Deion Sanders set for surgery today
By John Brice Oct 7, 2025
Three days after revealing new health complications, Colorado coach Deion Sanders now is sharing he faces a new surgical procedure.
Following his team's loss late Saturday night at TCU, Coach Prime revealed that he believed blood clots had returned in his leg and that he was scheduled to see his medical team Monday.
Today, Sanders revealed the results of that visit: the need for a surgical procedure that Sanders said he hopes he can return from in time for Wednesday's Colorado Buffaloes practice ahead of Saturday's home tilt against one-loss Iowa State.
The procedure is called aspiration thrombectomy of the left popliteal and tibial arteries.
Sanders leaned on his faith as he told reporters during his regularly scheduled press conference about the impending procedure:
"Today, I'm having a procedure," Sanders said. "Prayerfully, I'll be right back tomorrow (Wednesday).
"It is what it is; we found what we found. It has nothing to do with me working at the level I'm trying to compete at. It's hereditary. It is what it is. I trust God with all my heart, all my soul and all my mind."
Per online medical resources, the procedure is described in the following:
"Aspiration thrombectomy of the left popliteal artery and tibial arteries is a procedure that removes a blood clot (thrombus) from these arteries in the leg using suction through a catheter, thereby restoring blood flow and preventing acute limb ischemia. A catheter is advanced into the artery, and negative pressure applied through a syringe or a mechanical device draws the thrombus into the catheter for removal. This technique is often used as an emergency treatment for clots that threaten limb viability.
This specific procedure per medical journals is viewed as much less invasive as older, traditional methods of surgical treatments.
Medical journals reveal that the aspiration thrombectomy utilizes a catheter to be inserted into the targeted artery, and then a syringe is attached to the catheter and used to draw out the clot.
It has been just four years since per Sanders himself he nearly died from blood clots that arose as a complication from a foot surgery that Sanders had performed on his left foot at a Jackson, Mississippi, hospital when Sanders was head coach at Jackson State, his first collegiate head coaching post.
That procedure saw Sanders have two toes amputated from lingering damage that he endured during his profession career that included a Pro Football Hall of Fame output in football as well as being a starting outfielder in Major League Baseball.
"I think I got more blood clots, inside the bag; I think I got more blood clots," Sanders told reporters Saturday night. "It don't make sense. I am hurting like crazy. ... So, that's what's going on. I am not getting blood to my leg, so that's why my leg's throbbing."