Arthur Blank Announces He Has Been Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank announced Tuesday he was diagnosed with a treatable form of prostate cancer.  

The 73-year-old Home Depot co-founder released an official statement on the matter through the Falcons organization:

"

Falcons owner and chairman Arthur Blank has issued the following statement: https://t.co/ZKIRa4nhI0 pic.twitter.com/VOx4O1Bcnx

— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) February 9, 2016"

Blank has owned the Falcons since 2002, and he has seen them make six playoff appearances during his 14 years at the helm.

The Sunnyside, New York, native seems fully committed to returning the Falcons to prominence despite his diagnosis.

Construction of their new playing facility, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, is set to be completed in time for the 2017 season, which will give the Falcons one of the premier venues in the NFL.

In addition to that, Blank expressed a desire to spend as much as possible on personnel for the 2016 season in order to make a run at the playoffs, per ESPN.com's Vaughn McClure. 

"We will spend every dollar that I'm committed to spending," the owner said. "We are very limited by cap space. We'll probably end up with—prior to (March 9) which is the start of free agency—between $20 million to $24 million in cap room. We will spend whatever we can to ensure a successful team."

Atlanta seemed well on its way to making the playoffs for the first time since 2012 this past season after starting 6-1 but disappointingly finished 8-8.

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