Deion Sanders’ journey is one of grit, determination, and perseverance. “The battle that was fought here and won,” Jr. lit the atmosphere at Boulder, obviously, with his statement a couple of days back. Fans sighed with relief at his recovery. But at that time, no one knew much about Coach Prime’s diagnosis, not even his children. Yes, he had been struggling with blood clots for a long time, followed by toe amputations and surgery, but fans couldn’t pinpoint what else made him lose 14 pounds. The health scare was real. But all that mystery unfolded on Monday.

Clad in a cowboy hat and rocking black sunglasses, Coach Prime announced his diagnosis—Bladder Cancer. “God is good. You have no idea how good god has been for me to be here,” he said. And much to the family’s delight, his doctor announced that he is now “cancer-free.” But the journey was not easy, not because the pain was too much to bear. Coach Prime knows how to take the bull by the horns both on and off the turf. It was painstakingly tough because he had to hide his diagnosis from his children. And even shredding through pain and grief, the Sanders abode took the news, clad in armor.

“So, your dad was diagnosed with bladder cancer four weeks ago,” the medical professional told Deiondra Sanders as she went on with his routine check-up. Seeing the blood-red liquid, Deiondre asked, “Is that like blood?” “Yeah,” the medical professional continued. “So this is coming straight from his kidneys right now. Took a portion of his small intestines to make the new bladder while they let the new bladder heal. He’s got to have these two catheters in. So one is a direct input right into his kidneys, which is this one. This is why this one fills up. Fills up so fast.”

Deiondre took it all in, her emotions masked, but the worry and concern peeked through with her words. “The new bladder doesn’t have the neurotransmitters like go up to the your brain to tell us, like, we don’t have to just get a sensation that we need to use the restroom, right? He won’t have it anymore, so he’s gonna have to, like, set timers on when to use the restroom and literally, like, push his urine, urine out of it,” she said with Deion Sanders listening to the whole conversation, unfazed, as he went on playing with his grandkid. Talk about his ironclad will in the face of adversity.

“But we were told that he’ll, like, have to push down on his stomach. He’ll give him like, kind of, like tips and pointers on where kind of depressed.” She further went on to talk about the medical options Deion Sanders had in front of him. Either it was a 36-month treatment, with a 50% chance of cancer coming back, or the surgery.

Even in the face of adversity, the 57-year-old Coach Prime was thinking about his children. The cancer was growing rapidly, and something had to be done immediately. That time saw the Buff coach at his most vulnerable. “It was the toughest time, the most difficult time was cuz I got a several-hour surgery coming up the next day. So the night before, I’m up with my lawyers at the crib, and we’re getting it (the will) done, and I’m sitting up here thinking about each kid.”

The medical professional continued. “He didn’t want to do treatments, because the only thing that was in his head was all, y’all.” And it all touched an emotional chord. Deionadre fought her tears while soaking it all in and being there for her father. Coach Prime is still recovering and recovering strongly. Going on fishing excursions, tennis sessions, and more. He is bouncing back.

Deion Sanders on battling cancer

Deion Sanders appeared in good humor, rocking his classic cowboy hat, as he took the podium to talk about his journey at the Dal Ward Athletic Centre. Dr. Janet Kukreja, director of urological oncology, was present as well, declaring him “cured of cancer.”

“This was not an easy task; It wasn’t a cakewalk,” said Sanders, who added that he lost about 25 pounds. “That was a fight, but we made it.” Sanders had been out of the public spotlight for a while, solely focusing on his health and recovery. Although the media got the chance to interact with him during the media days. He even joked about the conversation he had with Dr. Kukreja

“It’s been a hectic journey, but there’s a blessing very in disguise with all this.” Dr Kukreja added. To motivate him for the surgery ahead, she even joked by saying, “As good as you were [as a player], I’m better.” Having gone through all that, he is now advocating for people to get regular check-ups and get examined for cancer regularly. Even through all the pain, his dedication to his team did not dim. He was present for the Buffs at the Big 12 Media Days, brushing off questions about his health and advocating for the Buffs’ dominance on the turf. Now, the only goal? “We want to win; We want to win at all costs.”