Colorado football coach Deion Sanders addressed his health issues Monday during a news conference, acknowledging that he had kept the worst of it a secret, not even informing his sons or his team.
Sanders said he had his bladder removed in May to address a cancerous tumor. His scan looked normal from the vascular side, he said, but a visit to Janet Kukreja, Sanders’ doctor at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, revealed the tumor.
Sanders, 57, opted for a bladder removal and creation of a new bladder to remove the cancer from the organ. Kukreja, who accompanied Sanders at the news conference, considered the procedure successful, allowing Sanders to coach this season.
“I always knew I was going to coach again. It was never in my spirit, in my heart, that God wouldn’t allow me to coach again,” he said. “I just didn’t want to be running down to the hospital once a week when I have all of this on my plate.”
Kukreja said that a section of Sanders’ intestine was reconstructed to function as a bladder, and he will not need radiation or chemotherapy treatments.
“We’re lucky to have found it at this stage where I could say the word ‘cure,’” Kukreja said, “because I don’t use that word lightly as a cancer doctor.”
Sanders emphasized the difficulty of the battle — physically and mentally.
“It was tough. It wasn’t a cakewalk. It wasn’t easy,” he said. “That was a fight, but we made it. … The ‘C’ word, when we hear that word, there’s normally a life sentence attached to it. But not this time.”
He urged others not to delay getting medical attention, removing his sunglasses when he became emotional while speaking.
“Let’s stop being ashamed of it,” he said he decided at the time. “Let’s deal with it. Let’s deal with it head-on.
“This wasn’t easy. Everyone, get checked out. Because if it wasn’t for me getting tested for something else, they wouldn’t have stumbled upon this. …. This could have been a whole other gathering if I hadn’t. It’s been tough. I think I dropped about 25 pounds.”
He said urinating is, well, different now.
“I can’t pee like I used to pee,” he said. “I depend on Depends, if you know what I mean.”
Sanders smiled when he said folks shouldn’t be surprised if they see a portable toilet on the sidelines during games this fall.
Colorado team trainer Lauren Askevold also spoke at the news conference, saying that Sanders’ upbeat attitude made a difference.
“He never folded one time and never wavered,” Askevold said. “You couldn’t ask for a better patient because he wants to get up and get going right. So it’s been awesome. It’s been a hectic journey, but there’s a blessing in disguise with all this.”
Sanders had been absent for several months, and he lauded his coaching staff for picking up the slack and not asking too many questions. He has long had blood circulation issues in his legs that led to the amputation of two toes and several surgeries since 2021.
“Thank God the [coaches] are good enough that I don’t have to babysit,” Sanders said. “They didn’t know. They found out yesterday like the rest of the team. The team that didn’t disclose this to anyone.”
Sanders disclosed his diagnosis to only a few close friends. One who could relate to what Sanders was going through was Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss, who took a leave of absence as an ESPN analyst in December after having surgery for cancer.
“Randy Moss called me every other day to make sure I was straight,” Sanders said. “Randy Moss prayed for me — he and his wife. Told me what I needed to be doing.”
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