Colorado Buffaloes football coach Deion Sanders not only survived bladder cancer, but he figured out a way to honor his contract with CU and remain on the sidelines this season: adding a porta-potty on the sidelines to accommodate his illness’s effects.
Coach Prime made light of a serious situation Monday during a press conference with his medical team that was announced days in advance.
His situation was anything but a laughing matter, though.
Deion Sanders almost died in May
USA Today’s Matt Hayes sees Coach Prime’s miraculous recovery as his calling from above to make sure the young men he coaches are healthy. Hayes translated Sanders’ porta-potty proposal and his defiant message that he has “eight toes down,” a reference to the amputated toes he lost in 2021, as Coach Prime's understanding of his purpose coaching in Boulder.
“Translation: he’s here for a purpose, and believes it has nothing to do with football,” Hayes wrote.
“So when he nearly lost his foot because of circulation problems but also lost two toes in the process, that was the initial whisper. When he nearly lost his life because of cancer – when the enormity of making a will before surgery in May became crushing reality – that was the final, primal scream from above.
“It’s more than football. He’s here, he says, to make sure men see their physicians regularly.”
Coach Prime talking about a will and trust for his kids is not entertainment. His values don’t dictate talking about these things lightly.
Sanders’ survival is about far more than Buffs football. It’s more than keeping “Prime Time” in the spotlight.
Coach Prime is proving that he wants to love his players like sons.
Luckily for the world, this awareness will spread beyond Colorado.