The 2025 offseason didn’t start on the gridiron for Deion Sanders; it started in a hospital room. Facing an aggressive, high-risk bladder cancer diagnosis, Coach Prime had to temporarily leave his Colorado Buffaloes to make a life-altering choice. Instead of enduring a prolonged 36-week chemotherapy regimen, Sanders opted for a radical robotic surgery in May 2025 to remove his bladder. Though doctors quickly declared him cancer-free, the aftermath presented a brand-new ordeal: living with no urinary control. In an unfiltered conversation with Tim Ross, Sanders bravely opened up about his post-surgery struggles and what kept him going.

“I am dead serious. I depend on Depend,” said Sanders on The Basement with Tim Ross podcast. “You have no idea. I’m sitting up there in the bed, I can’t control. I got to know. The bladder don’t know me. I don’t know it. We just get to know each other.

During the procedure, Dr. Janet Kukreja of the University of Colorado Cancer Center crafted a neobladder using an 18-inch section of Sanders’ own small intestine. Because it was built from his own tissue, his body accepted it naturally, sparing him from harsh immunosuppressant drugs. But organic compatibility didn’t mean an easy path forward. Without native nerve connections, his new bladder couldn’t send standard signals to his brain, turning basic bodily functions into a constant daily struggle.

“I’m like, ‘Dawg, come on, man. You got to stop this. You got to stop. Come on now. You got to let me at least try to make it to the bathroom.’ Like, it was on. It was real. But you have no idea how many calls or DMs or whatever somebody calls somebody to get to me to say, ‘Hey man, I’m dealing with the same thing.'”

What followed was a brutal, agonizing recovery. Sanders endured what he later called the “worst pain of my life,” shedding 25 pounds as his body fought to heal. Last year, in a raw admission to Michael Strahan, he recalled a nightmarish moment shortly after surgery, curled up on the bathroom floor, screaming in pain. His sleep cycle was ruined as he was forced to wake up four to five times every single night just to empty his bladder, all while desperately fighting to return to his team before the season kicked off.

“I can’t pee like used to pee. It’s totally different,” Sanders had said earlier. “I depend on Depends if you know what I mean. I cannot control my bladder. So I get up to go to the bathroom already 4-5 times a night. And I’m sitting there waking up like my grandson. We in the same thing. We got the same problem right now. We’re going through the same trials and tribulations.”

That was the breaking point where ‘DEPEND’ entered the frame. While adult protective underwear carries an immense societal taboo, Coach Prime refused to hide. Sanders has built an empire on marketing powerhouses like Nike, Aflac, and California Almonds, but this collaboration was deeply personal. On July 28, 2025, Depend’s parent company, Kimberly-Clark, confirmed the partnership shortly after the 59-year-old Hall of Famer casually dropped the brand’s name during a Colorado press conference. 

By stepping into the center with a product often reduced to punchlines about aging, Sanders flipped the narrative, using his platform to strip away the shame and prove that true strength lies in owning your struggle. 

“I’m about to sexy ’em up,” Sanders told former Cowboys receiver and his teammate Michael Irvin in an interview posted July 28. 

But after many people reached out to him and shared that they were facing the same struggle, Deion Sanders ultimately decided to bring his story to life by featuring in a Depend commercial. Headlining the brand’s “Don’t Be Afraid Hero” campaign, he showcased its Fresh Protection Guards and directly confronted the reality of post-cancer bladder leakage. But Coach Prime didn’t stop at camera spots. Driven to adapt his ongoing recovery to his relentless work ethic, he even had a custom portable toilet installed directly beside the Buffaloes’ sideline throughout the 2025 season.

Before the procedure, per UCHealth, Sanders had an option to keep the bladder and undergo a prolonged course of bladder-directed treatment involving repeated procedures and chemotherapy delivered directly into the bladder. But that process would have been more gruelling for the 59-year-old. Now, Sanders is bladder cancer-free, and through his partnership with Depend, he is openly discussing the lifestyle changes he has made as he continues his recovery from bladder cancer.

Coach Prime’s history of medical comebacks

Long before his cancer diagnosis, Coach Prime was already locked in a relentless battle against his own body. Decades of elite physical punishment for 14 NFL seasons and nine in Major League Baseball eventually took its toll, sparking a grueling cascade of medical crises that led to a staggering 14 total surgeries starting in 2021.

• September 2021 (The Initial Injury): While head coach at Jackson State, Sanders began limping with too much pain in his left foot due to a combination of a bunion, hammertoe, and an inflamed nerve, wear-and-tear stemming from his dual-sport playing career.
• October–November 2021 (Blood Clots & Amputations): Following foot surgery, Jackson State trainer Lauren Askevold noticed his left toes turning black. He was quickly admitted to the hospital, and Sanders spent 23 days battling life-threatening femoral artery blood clots that severely choked off circulation. He developed compartment syndrome, requiring emergency surgeries to slice open his calf to relieve pressure. Ultimately, doctors had to amputate his left big toe and the adjacent toe to save his leg.

• Late 2021 (The Comeback in a Wheelchair): After missing three games and losing roughly 40 pounds, Sanders returned to the Jackson State sideline in a motorized wheelchair. Despite his absence, the Tigers finished the season an extraordinary 11-2.
• June 2023 (Amputation Scare at Colorado): Shortly after taking over the Colorado Buffaloes, Sanders allowed cameras from Thee Pregame Show to document a terrifying medical consultation. Doctors warned that blood pressure at his ankle had dropped to just 66% of that in his arm, putting him at real risk of losing his entire foot.
• Summer 2023 (Reaching 12 Surgeries): Sanders underwent two additional procedures: one to clear recurring blood clots in his left leg and another to fix a painful hammertoe. That brought his running total to 12 surgeries before his bladder cancer diagnosis even entered the frame.