Deion Sanders sends strong message regarding life and death after cancer diagnosis

Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders has been in Texas all summer as he’s dealt with undisclosed health issues that have kept him away from the Colorado Buffaloes. On Monday, he and his medical team revealed that he had a cancerous tumor on his bladder, and he was staring down the barrel of death.

Good news for Buffs fans and the rest of the sports world, Coach Prime had his bladder removed, and is officially cured of the cancer, according to his medical team. Dr. Janet Kukreja said that she doesn’t throw around the word “cure” lightly, a good sign that Prime’s darkest days are behind him.

Sanders’ medical team said that they caught the cancer before it metastasized, which was a blessing. According to his team, only 10% of patients who have the cancer metastasize in their body live longer than five years.

Coach Prime's medical team said that only about 10% of people with Prime's condition live five years if the cancer mestastisized, so a blessing that they caught it early and were able to "cure" it, a word that Dr. Janet Kukreja doesn't use lightly

— Trent Finnegan (@trent_finnegan2) July 28, 2025

“I didn’t stare death in the face, I stared life in the face … I’m allowed to go through these trials and tribulations so that I can touch and reach and bless people with the words, with the energy, with that thing that God gave me. So I didn’t think about no death … I got too much life to be thinking about death,” Sanders said at a press conference on Monday. ”

The 57-year-old head coach posted a video to his Instagram on Sunday night that revealed he had to make a will in order to handle all his business, which is a sign that the journey was rough enough to make him consider doing so.

 

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Despite the complications, Coach Prime said that there was no doubt in his mind that he would coach again.

“I always knew I was going to coach again … it was never in my spirit, in my heart that God wouldn’t allow me to coach again,” Sanders said.

He also said that his decision to get the surgery was influenced by football, not just family, so he didn’t have to go to the hospital weekly in the season. Even with his life on the line, he still had his team at the front of his mind, and made the decision that was going to benefit them the most.

No coaches or players on the team knew about the severity of the health problems until he revealed was happening to them in a meeting on Sunday, his first meeting back with the team.

He ended it off with a message to Buffs fans that should get them fired up for the 2025 season.

“I got work to do, we got to win a darn championship and you talking about death,” Sanders said.

The Colorado Buffaloes kick off the season at home against Georgia Tech on Aug. 29, the first game of the Prime era without Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders repping the black and gold.

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