New England Patriots offensive lineman Nate Solder has revealed that he had testicular cancer before the 2014 season.
The 27-year-old discovered the problem ahead of his physical before his side's off-season workouts last year and was immediately taken for treatment.
Doctors removed his testicle and determined that the cancer had not spread further, which allowed Solder to feature in all of his side's 19 matches in their Super Bowl-winning campaign.
"I knew nothing about it. It was a complete surprise," Solder told ESPN.
"You Google something like that and it kind of scares you, so I was like, 'I'm not going to freak out about this.' Had I not had a routine physical, I probably wouldn't have checked it, saying, 'Oh, it's just in my head, I'm going to be fine.'
"I was completely healthy, I'm a professional athlete. It can happen to anybody. Make sure you get yourself checked out, especially young men, because that's who it's really targeted toward."
Solder has been with the Patriots since the 2011 season when he was selected in the first round of the Draft by the club.
Simon Sinclair
