Colorado football coach Deion Sanders is having another surgery Thursday to remove blood clots in one of his legs and will miss his highly anticipated appearance Friday in Las Vegas at the Pac-12 Conference’s annual football media day.
Sanders announced the news Wednesday, as documented on his namesake son’s YouTube channel. This will be his second surgery in four weeks after he had blood clots removed in his left thigh and below his left knee in June. He indicated then that he would need more surgeries, including to remove blood clots in his right thigh.
On Wednesday, he said the surgery this week would remove those clots and that he also would have surgery to straighten out two of the remaining toes on his troubled left foot.
“I apologize that I’m not going to be at the Pac-12 media day to have another surgery tomorrow,” Sanders said on the video.
Once one of the fastest players in the NFL, Sanders still predicted he would be able run on the field for his first game as the Buffaloes’ coach Sept. 2 at TCU.
“I promise you when we go to TCU, I’m running out in front of our team,” Sanders said. “I promise you that.”
What’s going on with Deion Sanders’ foot and leg?
Sanders has been bothered by leg and foot problems since 2021, when he was coaching at Jackson State and had to miss three games because of it. He developed blood clots in his left leg and eventually had to have his big toe and the toe next to it amputated, as well as both sides of his left calf.
He recovered but described it as a near-death experience and still walks with a limp. Two of the remaining toes on that foot are abnormally bent hammertoes that cause him discomfort.
“They’re going to fix these two toes so they don’t cause any more pain in the shoes,” Colorado athletic trainer Lauren Askevold said in the same video Wednesday.
His scheduled appearance in Las Vegas Friday was expected to be a big draw for the news media after a big offseason of news for Sanders, who flipped nearly his entire roster of scholarship players after being hired as coach there in December.
Sanders’ son, Shedeur, the CU quarterback, and dual-threat star Travis Hunter are still expected to be there along with defensive coordinator Charles Kelly. They are expected to address the news media there along with other coaches and players in the Pac-12.
“Let me tell you this: This is how the devil works,” Sanders said on the video. “He thinks that if he stops my mobility, he can stop my stop my ability … He can’t do that. You can’t stop my mobility first and foremost and that don’t stop my ability. My ability is God-given. You cannot touch that. You could delay that, but you can’t deny that.”
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
