CHAPEL HILL – October is Cancer Awareness Month, in which Americans don the color pink in a variety of ways to promote awareness, acknowledge loved ones affected by the disease, or simply support those dealing with it.

North Carolina senior Kaimon Rucker plays the rough and brawny sport of football, where players used to wear pink quite regularly in the tenth calendar month of the year. But the NFL banned it in recent years, and it has also mostly disappeared from the college ranks.

Rucker, however, still spent most of this past month dedicating the middle finger on each hand as a symbol of something that means a great deal to him.

“One of the biggest things for me is a lot of women on my mother’s side was involved in breast cancer and suffered from breast cancer,” Rucker said Tuesday, on the last day of October. “So, it was just like for me I wanted to dedicate every October to go around, or at least try to, get ironically the middle finger painted.

“I’m not going to flick off nobody around here (laughing); my mom would not be too happy with me doing that. So, that’s kind of my little funny way of saying forget breast cancer and anything that comes with it. And that goes for not just breast cancer, but any other type of cancer.’

Nobody can see his pink middle fingers during games because Rucker wears gloves. So, no razzing from opposing players.

His teammates, however, have seen it. Some were even a bit surprised at first.

‘“Bro, you have your nails pink,’” Rucker said one fellow Tar Heel asked him a couple of weeks ago. “I say, ‘yes, but it’s for a reason.’”

Even if Rucker didn’t wear gloves and each finger nail was bright pink, he likely wouldn’t get much grief from other players. He’s racked up six sacks on the season, 11 TFLs, and has 29 hurries.

Rucker was honored nationally after UNC’s season-opening win over South Carolina, and currently has a sparkling 81.0 PFF grade on the season.

But the pink polish isn’t about football. Rucker’s sport simply gives him a platform to witness for things that matter to him, which is a reason he paints his nails.

Now, with November here, pink is no longer the color of the month, but it may take some time before Rucker returns his nails to their normal state.

He didn’t get the nails painted on October 1, instead it’s been about two-and-a-half weeks, he says. But painted nails do have a shelf life.

“I need to get it taken off because it’s actually starting to chip on all of my fingers,” Rucker said, smiling. “So, I’m going to hit up a nail salon at some point and hopefully they can take it off.”

Once that’s done, Rucker’s thoughts and prayers won’t steer away from those in his family affected by cancer. Pink fingers can come and go, it’s what’s internal that remains, he says.

“This is for my home support,” Rucker said. “I’m going to get it taken off, but the love, the support, the awareness never goes away.”