Deion Sanders’ doctor feared Colorado coach would lose leg last year

• A doctor for Deion Sanders expressed concern that the Colorado coach might need his leg amputated.
• Sanders underwent surgery for blood clots after a game against TCU last October.
• Sanders’ doctor is optimistic about his future health due to new medical technology.

A doctor for Colorado football coach Deion Sanders said he was worried Sanders might need his leg amputated after watching him struggle with pain in a game last October against TCU in Fort Worth, Texas.

Don Jacobs, a vascular surgeon at the University of Colorado, told this to Sanders recently, as shown on Sanders’ Instagram account Feb. 24. Sanders underwent surgery after the game to help clear out blood clots and returned to the sideline a few days later when his team beat Iowa State at home, 24-17

“I was really worried about you in Fort Worth,” Jacobs told Sanders on a FaceTime call with athletic trainer Lauren Askevold. “Watching that game and seeing you hurt, I was worried.”

“I was worried, too,” said Sanders, who added that he needed to be “shot up” to make through the game.

“Yeah, I know that pain hurts, and it was, you know, I was worried about losing a leg, “Jacobs said. “But, you know, we got you out quick… I was impressed, and everything healed up well.”

Sanders, 58, has battled blood circulation issues and blood clots in his lower body since 2021 but recently has been active with long walks on the Boulder campus even after having a cancerous bladder removed in May. The university confirmed in October that Sanders was undergoing an aspiration thrombectomy for the left popliteal and tibial arteries. That means blood clots were being removed from his left leg, which is already missing much of his calf and two toes after a previous amputation.

Jacobs said he thinks Sanders’ future “chances of trouble here is pretty small” especially as new technology helps with “really cleaning it out better.”

Jacobs added he’d like to see Sanders again this summer to “look at it just one more time.”

Colorado opens spring practice March 2 and continues through the annual spring scrimmage on April 11. The Buffaloes open the season at Georgia Tech on Thursday, Sept. 3.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com