Deion Sanders at Colorado football practice 16 hours after surgery
Colorado coach Deion Sanders returned to Buffaloes football practice Wednesday — just as Coach Prime said he would 24 hours earlier when he announced he would have surgery later in the day related to blood clot issues.
A video posted Wednesday by his eldest son, Deion Sanders, Jr., to his YouTube channel “Well Off Media” begins with a clip of Sanders having surgery. Then, after indicating a 16-hour time jump, the video shows Sanders walking briskly, if perhaps a little cautiously, into the Buffaloes’ indoor practice facility. He is offered a cart but he seems to refuse it.
Much of the rest of the eight-minute video shows clips from the team’s practice. Sanders stays moving, his walking seeming a little more labored as the workout continues. Sanders is not seen at what appears to be the end of practice, as another coach addresses the players.
A Colorado football spokesperson told The Times Wednesday afternoon that the team expects Sanders to coach the Buffaloes Saturday in their home game against No. 22 Iowa State.
No further information has been released about the surgery or Sanders’ condition.
During his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Sanders revealed that he would undergo surgery – called a suction thrombectomy, which involves the left popliteal (located behind the knee) and tibial arteries – later today. He said the operation could take several hours.
“Everything will be fine,” Sanders said. “Praying I’ll be back tomorrow because I’m not missing practice. I don’t plan on doing that.”
On Saturday, Sanders could be seen sitting or limping on the sidelines for the Buffaloes during Colorado’s 35-21 loss to Texas Christian. He didn’t wear a shoe on his left foot during the second half and later told reporters he was “in pain like crazy.”
“I think I’m getting more blood clots,” said Sanders, who had two toes amputated on his left foot in 2021 due to blood clot issues and had a blood clot removed from his right leg in 2023. “I’m not getting blood in my leg. That’s why my leg is throbbing.”
This would be Sanders’ 16th surgery in the last three years. He told reporters Tuesday that his problems with blood clots were hereditary.
This summer, Sanders revealed that his bladder was removed in May to treat a cancerous tumor.
Janet Kukreja, Sanders’ doctor at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, told reporters at the same news conference that a section of Sanders’ intestine was reconstructed to function as a bladder and that the procedure was a success. She added that Sanders would not need radiation or chemotherapy treatments.
Sanders was a superstar cornerback in the NFL, playing for five teams over 14 years and winning two Super Bowls (with the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys). The 1994 Defensive Player of the Year was an eight-time Pro Bowl selection and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
As coach at Jackson State from 2020-22, Sanders led the Tigers to two Southwestern Athletic Conference titles and was named SWAC Coach of the Year twice. He is in his third season at Colorado, where he has coached stars such as 2024 Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter (now with the Jacksonville Jaguars) and his son Shedeur Sanders (now with the Cleveland Browns).
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
