Former Dallas Cowboys star, Jackson State coach Deion Sanders had two toes amputated
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 and needed eight surgeries over three weeks to save his leg. He spent 23 days in the intensive care unit.
Sanders missed three games during a season in which Jackson State won the 2021 SWAC Championship, their first since 2007.
Last November, Sanders was a candidate to replace TCU football coach Gary Patterson, and his interview was conducted while Sanders was still in the hospital. The job eventually went to Sonny Dykes.
Sanders said the episode of “Coach Prime” will show, in unflinching detail, the true nature of his ordeal. He wanted to send the message that even Hall of Famers and two sports 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,” he said. “I go through hell just like everyone else goes through hell, and I’m going to show me literally going through hell.”
This story was originally published March 8, 2022 at 1:26 PM.
