Why Ken Griffey Jr. and His Dad, Ken Griffey Sr., Want You—Yes, You—to Get Tested for Prostate Cancer

Ken Griffey Jr. seemed invincible to an entire generation. The effortlessly handsome, untouchably suave baseball player glided across outfields, slugged 630 home runs with impossible ease, and made the backwards hat the coolest thing anybody could wear. But in 2006, when he was still an active player for the Cincinnati Reds, he was served a major dose of reality. That year, his father, Ken Griffey Sr.—who played 19 years of Major League Baseball himself—was diagnosed with prostate cancer. It was a wake-up call for Junior, who at that point was unaware of his family’s history with the disease. Prostate cancer killed four of Griffey Sr.’s uncles, and when Junior got the call that his dad had it, it made him realize that even the most athletically gifted people on earth aren’t immune to cancer.

“He didn’t really say anything until after he was diagnosed, and then we went through the family history,” Junior said. “When he told me, I couldn’t really function for a couple of days.”

Griffey Sr., well aware of the tragedy that prostate cancer inflicted on his uncles, credits early detection as one of the main reasons why he was able to survive. Through a series of biopsies and surgeries, he made a full recovery, and was able to avoid chemotherapy. Today, the Griffeys are working with Depend to spread the word about prostate cancer testing. September is Prostate Cancer Awareness month, and Griffey Sr. is a testament to how that awareness can save a life.

“I was diagnosed at 55, and I was able to go through all the systems, the operations, all that,” Senior says. “I wasn’t afraid to talk about what I was going through, in terms of the early screening, the biopsies, and all that stuff. Even the situation where men do not talk about prostate cancer because of their sexuality, it didn’t make any difference to me. I had grandkids I wanted to be around!”