Crosby endures battle vs. Ficken, wife’s battle vs. cancer

The NFL's annual "Crucial Catch" campaign means even more to Mason Crosby.

As it turns out, Mason Crosby’s battle against Sam Ficken was the least of his worries during training camp.

Just before the start of training camp, a tumor was discovered on the right lung of his wife, Molly.

“It was intense,” Crosby said after Wednesday’s practice.

Molly Crosby had been dealing with bouts of coughing and congestion throughout the summer. Some preliminary exams in Green Bay showed a spot on her lung. That led the Crosbys to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., for additional tests. A carcinoid endocrine tumor was found. The tumor isn’t as dangerous as other forms of cancer but was obviously a scary diagnosis, considering she’s 32-year-old nonsmoker who otherwise had no health problems.

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“We found out the day before we reported to camp,” Crosby said. “We were at Mayo the two or three days leading up to training camp, when they did all their scans and got the final prognosis. I flew back the day before we reported and Molly stayed out there a couple more days.”

While Molly stayed behind, Crosby flew back to Green Bay for urgent business. After a subpar 2018 season, Crosby had to beat out the talented Ficken. With battles at home and on the field, Crosby somehow managed to keep his focus and retained the job for a 13th season.

“I’ve trained a long time in compartmentalizing different situations,” Crosby said. “Whenever I was home, I was fully home. The organization was unbelievable through training camp, just giving me time to be with Molly and be with the family and help where I could throughout the day and evening. I just tried to be fully in on both things. I have felt a lot of freedom in this. I love doing what I’m doing but the importance of taking care of family and being there for Molly and the kids, when I look back on it, it was a special camp. I was able to really fully immerse in both things. It was nerve-wracking, too. Day in and day out, it was coming in, having to work and compete at a high level, and then going home and flowing back into a normal routine. Then, we’d sit down at night and you’d remember that surgery was coming and Molly had cancer. Those things were heavy.”

A full-body scan uncovered a blood clot in Molly’s abdomen, which delayed the surgery from the start of training camp to the end of training camp. Finally, on Aug. 30 – a day after the preseason finale against Kansas City – she had surgery. Part of her right lung was removed, but less than the surgeons expected. While she’ll have more scans later this month, the medical team is so optimistic that no chemotherapy or radiation is planned.

“We’re just so grateful that everything went as smoothly as possible,” Crosby said. “We almost sometimes forget that she had a very serious surgery. I just feel very grateful and thankful that we were able to get through that phase and that training camp, and then come into this new season with a renewed outlook.”

As the adage goes, it takes a village to raise a family. Crosby leaned on that village.

“It’s one of those where we’re going to have to reflect on it and be like, ‘Man, that was a wild season – a season of life,’” he said. “I’m thankful for my family, her family, friends, the community that surrounded us to help with our kids and take as much of our plate as possible. That was special. I’m thankful to be here in Green Bay with such amazing people that just show up and they’re there to help however they could.”

Every October since 2009, the NFL has held its annual “Crucial Catch” campaign to raise money for the American Cancer Society and raise awareness of the need to take preventative steps to combat the insidious disease. It was a campaign that had already hit home for Crosby, who lost a grandmother to breast cancer and has a sister-in-law in Year 3 of her battle against ovarian cancer. Now with his wife’s diagnosis, his personal crusade against cancer has grown more meaningful.

“That’s what it’s about is early detection,” he said. “It’s getting routine checkups. Don’t take it for granted. The numbers, with our technology, are amazing with prevention but treating it if you catch it early enough. That’s one of the big things is pushing that. Let’s try to get earlier detection so we can fight this thing. With Molly’s cancer, it’s always been really important to me but I’m going to continue to push the charge forward and make sure that everybody gets the care. We feel so fortunate with the care that we got. Hopefully, everybody gets the same care and the same prognosis that we got.”

On Sunday, the Packers will play at the Cowboys. Previous trips to AT&T Stadium have been filled with spectacular memories for Crosby. In 2010, the Packers won Super Bowl XLV in Arlington, Texas. The team’s 2016 playoff game against the Cowboys is the highlight of his professional career. With 1:33 to play, he booted a 56-yard field goal to give Green Bay a 31-28 lead. After Dallas tied the score, Aaron Rodgers motored the Packers back into scoring position. A toe-tapping catch by tight end Jared Cook that survived a replay review set up Crosby for a 51-yard field goal as time expired.

“Oh, man. The 2 minutes in that game were the most exciting 2 minutes I think I’ve ever had in a game like that,” Crosby said. “To be able to hit the 56, and then the fact that we even got to field-goal range and a manageable field goal, at that. I said it jokingly that it was probably the longest I’d ever been on the field. With the replay and all the stuff, I was just kind of hanging out and visualizing that kick over and over again. To be able to execute it twice in that situation was awesome.”

Not quite as awesome as getting a clean bill of health for Molly – and the potential of saving others by pushing others for early detection.

“She’s a fighter and she’s really tough,” Crosby said. “To be able to do that and continue to chase five kids around and manage that whole show is awesome.”