never had a water break. Men don’t cry. All of that (expletives). It was pounded into your brain. And it does have an effect.”

Terry Bradshaw acknowledged that such pressures pushed him to play through injuries, including the elbow problem that truncated his career.