On Race for the Cure day in May, former NFL linebacker Chris Spielman and wife Stefanie hosted a party at their Columbus, Ohio, home, celebrating not so much Stefanie's completion of the 5K run but that she was around to participate at all.

Last year Stefanie was diagnosed with breast cancer, had a mastectomy and underwent six months of chemotherapy. Chris, a four-time Pro Bowler, sat out the season to care for his wife and their kids, Madison, 5, and Noah, 3. (Due to risks associated with a previous vertebrae condition, he retired for good in August after trying a comeback with Cleveland.)

"It's impossible to go through an experience like Stefanie and I did and stay the same," he says. "You have two choices: You can fold the tent or fight. People either fall apart or get stronger and closer. Fortunately, our family bond grew."

Chris shifted his passion for football into researching breast cancer. He consulted doctors, books and the Internet, put Stefanie on a nutritional regimen and shaved his own head when chemotherapy made her hair fall out. Now she's cancer-free.

Stefanie says breast self-examination and early detection saved her life. The Spielmans spread the self-exam message and share their experience as spokespeople for the NFL's breast cancer awareness campaign. The NFL is a national sponsor of the Race for the Cure series run by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, which has raised more than $200 million to combat a disease that afflicts one in nine American women. In Columbus, Stefanie served on Komen's Pink Ribbon Panel, a group of local survivors who promote attendance and sponsorship of the race.

Komen founder Nancy Brinker calls the Spielmans example "sensitive and powerful" and lauds them for reaching a new audience: female fans of a male-dominated sport.

The couple has also created the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research (for info, visit www.jamesonline.com), benefiting the Columbus, Ohio James Cancer Hospital, where she was treated. Through a local grocery store promotion, community projects like a youth football tournament and donations from across the country, the fund has raised more than $360,000. The grocery store promotion will be renewed in October for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The Spielmans fund and their advocacy is a lifetime commitment. "Almost everyone I know or talk to has been affected by cancer -- particularly breast cancer somewhere down the line, be it themselves, a family member, a friend, a friend's mother," Chris says. Adds Stefanie, "We can't turn our backs because awareness and research could save my life, it could save my daughter's life, it could save my neighbor's life."

At their race-day party, dubbed Celebrate Life, the Spielmans hosted their neighbors, family and friends, and even Stefanie's doctors and nurses. "We wanted people to know how much we appreciate them," she says, "and want them to live each day to the fullest, as we are from now on."