By now, NFL fans are probably used to seeing their favorite players adorned in pink cleats and wearing pink gloves or arm bands each fall for Breast Cancer Awareness Month as part of their partnership with the American Cancer Society. But the somewhat incongruous sight of 300-pound men crashing into each other in eye-catching fuchsia is just the most obvious component of the partnership. There are behind-the-scenes initiatives that are less glitzy but just as important to the cause of educating people and saving lives.

2013 marks the fifth year the NFL has partnered with the American Cancer Society for its “A Crucial Catch” campaign aimed at reminding women age 40 and older about the importance of getting a mammogram annually. To date, the program has raised $4.5 million and helped to fund the American Cancer Society’s CHANGE initiative, providing free or low-cost breast cancer screenings to women in 17 cities.

The partnership came about when the NFL approached the American Cancer Society after recognizing that many teams were already participating in awareness campaigns in their local communities.

“We said, ‘this is really resonating all around the country [and] our teams are embracing this locally,” says NFL VP of Community Affairs Anna Isaacson. “We went to the leader of cancer awareness, the American Cancer Society, and said, ‘We didn’t create pink, we’re not the first ones here, but you’re the leader, so tell us how the NFL can have an impact on breast cancer.”

Long-time league sponsors quickly jumped in to help. “We took a lot of time to reach out to various sponsors and really explain to them why we’re doing this,” says Isaacson. “We were clear that this wasn’t just about turning our fields pink; we were standing for something.”

Those sponsors have activated in a big way. Partners such as Reebok, Nike, adidas, Wilson, Under Armour, Cutters Gloves and McArthur Towel and Sports created pink merchandise. Gatorade made pink sideline towels for players as well as nearly two million pink ribbon bottles on sale at retail stores. Card companies Panini, Topps and Upper Deck created special pink trading cards with breast cancer facts and offered them up for free at retail stores at NFL stadiums.

This year, Diet Pepsi and actress/spokesperson Sofia Vergara donated special items such as a signed Vergara jersey and a tailgate experience to the NFL Auction, with all proceeds going to the American Cancer Society.

Ticketmaster contributed 10 cents for every NFL ticket sold on its site and the NFL Ticket Exchange during October to the cause, up to $40,000.

Still, the campaign is not without its detractors who question how much of the money goes directly to cancer research. An article published by Business Insider last week found that the NFL takes a 25% royalty from the wholesale price of pink merchandise and donates 90% of that to the American Cancer Society. Still, the league says its donated $1 million to the ACS in at least three years and league officials remain proud of the contributions of partners who have joined in the campaign.

“As far as partners go, they recognize the power of this campaign,” says NFL Marketing Manager Matthew Shapiro. “We have a lot of promotional weight and we’ve put that weight behind this cause…they see that it’s long-lasting and it’s a real commitment.”

The NFL has produced a number of “Crucial Catch” PSAs highlighting football fans and members of the NFL family whose lives have been impacted or saved by the program. The PSAs help to personalize the individual stories of survival and triumph.

There’s a Vikings fan named Ryan who wears pink from shoulder to toe (he keeps his purple Vikes hat on) every Sunday in honor of his mother, a breast cancer survivor, and organizes charitable events with the Vikings support. There’s 49ers studio host and former cheerleader Melissa Galvin, who was diagnosed with breast cancer just six months after her mother died of it, but survived thanks to early detection and treatment. There’s a Chicago woman named Elsa who wasn’t able to get medical care for breast cancer until she received treatment through one of the low-cost facilities funded by the CHANGE program.

Ask any big sports fan about their favorite player and you’re likely to hear words like “great” and “heroic” fired through the air like a Peyton Manning end zone strike. They’ll discuss the player’s “value” to the team and wax poetic about a “crucial” touchdown pass or first down catch. But those words in that context can seem hollow and trite in the face of the real life challenges that people face every day, far from the glory of an football field. Football itself can’t save a person’s life. But when it comes to breast cancer, it is playing a role in raising awareness…and that’s crucial.

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