Lately, Deion Sanders has been through a lot. He has battled cancer (and beat it), and just recently had another surgery to deal with recurring blood clots. That would be enough reason to slow down for most people, but Coach Prime isn’t most people.
Fresh out of surgery, he was back at Colorado Buffaloes practice, standing tall, smiling, and showing up for his players like he always does. In a recent interview, he said he is feeling great, not just physically but also about his team.
Deion Sanders Gets Real on His Health and Colorado
Sanders lives and breathes football and powers through pain for it. On Wednesday, the Colorado HC was back at practice, standing tall at the 35-yard line with a play sheet clipped to his waist, watching his Buffaloes grind through drills on the far side of the field.
Just 24 hours earlier, he was in an operating room undergoing an aspiration thrombectomy. The procedure was to clear blood clots from the arteries behind his left knee and lower leg.
Sanders has now endured 16 surgeries over the past few years. He has battled blood clots before, including a 2021 scare at Jackson State that led to the amputation of two toes.
In 2023, he missed Pac-12 media day after having a clot removed from his right leg and undergoing another procedure to straighten toes on his left foot.
Last Saturday, during Colorado’s 35–21 loss to TCU, Sanders was visibly hurting. He limped along the sideline, alternating between sitting and pacing, and removed his left shoe in the second half.
But pain doesn’t keep Coach Prime down. On Tuesday night, Well Off Media posted a video showing Sanders discussing the surgery with his medical team. He was calm, focused, and surrounded by love.
He took calls from sons Shilo and Shedeur Sanders, and received a kiss on the head from longtime friend and NFL veteran Adam “Pacman” Jones before heading into the operating room. And then, just like that, he was back. Not just physically present, but mentally locked in.
On Oct. 9, Sanders appeared on Coach Prime’s Playbook with Romi Bean. Asked how he felt, he flashed a quick smile and said, “Good, good.” But he didn’t linger on himself. “I don’t like to, I don’t want to,” he said. “Can we talk about the team first?”
He spoke candidly about the Buffaloes, saying the team has way more potential than their current record shows. They just haven’t quite tapped into it yet.
“I see these guys not giving up, not quitting. They get frustrated because you have it right in your hands, and you allow it to leave your grasp. We are so much better than our record is displaying, and that is the frustrating part, from a coach, from some of the older players, and even from some of the younger players that got that dawg in them. It is so frustrating because we are right there, and we relinquish it constantly,” Sanders said.
At 58, Sanders continues to defy expectations. His body may be battered, but his spirit is unshakable. With Colorado set to host No. 22 Iowa State this Saturday, Coach Prime looks ready to lead, not just with strategy, but with the grit that turns pain into purpose.
