Deion Sanders had his bladder removed in May after doctors discovered an aggressive cancerous tumor, the Colorado football coach announced at a Monday news conference.
“He is cured from the cancer,” said Janet Kukreja, the director of urological oncology at CU’s Anschutz Medical Campus.
Sanders, 57, had indicated that he was going through a health challenge for the past several months, which he spent away from his team and the Boulder campus, but he had not specified the issue or ongoing effects before Monday.
Sanders underwent a routine CT scan amid spring practice because of previous blood clot issues that led to two toes being amputated in 2021. It showed a growth around his bladder, and he was referred to an oncologist who discovered the cancer, which was diagnosed on April 14.
“The initial thing you do is what we all do, we google it. That’s the wrong thing to do because they tell you, ‘You gonna die, dog.’” Sanders said. “Whoever’s doing Google, you need to change it up.”
Sanders had the surgery May 9, shortly after the NFL Draft in late April, when his son Shedeur was drafted in the fifth round by the Cleveland Browns. Sanders chose to remove the bladder rather than undergo weekly treatments for around three years for a cancer with a 50 percent recurrence rate.
Dr. Kukreja later added she doesn’t use the term “cured” lightly but that Sanders’ bladder cancer did not spread as it does in around 50 percent of cases. When it does spread, patients have a five-year survival rate of around 10 percent. Doctors also removed some lymph nodes as part of the bladder removal surgery.
Sanders had been at his ranch in Canton, Texas, outside Dallas for the past three months before returning Friday to Colorado before preseason camp opened Monday.
“I’m back, baby,” Sanders said, noting he had rejoined his staff but would not need to rely on them as he returned to coaching.
Sanders stopped for a lengthy pause 10 minutes into the news conference to compose his emotions.
“When we see that ‘C’ word, there’s usually a life sentence attached to it,” Sanders said. “Not this time, because God got me.”
Sanders added that the initial options doctors presented “scared me to death.”
Sanders’ surgery was done with a robotic surgeon, and his new prosthetic bladder was built from his own small intestine, Dr. Kukreja said. Sanders’ bladder surgery was his 14th surgery since 2021, when the life-threatening blood clots kept him out of coaching for several weeks at Jackson State.
“The decision I chose was based not just on family, it was based on football,” Sanders said. “I didn’t want to be going weekly to the hospital when I know I’ve got practices.”
Sanders said he lost 25 pounds at one point in his recovery, trimming down to 180 pounds. He said he’s down just 12 pounds now.
“I can’t pee like I used to pee. It’s totally different,” said Sanders, who had a catheter for around two weeks after surgery and was attached to a pair of bags that would collect his blood and urine.
Sanders said he can’t control his bladder and that he plans to have portable toilets installed on the sideline for games and at practices.
“I depend on Depends,” he said, adding that he has a friendly competition with his young grandson about who can have the heaviest diaper at the end of the night.
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Sanders also added that he was “built” for the lifestyle changes that will come after his surgery.
“I got eight toes, man,” he said.
Sanders consistently thanked God for his situation and pleaded for those listening to get checked for cancer.
“There’s a lot of people out there going through what I’m going through and dealing with what I’m dealing with,” Sanders said. “Let’s stop being ashamed of it and let’s deal with it and let’s deal with it head on.”
He added: “Get checked out. Because it could have been a whole ‘nother gathering if I didn’t.”
Sanders said he didn’t offer much detail on his health to sons Shedeur and Shilo, an undrafted free agent who signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as they entered their rookie NFL seasons.
Sanders explained his health situation in a meeting with players on Sunday and asked them to keep the details private until Sanders had a chance to tell his story on Monday.
Colorado athletic director Rick George, in attendance at Monday’s news conference, said he’d been in constant contact with Sanders, and a person briefed on the situation told The Athletic that Sanders had been in daily contact with his coaching staff. George was among the many visitors Sanders hosted at his ranch, which Deion Sanders Jr. has said his father didn’t leave for two months.
Sanders said former NFL receiver Randy Moss, who is currently battling bile duct cancer, called him every other day. Reigning Heisman Trophy winner and Sanders’ former player Travis Hunter also visited Sanders at his ranch for a fishing expedition. Sanders said former NFL players and friends Nate Newton, Michael Irvin, new Delaware State coach DeSean Jackson and Pacman Jones were among those who made visits to his ranch.
“You have no idea what that did for me,” Sanders said, adding that for many of the visits he was so down and frail he didn’t want to see anyone.
Sanders, entering his third year at Colorado, received a contract extension and raise to $10 million a year in March. The Buffaloes open their season against Georgia Tech on Aug. 29 at home.
“I’m so thankful to be back in Boulder. You have no idea,” Sanders said. “But I never doubted one bit that I would be.”
(Photo: Dustin Bradford / Getty Images for ONIT)
