Deion Sanders Declares He’s Cancer-Free

Deion Sanders has announced that he is “cancer-free” and feeling like his former self after the surgical removal of his cancerous bladder, according to reports from the Associated Press.

Now the head football coach at the University of Colorado, Sanders attributes his recovery to a robotic surgery that took out his infected bladder and replaced it with a section of his intestines. Reflecting on the past year, he mentioned, “I was fighting.” He recalled, “I was walking around the property with bags of blood and urine and trying to get back. But this has expedited the process. This time last year, I was in a completely different place. I’m just grateful.”

As a Hall of Famer, Sanders enjoyed a 14-season career in the NFL with five different teams, securing Super Bowl victories with both the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys. He earned eight Pro Bowl selections and was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1994 before being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

At 58, Sanders missed practice last summer, but now he says he’s “healthier and more energetic.” He proudly stated, “I can pull up my shirt and there’s no scratches, no imperfections. I’m not ashamed of anything that happened. I’m overjoyed with everything that happened.”

Previously diagnosed with a “malignant tumor” in his bladder, he was regarded as “very high risk.” He consulted with Dr. Janet Kukreja, one of the few surgeons in the U.S. who perform a radical cystectomy, a procedure that reconstructs the bladder robotically after removal.

Sanders expressed gratitude for this new option, saying it helped him return to a normal life more quickly. “It helped me get back in the game, get back on my feet, get out of a horrible hospital and get back to normal life,” he noted. He emphasized the importance of sharing this information, remarking, “It would be foolish to be as blessed as I have been and not sound the alarm.” He recalled an earlier endeavor to promote a nightclub and questioned why he wouldn’t do the same to raise awareness about medical options. “It saves me time,” he concluded, highlighting the idea that time is what everyone ultimately wants. “You never know how much we’re going to get.”