Cleared after cancer diagnosis, Broncos’ Alex Singleton has a new lease on football

Kim Singleton swears she knew something was wrong with her son before anybody truly knew what was wrong with Alex Singleton She saw something It was the way he buttoned his pants on that first Sunday of November she thinks Or the way he spoke to her after the Broncos outlasted the Texans in Houston that day She d watched her son play football since Pop Warner the same happy-go-lucky kid through years of life She couldn t place it But she knew Mother s intuition Kim mentioned Perhaps she sensed fear that Sunday a rare emotion for her son Worry at least Singleton had failed a league-mandated drug test earlier that week which detected elevated levels of the hormone hCG in his bloodstream He didn t know why He didn t like not knowing why But one symptom of elevated hCG in men Singleton came to learn was testicular cancer On the bench after one defensive drive against the Texans Nov in the middle of the meeting Singleton sat next to linebacker Justin Strnad and blurted it all out Dude Singleton stated Strnad You re not gonna believe what happened It was shocking friend Strnad reflected It only spiraled Two doctors appointments and an ultrasound on Monday Nov certified Singleton had a tumor A funny thing happened on this day that made little sense Singleton came to immediate terms with the fact that a turbulent journey might be over It s a relief now that I know what it is Singleton advised friend Evan Yabu over the phone that Monday It s a relief Yabu remembered responding What are you talking about You got cancer It was a relief because an unknown had become a known for a man who was inevitably able to control his own destiny When Singleton was four all he requested to do in life was watch his cousin play football When he was in eighth grade all he wished to do was play varsity football When he was playing college football at Montana State all he needed to do was play pro football He d made it in Denver becoming the head of one of the best defenses in the NFL after years of failed tryouts and a stint in Canada Related Articles Broncos CB Pat Surtain II is officially back from a partially torn pectoral Five Broncos who could be next in line for an extension from John Franklin-Myers to Justin Strnad Broncos Vance Joseph calls head coaching talk flattering but focus elsewhere Broncos analysis How major is being good up front million in extensions says plenty Fully cleared to practice after cancer finding Broncos Alex Singleton says return will be special Alex would never walk away if it was up to him Kim announced Ever So he didn t Three weeks later Singleton sat with The Denver Post in the lobby of the Broncos facility in Dove Valley entirely grateful to still be there He will play again on Sunday against the Commanders in Maryland healthy and cleared after surgery He s missed all of one competition The only massive changes in his life have been a horde of social-media messages an appearance on Good Morning America and his own proclamations to advocate for men s strength and early detection Singleton though will play the rest of this season with a new lease on life Because he d already accepted his own football mortality It s house money Singleton grinned On Nov doctors explained Singleton that the cancer was perfectly curable So he explained them and those in his circle that knew the identification that he would play in that Thursday s tournament against the Las Vegas Raiders Singleton didn t know then if the cancer had spread If it was elsewhere in his body If it was elsewhere in his brain If he d have to undergo chemotherapy He was perfectly aware that Nov might be the last football battle he would ever play If it was the last ride Singleton was going out on his own terms You reliably see the things of You never know the last day you hung out with your friends as a kid when the streetlights went on and you went home for the last time ' Singleton reported The Denver Post At least if it was going to be last Thursday I knew when the streetlights were coming on Toward the end of their conversation Nov after Singleton s voice had shaken with the word cancer and settled back down his brother Matt questioned if he should still plan to come to Broncos-Raiders that Thursday Oh yeah Singleton replied perking up I m gonna play I was like OK ' Matt recounted bewilderment in his tone Ultimately this hardly surprised his brother Or his parents Or anyone who really knew Singleton There is no real secret to his story He grew up a boy in Thousand Oaks California who only ever demanded to play football There was a dream and never really an alternative He s never let go of that He s a very smart person Matt cracked But he understood football a lot better than he understood school Singleton was a -foot- -pound linebacker in his junior season of high school ball and suddenly shot up to -foot- entering his senior year High school coach Mike Leibin would talk up Singleton to any collegiate coach who came through this office with the caveat they couldn t watch his junior-year film Because they d see a -foot- kid That kid ended up with one collegiate offer out of Thousand Oaks and so Singleton went off to FCS activity Montana State He went undrafted after a standout four-year career and so he went off to play in the Canadian Football League In between came a year living at his parents home in Thousand Oaks an endless cycle of working out and calls to try out and hopeful flights across the country and forlorn flights back home Mother Kim would putter up to the airport to pick him up after largest part every failed tryout There were of them she estimated He was cut by the Seahawks twice in the span of five months It was awful Kim disclosed This mattered little Singleton still smiles remembering what he calls the most of fun time in his life the spring of when he d set up a workout circuit in his parents garage and invite his buddies to work out Singleton was grinding to win a linebacker job with the Philadelphia Eagles then and would enforce what he called -calorie sprint days on stationary bikes It was simple enough spin the pedals as quick as achievable until the rider burned calories Singleton would scribble his friends times down on a whiteboard so they could set personal bests They all usually ended up staggering out to his front yard to empty their stomachs Pure misery friend Yabu recalled Singleton would call it something different I feel like I don t work a day in my life Singleton grinned All those little cliche sayings I do feel that and I believe that I tell people all the time I play football so I can train in the offseason He won a starting linebacker job in Philadelphia that same fall and has become the primary communicator in this Broncos defense since arriving in Denver four years ago He has enjoyed every bit of it through losing seasons and winning It would be crazy not to Singleton mentioned The linebacker gained another dosage of appreciation for his situation too in the week of his determination Two days after an ultrasound identified the tumor the Broncos therapeutic staff scheduled a CT scan for Singleton Those results he reflected revealed that the tumor was isolated and hadn t spread If he hadn t been able to get that scan until after surgery the normal process of events for greater part he would ve had to undergo a more invasive surgery that would ve knocked him out through at least the end of the regular season Singleton explained So why deep down did he want to play in that Thursday night meeting against Las Vegas Because he could Kim disclosed Singleton s brother Matt flew down with family ahead of that Nov matchup with Las Vegas helping take care of Singleton s nine-month old daughter Tallyn amid a week of practice and conversations with doctors And Matt suggested to his brother that he had to whip out a celebration if he came up with a big tackle against Las Vegas He did not provide any specifics Midway through the first quarter that Thursday night Singleton stuffed Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty for no gain The linebacker pounded his chest a inadequate times directly on the C on his jersey Then Singleton turned and stared directly at Matt and his family on the sidelines put his hand underneath his nether regions and hopped back and forth His family broke down guffawing The masses only realized the significance of Singleton s testicle-themed celebration in the coming days after he revealed his evaluation Everyone does it Singleton smiled Big nuts whatever It s funny And so I was like Oh if I get a big hit or whatever a turnover whatever this week I m going to do it Singleton s sheer positivity in delivering life-altering news definitely grinning when he explained Vance Joseph the Broncos defensive coordinator recalled has floored numerous One of Singleton s favorite hoodies is a Barstool Sports product that reads Positive Vibes Only He pulls his hair back in a manbun and wears a grin around the facility in Dove Valley and has generally carried the demeanor of a lottery winner rather than a cancer sufferer the last sparse weeks He s just relentlessly optimistic explained Erin Baker a movement specialist who s worked with Singleton since the spring of This Singleton attests comes from older sister Ashley who was born with Down syndrome and has competed as a Special Olympics athlete for much of her life Singleton has been an outspoken advocate for the Special Olympics and for athletes with mental disabilities as his sister has been one of the bulk outspoken supporters of his career Ashley keeps count of her brother s tackles And Kim believes her son counts his blessings in life because of his sister If she can wake up every day and smile and just enjoy the day Singleton mentioned Like I should be able to do the same Kim and Ashley watched from their television in Thousand Oaks that Thursday night because Kim was in no mental state to go in person to watch her son play a football competition with an progressing tumor And Singleton s family decided to keep news of his evaluation from his sister until he d undergone surgery Everyone Ashley knew who had cancer Kim reflected was dead They watched Singleton rack up nine tackles in a win over Las Vegas Two days later after doctors successfully removed the tumor Singleton and his family sat down and explained Ashley what happened She didn t understand at first Kim remembered Then it clicked Ashley was devastated And chastised her family for not telling her earlier Eventually though as she understood her brother would be okay Ashley calmed It s like Okay alright you re fine good ' Kim recalled Ashley saying When are you going to get more tackles ' On Wednesday an excited Ashley Singleton pulled up the Broncos injury description from practice and read it aloud to her mother Alex Singleton ILB Illness Full participant Kim knew of program that her son was healthy because he d sent her a video of him sprinting inside the Broncos facility a week earlier I m cleared Singleton texted his mom The linebacker was already one of the Broncos elder statesmen with a lifetime of stories he isn t shy to share He is at the center of a defense made up of men that have rarely had it easy in this battle Defensive end John Franklin-Myers didn t win a challenge of high school football and played college ball at the FCS level Defensive tackle D J Jones came up from famed Last Chance U junior college East Mississippi Group College Nickelback Ja Quan McMillian went undrafted out of East Carolina University Chips stack on the shoulders of this defense and Singleton is its captain His example is what carries us Joseph revealed and leads us The last inadequate weeks have only earned Singleton more respect in a locker room that s already seen him pull off the improbable In he hurt his knee early against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers played the rest of the encounter and racked up tackles It was only after the competition when he d learned he d torn his ACL After season-ending surgery Singleton has returned in to play particular of the best football of his career with tackles in games Put another tally to his name just how much of a fighter he is second-year linebacker Levelle Bailey informed The Post Not only as a player but as a person Defensive tackle Malcolm Roach declared he stated Singleton he was like Jon Snow the Encounter of Thrones character who came back to life after being stabbed to death Like he played with an ACL and then he played with cancer Roach mentioned this week Like it s crazy I reported him they gon write a book on it and it s just gonna be a bestseller Pathology from his surgery came back clean and all testing has been positive as Singleton s prepared to return against the Commanders this weekend In the meantime he s embracing advocacy for men s strength in a uniquely Singleton way Like it s funny to make jokes about like dick and balls if you can write that Singleton explained The Post Grinning But it is It s funny And so it s easy to stand somewhere and talk about it On Friday morning he caught the son of Beau Lowery the Broncos vice president of athlete robustness in the weight room Don t be afraid to go to the physician Singleton recounted him Somewhat joking Mostly not Singleton is perfectly aware that if he hadn t gone to a medical expert after failing that drug test his life could look utterly different He specifically chose to put out a residents announcement to reveal his evaluation I think a lot of people look at our sport as a masculine sport and so to be able to be a guy that s like Hey I went to the physician and uncovered this out and got it done you can too it s not the worst thing in the world I think makes a lot of people feel okay to do that Singleton explained And from what my Instagram and Twitter messages have communicated me it s worked for a lot of people He has emerged from a very real scare feeling lucky as ever a man who s only ever felt lucky to walk down a path that hasn t been easy Over the years Singleton s old high school coach Leiben made it out to Denver to watch a limited games from the sideline Singleton has come over pregame grabbed Leiben and delivered a flurry of self-motivational chatter Leiben won t repeat the exact words he chuckled But the sentiment is the same That he s indestructible Leiben noted Want more Broncos news Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis