Colorado coach Deion Sanders vows to return after surgery: 'This is how the devil works'
Colorado football coach Deion Sanders will miss the Pac-12 Conference's annual football media day on Friday after announcing Wednesday that he will have another surgery to remove blood clots in one of his legs.
Sanders made the announcement with a video on YouTube.
“I apologize that I’m not going to be at the Pac-12 media day to have another surgery tomorrow,” Sanders said.
Sanders also underwent surgery last month to remove blood clots in his left thigh and below his left knee.
After his surgery in June, Sanders said that he would need more surgeries, including one to remove blood clots in his right thigh.
Colorado issued a statement Wednesday saying that Sanders was expected to be back for fall camp.
"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," the statement said. "Everyone at CU wishes Coach a fast recovery and we look forward to seeing him back on campus soon."
His video Wednesday said that he would also have surgery to straighten out two of the remaining toes on his left foot.
“I promise you when we go to TCU, I’m running out in front of our team,” Sanders said, predicting that he would be there for Colorado's first game on Sept. 2 against TCU. “I promise you that.”
Sanders was hired at Colorado in December and has rejuvenated excitement in the Buffaloes' football program after a successful stint at Jackson State.
"Let me tell you this: This is how the devil works," Sanders said on the video Wednesday. "He thinks that if he stops my mobility, he can 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."
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Ongoing health issues for Deion Sanders
USA TODAY Sports' Brent Schrotenboer detailed Sanders' health issues in a story, writing that the former NFL star "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 YouTube video on Wednesday.
Colorado defensive coordinator Charles Kelly will take Sanders' place at Pac-12 Media Day, with Shedeur Sanders, CU's quarterback and Deion's son, and star Travis Hunter representing the Buffaloes as well, according to CU's statement.
USA TODAY Sports' Brent Schrotenboer contributed to this story.
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Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Colorado football's Deion Sanders to have another blood clot surgery
