Colorado football coach Deion Sanders’ once-private battle with bladder cancer has quickly become rather conspicuous.
Following critical bladder reconstruction surgery, the 58-year-old Sanders was provided with his own portable toilet on the Buffaloes’ sideline for Friday’s season opener – a 27-20 loss to Georgia Tech in Boulder.
The unit is shrouded in a black tarp and emblazoned with a sponsorship logo for Depend, a brand of disposable absorbent undergarments.
The cancer was removed in May and Sanders previously revealed that something like this could be made available.
‘I wasn’t joking!’ he wrote on social media earlier this month. ‘I truly DEPEND on Depend. Ain’t NO SHAME in taking care of yourself. NO SHAME in getting health screenings. And there certainly ain’t NO SHAME in needing added protection or using Depend to stay in the game. That’s not weakness – that’s WINNING.’
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg revealed the newly installed toilet on X, writing: ‘Deion Sanders indeed has a portable toilet next to Colorado’s bench, to accommodate him following bladder reconstruction surgery. And it’s sponsored.’
A field worker sets up equipment next to a tent containing a bathroom in the team box on the Colorado sideline before an NCAA college football game against Georgia Tech
Deion Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes walks the field before facing Georgia Tech
In July, Sanders revealed he’d been diagnosed with an aggressive form of bladder cancer. However, after a successful surgery, his oncologist deemed him cured and gave him the green light to return for a third season in Boulder.
Sanders’ surgery involved the creation of a new bladder from his small intestine.
‘It was dynamic. It was tough. It wasn’t a cakewalk. It wasn’t easy,’ an emotional Sanders told reporters in July. ‘That was a fight, but we made it.’
‘The “C” word, when we hear that word there’s normally a life sentence attached to it,’ Sanders said. ‘But not this time. But not this time.’
Sanders even joked that he lost 25 pounds, bringing him down to his playing weight.
‘I was like Atlanta Falcons Prime at one point,’ he joked.
Tech’s Haynes King runs during the second quarter against the Colorado Buffaloes
Coach Prime was facing Georgia Tech on Friday – a school he was once considered a contender to coach years earlier.
Instead, Sanders went to Boulder, where he’s spent the last two seasons coaching sons Shedeur and Shilo, as well as two-way sensation and Heisman winner Travis Hunter, all of whom are now in the NFL.
Unfortunately for Sanders’ Buffaloes, Georgia Tech ran all over Boulder on Friday, gaining 320 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
Shedeur’s replacement Kaidon Salter struggled, completing 17 of 28 passes for just 159 yards and a touchdown.
Colorado hosts Delaware next week, while Georgia Tech faces Garner-Webb.
