Josh Paschal's battle with melanoma featured on CBS Evening News
You remember where you were when Mark Stoops took the podium at Kentucky Football Media Day in 2018. He announced that Josh Paschal and John Schlarman were both sick, the former diagnosed with malignant melanoma and the latter battling a health issue later confirmed as cholangiocarcinoma.
You could hear a pin drop in the Kroger Field media room, a sobering day that made football feel irrelevant. Schlarman fought like hell, but would ultimately lose his two-year battle with cancer, passing away in November 2020. Paschal, fortunately, won his battle following multiple surgeries and immunotherapy.
Both inspirational stories, the legend of Schlarman carrying on forever while Paschal continues to spread awareness about his fight. The latter’s story was told on the national stage on Monday, the former Wildcat featured on CBS Evening News.
“You think that you’re invincible. This is something that never crossed my mind,” Paschal said of his battle. “… It was like learning to play football again (coming back). You had a big scar on your foot. It hit me hard mentally.”
Paschal’s story was accompanied by a recent study that found Black men face an increased risk of dying from melanoma — the deadliest form of skin cancer — than other racial groups.
“If you see anything that’s abnormal, get that checked out,” he said.
Selected No. 46 overall by the Detroit Lions in the 2022 NFL Draft, Paschal finished with 16 tackles (10 solo) and two sacks in his rookie season. Finding his groove as a pro, the former Wildcat says he’s ready to take the next step in year two.
“I know what I’m capable of, I knew that last year,” Paschal said last week at training camp. “But now it’s time to prove it. I know that I have to prove myself, I’m ready for that. I accept that challenge. … Right now, I am trying to play fast and violent.”
A standout career at Kentucky
Paschal, a former four-star recruit out of Maryland, finished his career ranked third in Kentucky football history with 35.5 tackles for loss. An immediate impact player in 2017, he was sidelined for most of 2018 after his melanoma diagnosis in the preseason. He went on to play 35 games from 2019-21, finishing his time in Lexington with 137 total tackles and 13.0 sacks.
In his final year as a Wildcat, Paschal went on to earn First Team All-SEC honors after finishing second in the league with 15.5 tackles for loss to go with 53 total tackles, 5.5 sacks, a team-high eight quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and a blocked kick.
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