Colorado football coach Deion Sanders has been away at his estate in Texas dealing with an unspecified health issue even as CU’s annual slate of summer football camps got underway last week in Boulder.
Sanders appeared at his CU summer camps in 2023 and 2024. Operating them is listed as one of the official duties in his employment contract with CU. His picture also is used by the university to advertise them.
But it’s unclear when Sanders is returning to Boulder. On Sunday, his eldest son Deion Jr. appeared on a YouTube livestream from the family estate in Canyon, Texas, where he said his father was in his room and “feeling well.”
“He’ll tell y’all soon enough what he going through, what he went through,” Deion Jr. said on the livestream.
He suggested that when they return to Boulder was open-ended.
“When we get back in Boulder, I don’t know,” Deion Jr. said June 8. “I’m waiting until my dad leaves. When he leaves, then I’ll go. Until then, I’m gonna sit here with him.”
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Sanders, 57, also canceled a scheduled speaking engagement scheduled for June 8 in Florida. He canceled because of an ‘unavoidable last-minute scheduling change,’ according to The Foundation for Sickle Cell Research, whose symposium had advertised Sanders as its keynote speaker. The foundation instead replaced him with NBA legend Magic Johnson.
In 2023, issues related to blood clots in Deion Sanders’ legs led him to miss a Pac-12 Conference media event in Las Vegas. He has been accompanied in Texas by CU athletic trainer Lauren Askevold, who has helped him with his legs since the issue got serious in 2021, including the amputation of two of his toes and the removal of the sides of his left calf.
Sanders has been out of the media spotlight since the NFL draft in April and suggested it was related to a health issue but didn’t say what exactly. He mentioned it on a podcast with former NFL cornerback Asante Samuel in late May.
“I hope you’re feeling better,” Samuel said to Sanders. Samuel then asked him if he ever tried fasting.
Sanders responded by saying “what I’m dealing with right now is at whole nother level” but said he’s coming back after losing about 14 pounds.
Last week, CU hosted separate camps for high school football players and eligible high school graduates. CU also is scheduled to host a youth football camp this week before a women’s football clinic on Thursday.
The university didn’t immediately respond to a message asking if Sanders would be appearing at this week’s camp activities.
His Buffaloes team opens the season on Aug. 29 at home against Georgia Tech.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
