Relax your tight end? What a Super Bowl ad got right about prostate cancer screening

By Dr. Jamin Brahmbhatt, CNN

(CNN) — If you watched the Super Bowl, you probably saw commercials featuring NFL players telling America to “relax your tight end.”

The campaign from drugmaker Novartis — called “Relax, It’s a Blood Test” — featured tight ends Rob Gronkowski and George Kittle and Super Bowl-winning coach Bruce Arians, who’s a prostate cancer survivor.

Amid the other ads, it did something we struggle to do in medicine: Get men to pay attention to prostate cancer screening.

The real message was targeting men’s fear. A lot of men avoid prostate cancer screening because they assume it automatically means a rectal exam. Relax, all these tough football players said — for many men, screening starts with a simple blood test and a conversation.

What does ‘relax your tight end’ actually mean?

It means stop letting fear of the exam keep you from getting checked out for a treatable cancer.

The first step for many men is a PSA test, a blood test that measures prostate-specific antigen. A digital rectal exam, or DRE (when a doctor checks the prostate through the rectum), can sometimes add information, especially if someone has symptoms, a concerning PSA pattern, or other risk factors. But that’s usually not how screening starts.

What is the PSA test?

The commercial told you that screening starts with a simple blood test. That’s true — but here’s what that blood test actually measures and why one number doesn’t tell the whole story.

PSA stands for prostate-specific antigen, a protein your prostate makes. A lab result above 4 is typically flagged as abnormal, but it’s not a magic cutoff. A PSA below 4 can still be concerning if it’s rising quickly over time, and a result above 4 does not always mean cancer. That’s why doctors don’t just look at a snapshot — they look at trends over time and the context around it.

Benign conditions like an enlarged prostate, prostatitis (inflammation), recent ejaculation, vigorous exercise or even a long bike ride can temporarily push your PSA up. So before you panic at a number, know this: PSA is a starting point but not a diagnosis.

Here’s the flip side that gets less attention: Not all prostate cancers cause elevated PSA levels. Some aggressive cancers can show up with a number that looks “normal.” That’s why screening is never just about one lab value. It’s about the full clinical picture.

What to know before a blood test

Since so many things can temporarily skew your PSA, here’s the practical part people usually don’t hear: Try to avoid ejaculation for about 24 to 48 hours before the test. Don’t schedule your PSA the morning after a long bike ride or intense workout or sex. And if you have urinary burning, fever or pelvic discomfort or if you think you might have a urinary tract infection or prostatitis, talk to your doctor first. Testing in the middle of inflammation can lead to a number that creates stress without adding clarity.

What’s the confusion around PSA screening?

Part of why that commercial’s message lands is because men (and doctors) have gotten mixed signals for years.

The PSA test isn’t controversial because it’s a bad blood test; it’s controversial because of what can happen after the result. Over the past decade, screening guidelines have swung from recommending routine screening to advising against it to landing somewhere in between, and major organizations still don’t all say it the same way.

Even after more than a decade in practice, I still find the guidelines hard to keep straight. That’s why I focus less on which organization said what and more on the patient in front of me: their risk factors, their history and what they’d actually do with the information.

Did the commercial get you playing offense?

Let’s say the ad did its job. You relaxed, you made the appointment, and now you’re sitting in my office. Here’s what actually happens.

We talk first. I want to know your age, your family history, whether you’re African American (who have higher risk of prostate cancer) or if you carry certain genetic risks, because that changes when and how often we screen. For many average-risk patients, I’m recommending a first PSA around age 50. For higher-risk men, I start the conversation earlier. From there, how often we re-check and what we watch for depends on your starting number and your overall risk.

No surprises. No ambush exam. Just a conversation and a plan.

If I offer an exam, you can always say no — but at least you already said yes to the blood test, the conversation and actually showing up. And if we do the exam, it’s because it can add information beyond the PSA. It takes seconds. We’re just feeling for anything that doesn’t feel normal — a hard spot or irregular area.

Another thing worth knowing: Most prostate cancer screening happens in primary care, not a urologist’s office. Your doctor’s approach may look slightly different from mine depending on the guidelines they follow, and that’s OK. What matters is that you’re having the conversation with someone and that your providers are talking to each other.

Regardless of your age, if you notice new urinary symptoms, don’t brush them off. It’s usually not cancer, but it still deserves attention.

What happens if your PSA is elevated?

This is where I want people to take a breath, because this is the part most men stress over before they’ve even had the test.

Let’s say your PSA level comes back high. Here’s what doesn’t happen: I don’t call you and say, “You need a biopsy tomorrow.” Instead, we’ll probably repeat the test under better conditions: Maybe you had one of those false alarm situations we talked about, or the timing just wasn’t ideal. One number in isolation almost never triggers an immediate next step.

If the number is still concerning, we dig deeper. We now have tools like prostate MRI exams and urine biomarkers that didn’t exist a decade ago, tools that help us figure out who truly needs a biopsy and who can be monitored safely. The goal today is smarter detection, not more procedures.

The best takeaway from those right ends

Whether you’re an athlete or just an average Joe, screening matters. I see both ends of the spectrum in my clinic: Some patients come in, “relax their tight end” and get the PSA test done, and we make a plan — and others walk in carrying regret because they waited too long to even start the conversation.

My hope is you’re in the first group — relaxed because you took action early, not stressed because you’re wishing you had. Consider, without fear, bridging up PSA screening at your next doctor’s visit or schedule one if you’re overdue. It starts with a conversation and a simple blood test. That’s it.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.