BOULDER — The way Deion Sanders sees it, he’s already 1-0 in 2025. 

After being away from the Colorado campus all summer with an unspecified health issue, Sanders revealed Monday he underwent surgery to remove both a cancerous tumor and his bladder. On the eve of fall camp in Boulder, the Colorado football coach declared he now is cancer-free ahead of the season opener against Georgia Tech on Aug. 29.

“I always knew I was gonna coach again,” Sanders said with his medical team alongside him. “It was never in my spirit, in my heart, that God wouldn’t allow me to coach again.”

Accompanied by Dr. Janet Kukreja, the director of urological oncology with UCHealth, and assistant athletic trainer Lauren Askevold, who has worked with Sanders since his time at Jackson State, Coach Prime gave a long-awaited health update inside the Touchdown Club at Folsom Field.

Sanders routinely undergoes a vascular CT scan due to the blood clots that in recent years have resulted in roughly a dozen surgeries and two lost toes. It was that CT scan, undertaken in April, that detected a malignant tumor on Sanders’ bladder, he said.

Sanders said he didn’t tell his sons, Shedeur and Shilo, allowing them to prepare for the NFL draft and now try to make their respective NFL rosters without worrying about Dad. He didn’t tell the Colorado players or coaches.

Only a small group of people was in the know, including Sanders’ inner circle, athletics director Rick George and his other three kids, notably Deion Sanders Jr., who was with him every step of the way. 

Upon receiving the prognosis, Sanders was presented with two options. One, he could have his entire bladder removed with a new one created out of his small intestine. Two, he could spend the next three years making weekly trips to Kukreja’s office for treatment within his bladder — with still a 50% of the cancer coming back. He chose door No. 1, mostly because of his coaching duties with the Buffaloes, he said.

“I didn’t want to be running down to the hospital once a week when I’ve got all this on my plate,” Sanders said.

The surgery, which took place in early May, was determined to be a success.

“We removed the tumor. It was very high-grade, invading through the bladder wall, not the muscle layer, something we call ‘very high-risk, non-muscle, invasive bladder cancer,’” Kukreja said.

“(We are) very lucky to have found it at this stage where I could say the word ‘cure,’ because I don’t use that word lightly as a cancer doctor. There’s a lot of patients where we don’t have that same conversation.” 

The timing of Sanders’ routine vascular CT scan may have saved his life, they said.

“The type of cancer he had has a very high recurrence rate and there can be progression, as well,” Kukreja said. “If it does progress to the muscle, the rate of metastasis is about 50%. Only about 10% of people live 5 years, even with our current medical treatment, if it metastasizes.”

Stats like that were running through Sanders’ head when he first heard the prognoses. Coach Prime did what most people do when they’re faced with potentially harmful illnesses or diseases. He turned to Google. Never again, he said.

“‘You got about 30 days man’ — like that’s the way it seems like it’s talking to you,” Sanders said with a laugh. 

“That ain’t a thing to look at when you’re going through what I went through.”

Health issues are nothing new to Coach Prime. Askevold said this was Sanders’ 14th surgery in the last few years, which includes his battles with blood clots and the two toes he had amputated during his time as the Jackson State coach in 2022.

This was something different, however. He had none of the signs of bladder cancer, which Kukreja said is the fourth-most common form of cancer among men. That’s why he wanted to be transparent about the entire process; he desired to raise awareness for others to get themselves tested, just in case.

“Men, everybody, get checked out,” Sanders said. “Because if it wasn’t for me getting tested for something else, they wouldn’t have stumbled onto this. Make sure you get the right care because without wonderful people like (Dr. Kukreja), I probably wouldn’t be sitting here today because it grew so expeditiously. Please get yourself checked out. It could’ve been a whole ‘nother gathering if I hadn’t. I’m thankful. It’s been a tremendous journey.”

The journey is far from over, however. Sanders lost about 25 pounds, joking he was back down to his Atlanta Falcons playing weight before recently regaining about 12 pounds. He’s also living a new “normal” in his everyday life. He’s not shying away from it.

“It’s a whole life change,” Coach Prime said. “I’m gonna be transparent, I can’t pee like I used to pee. It’s totally different. I cannot control my bladder. I get up to go the bathroom already four or five times a night, but then I’m sitting up there waking up like my grandson.

“We’ve got the same problem right now. We’re trying to see who has the heaviest bag at the end of the night. It’s ridiculous. I’m making a joke out of it, but it’s real. If you see a Porta Potty on the sideline, it’s real. Let’s stop being ashamed of it. Let’s deal with it head-on.”

His lighthearted response is how Sanders has dealt with most of his health issues. But he did not take lightly his most frightening encounter to date.

“I depend on Depend(s),” he joked with a nod to the adult diaper company. 

Sanders said he’s as excited as ever to be back on the sidelines at Folsom Field.

“I was warned about the trials and what I’m gonna have to go through,” Sanders said. “It’s a whole new lifestyle. I already have a new lifestyle. I’ve got eight toes, man. I’m built for this, man.

“Slowly but surely, I built myself back up to where I’m able, I’m strong, I’m ready. It has been a tremendous journey and I’m truly thankful. God is so good, you have no idea.”