University of Colorado football coach Deion Sanders announced on Monday that he had been diagnosed with bladder cancer — and that he had undergone a successful surgery to remove the tumor.
Sanders gave a press conference at the Touchdown Club in the Dal Ward Athletic Center on Monday to update the public on his health, and urged everyone to “get checked out.” Sanders appeared alongside Dr. Janet Kukreja, director of urological oncology at University of Colorado Cancer Center, to make the announcement and take questions.
Kukreja began by touting the success of the surgery, saying that Sanders had been declared “cancer free” after the surgery was completed. “The results from the surgery are that he is cured from the cancer.”
After a brief pause, Sanders quipped, “You can clap, it’s ok.”
The audience laughed and applauded.
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“It was dynamic. It was tough. It wasn’t a cakewalk. It wasn’t easy. That was a fight, but we made it,” Sanders said, adding, “You have no idea how good God has been to me.”
Questions have swirled about Sanders and his health since his son, Deion Sanders Jr., posted a video over the summer in which he could be heard talking about a “health issue” he was dealing with: “I ain’t all the way recovered.”
He opted not to address any health-related questions at Big 12 Media Days, further fueling speculation about his condition.
Sanders said on Monday that throughout the ordeal, he has also lost 25 pounds — but that he was ready to return to coaching for the 2025-2026 season.
He followed with a message to the crowd, calling on them to “get checked out.”
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“Please get yourself checked out, especially African American men, we don’t like going to the doctors, we don’t like nothing to do with the doctor, you know that — so I’m not just talking to the brothers, I’m talking to my caucasian brothers, my hispanic brothers, my Asian brothers, everybody and my sisters. And that’s all ya’ll. Get checked out, because it could have been a whole ‘nother gathering if I hadn’t.”
Watch the full press conference here:
