• 10/15/2004
  • Decatur, Alabama
  • Erin Shawn & Decatur Daily Editorial
  • UAB Health System & Decatur Daily

When he was getting standing ovations for his 60-yard passes as one of Auburn University’s greatest players ever and as Alabama’s first Heisman Trophy winner (1971), Pat Sullivan seemed invincible. Now, 32 years later, after an outstanding career that brought him to UAB as the Blazers’ offensive coordinator five years ago, his invincibility is being challenged by cancer. He was diagnosed in September 2003 with squamous cell carcinoma, a form of cancer that begins in the squamous cells that line the structures found in the head and neck.

He attributes his cancer diagnosis to 25 years of smokeless tobacco use. “Ironically, I gave up this habit a month before I was diagnosed last summer,” he says. He didn’t think much of it when he experienced an earache while spending the Fourth of July holiday with his family at Lake Martin. “I came back, noticed a little swelling in my glands, and went to see Mike Jones, UAB’s head athletics trainer. I was treated for swimmer’s ear with antibiotics. After about 10 days I told Mike the swelling had not gone down. At his insistence, I went to see Dr. (William) Carroll, a head and neck surgeon in the UAB Division of Otolaryngology. The primary tumor was detected in the base of the tongue.”

While Coach Sullivan has never been challenged in his football career as he is now, he believes the battles he faced on the gridiron have in some way helped him tackle his latest obstacle. “One of the reasons I have gotten through this as well as I am is because I have had to face adversity. That has helped me develop a mental toughness and discipline. Playing sports I also learned the importance of surrounding myself with a supportive team”

Extraordinary support from family, friends, former players and fellow coaches has been overwhelming. “I can’t say enough how much I appreciate that. It started with Coach Brown and the players,” Coach Sullivan says. “The day after we told the (UAB) players, one of them, William Paulk, pulled the team together to say a prayer for me. This was special because I truly felt at ease and at peace about everything after this.”

From the beginning, Coach Sullivan has embraced the attitude that he would win this battle. Since being diagnosed in early September and starting treatments, he has maintained his normal routine at UAB. In fact, he continued to coach every game and missed only a few practices during the season.

The experience also has prompted Coach Sullivan to take an active stance against using tobacco products. “You always think things like this happen to the other person. Well, I am the other person.” He adds, “I regret I influenced young people in the wrong way. Now, I want to influence them in a positive way by not using smokeless tobacco. I learned that my risk of developing cancer from using smokeless tobacco was not just doubled or tripled; it may have been increased as much as 15 fold. We need to stay away from it. Smokeless tobacco, or any kind of tobacco use, certainly isn’t worth the serious trouble it can cause.”

He is optimistic about his health. “I plan to celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary 16 years from now,” he says. Pat Sullivan has been a competitor his entire life. There’s no reason to doubt his plans this time. Doctors say he has up to a 70 percent chance of full recovery. But he also promised to use his status within the state to get people’s attention about the dangers of smokeless tobacco. Doing that, he said, could cause something good to come from his illness that involves the base of his tongue and lymph nodes.
Unfortunately, it takes hearing from our celebrities to get our full attention sometimes. If Pat Sullivan can get cancer from using smokeless tobacco, perhaps some other users will also see their vulnerability and quit.

Oral cancer is sometimes difficult to detect because early symptoms rarely cause pain. The most common symptoms include:
• A sore that does not heal.
• A lump or white patch.
• A prolonged sore throat.
• Difficulty in chewing.
• Restricted movement of the tongue or jaws.
• A feeling of something in the throat.
For chewers and dippers, there is no better time than now to stop. Doctors are not saying Coach Sullivan’s long-term use of smokeless tobacco caused his cancer, but medical researchers strongly link the two.