“When a warrior returns from battle, the sharing of the story is the final act of the campaign. It brings the soldier home.” Deion Sanders has already won his battle with bladder cancer. Now, he’s telling the story of how he got there, and why the experience still stays with him.

“When my doc told me I needed surgery, I’ll be honest—it shook me,” Sanders wrote on X, in a post advertising the robotic-assisted surgery that helped save his life last year. “But I decided what came next. I locked in. I learned, asked questions, and chose da Vinci robotic-assisted surgery. For me, it was the answer, and I’m thankful this technology exists. And to the doctors and care teams who took care of me and had my back every step of the way: thank you.”

He even urged people to explore every option available. “If you’re facing surgery, talk to your doctor about your options.”

Just before his second season as Colorado Buffaloes head coach, Sanders underwent a routine CT scan (computed tomography scan) to monitor the pre-existing blood clots and vascular issues in his legs. Unfortunately, the scan revealed something more. His vascular results were clear, but there was also an abnormality in his bladder. It was a tumor with a high-risk, aggressive cancer lining the inner wall of his bladder, and he was to undergo a procedure.

Not just medically, but even personally, he was in a tough spot. The most promising son of Sanders when it comes to football, Shedeur, had an unexpected draft slide that saw him fall from being a projected first-round pick to being the No. 144 overall pick in the fifth round. While this happened. Sanders suffered in silence, as he was wary of his health challenge complicating matters for his son. That was not all.

This also coincided with the period when his eldest daughter Deiondra Sanders was having a public spat with her baby daddy Jacquees and his family members. With everything happening together, things affected the team as well.

His health crisis coincided with the team’s decline: 9-3 in 2024, 3-9 in 2025. Sadly, he could not tell all of these to his aged mother, whom he was protecting from fears and worries.

Sanders may have been shaken by cancer, but he is totally free from that experience. He spent a good portion of his presser on the Big 12 Media Days to emphasize that he feels like his younger self and has his swagger back. Sanders steps into the 2026 season as a conqueror who has his past behind him.