Deion Sanders will undergo surgery to remove blood clots in one of his legs on Thursday, the Colorado head football coach’s second procedure in four weeks.
Sanders, who had blood clots removed from his left thigh and below his left knee just last month, shared the news Wednesday on his namesake son’s YouTube channel, USA Today reported. He will eventually require more surgeries, including to remove blood clots in his right thigh.
Thursday’s surgery means Sanders will miss the Pac-12 Conference’s annual football media day on Friday in Las Vegas, an absence for which he apologized in the YouTube video.
“Following the success of his last procedure and upon the advice of his doctors, Coach Prime is scheduled for a subsequent, routine follow-up procedure on July 20,” officials at Colorado shared in a statement Wednesday.
After a 1-11 season in 2022, Colorado hired Sanders in December to help the Buffaloes turn the program around. He nearly flipped his entire roster of scholarship players after being hired from Jackson State University, the Mississippi-based historically Black college.
After a significant offseason of news, Sanders anticipated to be a big draw for the media in Las Vegas on Friday.
“Unfortunately, his recovery will preclude him from attending Pac-12 media day, but he is fully expected to be back coaching in time for fall camp,” Colorado continued. “Everyone at CU wishes Coach a fast recovery, and we look forward to seeing him back on campus soon.”
Sanders has experienced leg and foot issues since 2021, when he missed three games as Jackson State’s coach. His big toe and the toe next to it, as well as both sides of his left calf, eventually had to be amputated due to blood clots in his left leg.
Although fully recovered, Sanders now has a limp, and he describes the incident as a near-death experience. The remaining two toes on that foot are hammertoes, which are unnaturally twisted and bother him.
The Colorado Buffaloes’ defensive coordinator Charles Kelly will represent the team on Friday. Jackson State transfers Shedeur Sanders, the quarterback son of Sanders, and Travis Hunter, a defensive back and special teams player recently selected to the preseason All-Pac-12 first team, will also participate. Together with other Pac-12 coaches and players, they will address the media in Sin City.
Their coach said on the video that this is how the devil operates.
“He thinks that if he stops my mobility, he can stop my ability,” Sanders maintained. “He can’t do that.”
Once among the NFL’s fastest players, Sanders noted that his ability is God-given, and while one could delay it, “you can’t deny that,” he said.
Regardless, the former NFL star is banking on being able to sprint on the field for his first game in charge of the Buffaloes on Saturday, Sept. 2, at Amon G. Carter Stadium at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas.
“I promise you when we go to TCU, I’m running out in front of our team,” Sanders said, USA Today reported. “I promise you that.”
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