Report: Deion Sanders to undergo emergency surgery

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders is dealing with another serious medical issue, according to Pat McAfee.

The sports broadcaster tweeted out Thursday afternoon that Sanders is undergoing emergency surgery on Friday for a blood clot in his groin.

McAfee received the news from Adam (Pacman) Jones, who appeared on the Pat McAfee Show on Thursday. Jones spoke directly with Sanders, ahead of releasing the news.

“There is some news coming out of Colorado about coach Prime — Deion Sanders — and I want to make sure I get this right. You were talking directly to him — a blood clot has been found in his groin, and he has emergency surgery happening tomorrow,” McAfee said to Jones.

“Yep, 6 a.m.,” Jones replied.

Deion Sanders is having emergency surgery tomorrow for a blood clot in his groin..

You got this Coach Prime #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/lZbeffvn8l

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) June 22, 2023

Sanders has had his share of medical issues recently, including having two toes removed due to blood clots. He revealed last week on Instagram that he could end up needing his foot amputaed.

“As you know I’ve faced some medical challenges with my foot but I’ve never said ‘WHY ME’ – I keep moving forward, progressing,” Sanders wrote on Instagram. . . . “See you never know what a person may be going through while I sit in your seat of judgement but you can trust and believe that we are all going through something – just keep the faith and know that if He brought you to it, He will bring you through it . . I’m CoachPrime and I’m built for this. #Coach Prime

“I have full trust in my medical team and God Bless, Dr. Ken Hunt (orthopedic surgeon); Dr. Donald Jacobs (vascular surgeon); Dr. Max Wohlauer (vascular surgeon) and @laurenjaskevold Lauren Askevold – and more importantly I have full trust in Jesus!”

Sanders added during the video that he doesn’t have feeling in the bottom of his foot.

As McAfee pointed out, through everything, Sanders has continued preparing for his first season at Colorado. The two-time Super Bowl champion continues to coach the Buffaloes and hasn’t missed a beat after spending the last three seasons at Jackson State.

Sanders was 23-3 during his final two seasons leading the Jackson State Tigers, before being hired to take over the Colorado program last December.

“What I find so incredible here is… he’s still coaching, still going, still working, still doing everything. It’s like nothing has stopped,” said McAfee, who recently agreed to take his show to ESPN. “It’s like, ‘Man, what all is going on with Deion while he’s still trying to lead 100 something men?’ It’s quite a time for him.”

Jones, who knows Sanders well, added that this isn’t a new issue that Deion Sanders is dealing with.

“He’s been dealing with this since Jackson State. He had a blood clot in his leg. The same thing with the foot,” Jones said. “He was thinking about cutting his foot off. And he didn’t. Went through a hell of an operation. I was there. It was mind boggling to see him go through that and get back to where he’s at. I just want to see him get healthy.”

Predicting how Colorado’s first season under Deion Sanders will go

Deion Sanders has the task of turning around a Colorado program that finished 1-11 last year. On3’s JD PicKell believes it will take some time for the Buffaloes to become competitive.

PicKell picked Deion Sanders’ squad to go 4-8 in 2023. The voice of On3 has the Buffaloes losing four of their first five games. However, he expects Colorado to finish the final seven games of the season with a decent 3-4 record.

The lack of bowl expectations on PicKell’s part is due in large part to the schedule. Colorado will play three non-conference games to begin their 2023 slate, including reigning national runner-up TCU, the Matt Rhule-led Nebraska Cornhuskers and in-state rival Colorado State.

If Sanders and Colorado are able to exceed expectations, it will be in large part because of transfer portal additions.

Colorado picked up several big-time players from the transfer portal this offseason, including two-way star Travis Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

In total, the Buffaloes brought in 48 transfers this offseason ahead of the 2023 season.