By Jack Bantock, CNN
(CNN) — University of Colorado Buffaloes football head coach Deion Sanders said he expects a quick return to the sidelines following his announcement of more scheduled surgery on Tuesday.
The 58-year-old, who underwent a life-saving bladder cancer operation earlier this year, revealed after the Buffaloes’ loss against Texas Christian University on Saturday that he believed he was suffering from more blood clots in his foot.
Speaking to the media ahead of the team’s next fixture against Iowa State on Saturday, Sanders said he expected to undergo surgery later Tuesday, with a subsequent post on social media showing him smiling from a hospital bed.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer and former MLB star said the issue was hereditary, adding that he was aiming to be back for Wednesday practice after a roughly four-hour-long procedure.
“This has nothing to do with me working at the level that I’m trying to compete at. It’s hereditary, it is what it is,” he said.
Sanders underwent surgery for blood clots in both of his legs in 2023 but avoided having a foot amputation, having had two toes amputated due to clots while he was head coach at Jackson State University two years prior.
He missed a series of offseason camps following the discovery of a malignant tumor on his bladder, which led to what he cited as his 14th surgery.
“I’ve got a lot of well-wishes, people talking about: ‘You need to slow down. You need to take a break,’” Sanders said.
“There’s nothing that I could’ve done to stop what’s transpiring. Nothing that I could’ve taken or something that I’m just not abiding by. It is what it is.”
Sanders’ Buffaloes are 2-4 – 0-3 and sitting in 15th in the Big 12 – heading into this weekend’s home clash at Folsom Field against the 5-1 record Iowa State, currently fifth in the conference.
