Deion Sanders says he’s “cancer-free” and feels like his old self after a surgery removed his cancerous bladder, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
Sanders, who currently serves as the head football coach for the University of Colorado, credits his recovery to a new robotic surgery that replaced his cancerous bladder with part of his intestine, according to the AP. At this time last year, “I was fighting,” Sanders told the outlet. “I was walking out on the property with a bag of blood and also urine and trying to get back. But this expedited the process. Last year at this time I was in a whole different place, and I’m just thankful.”
Deion Sanders declares himself ‘cancer-free’ a year after bladder removal https://t.co/DqnFN8G24L pic.twitter.com/L0Adsxb78X
— New York Post (@nypost) June 29, 2026
The Hall of Fame member played 14 seasons in the NFL for five teams, winning Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys. He earned eight Pro Bowl selections, nine first-team All-Pro honors, and was named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1994 before he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Sanders, 58, was out during last summer’s training sessions, but this year he is “much fitter and more energetic,” the AP reported. “If I pull my shirt up, I’m not scarred; it’s not flawed. I’m not embarrassed by anything that transpired. I’m elated by everything that transpired,” Sanders told the AP.
He was diagnosed with a “malignant tumor” in his bladder, which was considered “very high risk.” He met with Dr. Janet Kukreja, who is “among the small group of surgeons in the U.S. who perform robotic removal of the entire cancerous bladder — called a radical cystectomy — and robotic reconstruction of the organ,” the AP reported.
“It got me back in the game, got me back on my feet, and got me out of the darn hospital and back into the normalcy of my life,” Sanders said. “I’m here to let people know there’s another option if you need surgery.”
“I’d be a fool to be blessed the way I was blessed and not sound alarms,” Sanders said. “When I opened up a club years ago, I went to the mountaintop and told all the stations come on to the nightclub. So, why wouldn’t I do this? Saved me time so I could get back on the field, get back on my game instead of sitting up there in the hospital having a pity party. It saves you time. That’s what we’re all fighting for: time. We never know how much we get.”