July 28 (UPI) — University of Colorado football coach Deion Sanders on Monday said he beat cancer after undergoing the full removal of his bladder in May.
Sanders, entering his third season as the Buffaloes’ coach, described his health situation at the CU Touchdown Club adjacent to Folsom Field in Boulder.
Sanders said he will continue to coach this season, including the season opener at Folsom Field on Aug. 29 against Georgia Tech.
The 57-year-old former NFL and college star appeared with Dr. Janet Kukreja, director of Urologic Oncology at CU Cancer Center, and Lauren Askevold, the school’s assistant athletic trainer.
Kukreja said they removed the bladder and worked on “the insertion of a new bladder. And I am pleased to report that the results from the surgery are that he is cured from this cancer.”
Sanders said he was diagnosed with bladder cancer during a health checkup this spring.
“Get checked out,” Sanders said. “Because could have been a whole [other] gathering if I hadn’t.”
He made few public appearances in the past few months, except for being at the Big 12 media days last week in Las Vegas. Sanders deflected questions about his health there.
Sanders underwent surgery on May 9 after the NFL Draft from April 24-26.
For months, Sanders didn’t tell his sons, Shedeur and Shilo, who played for him last season, about his medical conditions because he wanted them to concentrate on joining the NFL.
“My sons, to this day, don’t know what transpired,” Sander said. “I just told them it was something with my foot. I wanted them to focus on making the team and not focused on Dad. So, they don’t really know.”
His two daughters, Deiondra and Shelomi, and 31-year-old son, Deion Jr., knew about his cancer since the diagnosis.
In July, Deion Jr., posted a video on Facebook in which his father said he was dealing with a health issue and “I ain’t all the way recovered.”
On Monday, he posted video of his father fishing after the surgery.
Sanders missed three games with another college, Jackson State, in 2021. He had two toes amputated in 2022, and battled blood clot issues, including surgery for one in his right leg in 2023.
“This was not an easy task, because it was a changing kind of a lifestyle,” Sanders said.
Since 2021, he has had 21 surgeries.
The Buffaloes were 9-4, including a loss to Brigham Young in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio.
Shedeur, a quarterback, was drafted by the Cleveland Browns. And Shilo, a safety, signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent.
At Colorado, he is known as “Coach Prime.”
That is a derivation of his nickname “Primetime” that dates to high school in Florida.
Sanders was a three-sport athlete in football, baseball and track at Florida State.
He played pro football and major league baseball in the same years.
In the NFL, he was a cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
In the majors, he played with the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants as an outfielder.
Bladder cancer typically begins in the cells lining the bladder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The average age at diagnosis is 73.
The American Cancer Society estimates there are about 84,870 new bladder cancer cases with 17,420 deaths. Men are five times more likely to get the cancer than women.
It is the fourth-most common cancer in men behind prostate, lung and colorectal.
Blood in the urine is the most common symptom, but other signs include increased urgency, pain and difficulty urinating.
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