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Denver Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton got the shock of his life after taking a random drug test. No, he did not fail the test. It was much worse than that. He found out he had cancer.
Most of his Broncos teammates didn’t know about it until a Monday morning team meeting. It was then that they found out the Singleton had surgery on Friday to have a cancerous tumor removed from one of his testicles.
How could they have known? Thursday night, after Singleton received the cancer diagnosis, he went out and made nine tackles in the Broncos’ 10-7 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. The next day, he had the surgery.
Alex Singleton shared his cancer diagnosis in a heartfelt message on social media
“I wrestled with sharing such personal information publicly,” he wrote on Monday. “But the fact is, if it helps one person decide to pay closer attention to their body, then it is well worth it. Early detection and regular screenings save lives and can save loved ones from a lot of grief.”
I shared this news with our team this morning.
I’m grateful for everyone’s support and can’t wait to get back on the field soon!
Go Broncos! pic.twitter.com/6qge5tPirn
— Alex Singleton (@alexsingleton49) November 10, 2025
The NFL-mandated random drug test revealed elevated levels of the hormone Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) in his system. Since he wasn’t taking hCG, he visited a urologist to find out what was happening. After several tests, including CT and ultrasound scans, Singleton found out he had testicular cancer.
“Thankfully, we believe the cancer was caught early with a great prognosis for me and my family,” Singleton wrote on social media. “While we are still awaiting some additional test results, I fully expect to return to the field in the coming weeks.”
While he will miss this Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs, ESPN reports that he said, “optimistically, it’s not going to be four, five, six weeks, thankfully.”