Walking through his wife, Lindsey’s, battle with brain cancer taught former NFL star David Pollack an important lesson about helping others going through hard times.
“When someone’s going through something like that, like we were this past year. We had so many people ask, ‘What can we do? What can we do?’ I’m just going to challenge everybody that’s listening. Stop asking. Do,” Pollack said on the “That Sounds Fun” podcast with Annie F. Downs.
Lindsey was diagnosed with Stage 4 glioblastoma on March 10, 2025. Thankfully, she is now cancer-free, but the help they received from their friends during the course of her year-long battle encouraged them.
“We had people come over and cut our grass, and we had people come fill our pantry, and we had people do our laundry and do our grocery shopping, and it made life so much easier,” he continued. “But I didn’t know what to tell them. I didn’t. I don’t know. I’m drowning, right? Like so, whatever that person’s going through, instead of saying what can I do, find something to do.”
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Friends simply coming over to spend time with them made the biggest difference.
“Like people coming over and just hanging out with us,” Pollack said. “When your schedule is every day the same — like we don’t leave the house for a solid couple months. It’s just the same thing every day. Like I can’t tell you how many times we had avocado toast at 2 a.m. because she couldn’t sleep, and then your days are messed up.”
“But just having people come over and visit was awesome and drop things off,” he emphasized. “And so you know that’s a big thing I think with people is just understand like you get to jump in and carry that cross with them and make it easier, but don’t ask them because they’re not going to know how to answer.”
The couple held onto their faith throughout Lindsey’s fight. When Pollack announced she was cancer-free in March 2026, he wrote on X, “We are thankful for Heavenly grace. All glory to God for being with us every step of the way.”
Pollack talks more about putting faith into action in his new book Every Day Counts: Start Where You Are. Use What You Have. Do What You Can, which released in April.
By reflecting on his own trials, Pollack offers “readers hope that no matter what situations you find yourself in, you can make the day count by starting right where you are, using what you have, and doing what you can just for today.”
Pollack’s journey through his wife’s battle with cancer taught him a lesson we all can learn from: when loved ones are drowning in a crisis, the most powerful way to support them is to stop asking what they need and take action.
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