 Resilience is a word synonymous with former Giants quarterback Phil Sims. He's overcome a lot in his career, but when faced with skin cancer that was a different kind of battle. Sims has now teamed up with Hackensack, Meridian and the Giants to raise awareness and fight the battle. New York Giants quarterback Phil Sims took some big hits over his 14-year career. During that time he had to endure physical punishment, a series of injuries, and he was able to overcome every obstacle with resiliency and determination that came to define him as a player. I wanted to play football since I was a kid I wanted to be a professional football player. So when you're hit with getting hurt or they're not going to play you whatever it is I don't think well this is just going to work out. That just never ended in my mind. I just going to keep playing it's going to work out. But in 2010 Sims was faced with the most difficult challenge of his life. My daughter went to a dermatologist and she came back and she goes dad you know you should go and what made me really go is my daughter told me I had a spot on my cheek here which still is here today and I go man why won't this thing go away. The doctor walks in and she's about five feet from me she stops and she looks at me and she goes oh my god I'm looking at a cancer patient. Since his diagnosis Sims has had 20 surgical procedures and visits his dermatologist at least 15 times a year for additional treatments. It's kind of a battle and so I sometimes treated that way that this is just getting ready trying to defeat something or somebody or someone whatever and that's it's worked out well for me. Now Sims is teaming up with the NFL New York Giants and Hack and Sac Meridian Health on the crucial catch intercept cancer campaign to address the importance of early detection and risk reduction efforts for skin cancer. Well I think it's great the NFL the Giants are having this crucial catch promotion and trying to alert people about the damage that the sun can do to your skin and the problems that come with it. I think the message that the Giants are promoting it's getting to people. Protect yourself when you're outside as much as you can and don't be afraid to go to the doctors. They got great ways to correct your skin and to help it and prevent cancer, melanomas whatever just because they've come out with so many new techniques. Hack and Sac Meridian Health has come together as a new organization with the merger of Hack and Sac system and the Meridian system and the John Thuror Cancer Center is the lead cancer center in that system. Two major areas of science have come together to dramatically change the way we approach diseases such as skin cancer. One is genomics and the genetics of cancer and fundamentally understanding why a cell turns cancerous and then doing something about that and the second is using the human immune system and harnessing the power of the human immune system to treat cancers including skin cancer. Hack and Sac Meridian Health has created a series of game plans including a specific one to reduce the risk of skin cancer. You can download a copy at hackandsacmeridianhealth.org slash Giants. The Hack and Sac Meridian Health program and you know I've been involved with it for five years about taking care of your skin and being alert for skin cancer and all the science that can come to you. I'm honored to be part of it and I think I'm a good spokesman for it too because I'm living it. Obviously a lovely partnership there but we'd be remiss if we didn't mention Dave Gettleman obviously the Giants general manager who's battling lymphoma and going through treatment at Hack and Sac Meridian. We saw him make his first appearance at a preseason game Friday against the Jets. He's been back around the facility. Sean I know you spoke with him today. Yeah I had a chance to see him in the cafeteria and just great to see him. He looks great. He's got a great personality and he's always having fun so he found time to joke about the fact he doesn't have any hair. So I said look it's an improvement but he said it helps him in the morning. He saves about five minutes every day because he can wash his face in his air at the same time but I think it's great that he's showing the resilience and the battle that we all thought that he would and I think it's great that he's around these guys because I think they appreciate what he's going through as well. Yeah he is fighting this whole situation as if he was an undrafted rookie free agent and that's the beauty of it because he is really going after it. And this team is really coming together around him supporting him it's been a really motivational and wonderful thing to see him out and around this facility.