Former Dallas Cowboys star and current Jackson State head coach Deion Sanders had two toes surgically amputated last fall.
Sanders revealed the severity of his foot injury in an upcoming episode of his “Coach Prime” documentary series that will air Tuesday night on Barstool Sports.
Sanders confirmed to Andscape that he had his left big toe and the one next to it amputated due to blood clots from a previous surgery. He nearly lost his leg.
He needed eight surgeries in three weeks to save his leg. He spent 23 days in an intensive care unit.
Sanders missed three games during a season in which Jackson State won the 2021 SWAC Championship, their first since 2007.
It was during the time that Sanders interviewed with TCU for its opening to replace Gary Patterson. The job eventually went to Sonny Dykes.
Sanders said the episode of “Coach Prime” will show the unflinching detail of his ordeal. He wanted to send the message that even Hall of Famers and two-sport stars have to deal with the tragedies of life.
“The show focuses on the season of Jackson State. If [the amputation] hadn’t transpired during the season, we wouldn’t be telling the story,” Sanders told Andscape. “But it was in the midst of the season of us being dominant and in the midst of us winning and you have to show the ups and downs and the seesaw of life. We never stopped. We never flinched.”
“Just because I had a gift at one point and time to do my thing on the football and baseball field, that does not extract me from the tragedies of life. I go through hell just like everyone else goes through hell, and I’m going to show me literally going through hell.”
