As Deion Sanders adjusts to his “new normal” following a recent cancer battle, the Colorado Buffaloes head coach will continue to vocalize what his current reality looks like.
In Wednesday’s installment of the “Colorado Football Coaches Show” with Mark Johnson, the NFL Hall of Famer — who revealed over the summer he had his bladder removed after being diagnosed with cancer — spoke about tweaks made to his lifestyle, which includes having a portable bathroom on the sideline at games.
“You gotta make sure you empty the bladder,” Sanders said. “Sometimes, before the games, I use a catheter, so I can make sure my bladder’s empty so I don’t have to. Because when you feel it, you’ve got to use the bathroom or you start leaking. I’m sorry. But I’m getting explicit. But you start leaking. You gotta take care of it.”
Sanders, 58, opened up about his health scare in July at a University of Colorado news conference. At the time, it was revealed a new bladder had been created from Sanders’ intestines following the removal of the original.
Dr. Janet Kukreja, the director of urological oncology at the University of Colorado, said in July Sanders is “cured of cancer,” per ESPN.
Sanders said Wednesday that by being outspoken, he’s “trying to help somebody that’s going through the same.”
“It’s amazing that everywhere I go, someone comes up to me and tells me about a family member or friend that has the exact same thing, and ‘Thank you for being vocal about it,’ because they’re dealing with that right now. It’s been at least several people since I’ve come back,” he said.
Sanders is in his third season at Colorado after joining the program in 2023.
His son, 23-year-old Shedeur Sanders, played quarterback for the Buffaloes for two seasons and was selected by the Browns in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft after a shocking slide.
Sanders’ other son, 25-year-old safety Shilo Sanders, went undrafted and signed with the Buccaneers as a free agent. He was ejected from the Buccaneers’ preseason finale against the Bills for throwing a punch and was later released by the team.
Colorado opened the season with a 27-20 loss to Georgia Tech on Aug. 29.
Although Sanders faced criticism for his time management in the game, the Buffaloes bounced back last Saturday with a dominant 31-7 win over the University of Delaware.
The Buffaloes visit the University of Houston on Friday.