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Michael Gallagher covers national trending news across the NFL, NHL, NBA, WNBA, college football and entertainment for Newsweek. He brings over a decade of writing and editing experience in sports journalism, has won multiple Tennessee Press Association awards, and covered several notable events including an AFC Championship game, a Stanley Cup Final, an NHL All-Star Game, and an NHL Stadium Series. His previous bylines can be found on Athlon Sports, Yahoo Sports, The Hockey News, Fox Sports, the Nashville Scene, the Nashville Post, Yardbarker, and SB Nation. You can read more of Michael's work by following him on X @MGsports_.
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There's still no clarity on what exactly Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders has been dealing with in the months following the NFL draft, but "Coach Prime" recently revealed a small detail about his recovery.
Sanders has been battling a mystery health issue for the better part of four months now, and things were serious enough that whatever he's going through has caused him to drop a significant amount of weight in the process.
"I've done no media," Sanders told Asante Samuel on his "Say What Needs to Be Said" podcast not long after the 2025 NFL draft. "I've done nothing for a minute. So coming on with you is something. I ain't been in front of nobody for a minute. I lost about 14 pounds. I'm coming back, but I needed this."
Fans grew concerned for Sanders, 57, when he didn't appear at any of Colorado's football camps over the summer, and then his eldest son, Deion Sanders Jr., confirmed to USA Today that his father was dealing with a pretty significant health issue at the end of June.
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"He'll tell y'all soon enough what he's going through, what he went through," Deion Jr. said. "When we get back to Boulder, I don't know. I'm waiting until my dad leaves. When he leaves, then I'll go. Until then, I'm going to sit here with him."
When Sanders was forced to cancel a speaking engagement last-minute for the Sickle Cell Disease Research & Educational Symposia back in early July, it got even more people talking.
And while there's been no public update regarding Sanders' condition or what mystery illness he's been battling, the two-time Super Bowl champion revealed in a video on his family's YouTube channel that he's still not out of the woods yet health-wise.
"You know I'm still going through something," Sanders informed his daughter Shelomi as she tried to convince him to join her in an ice bath. "I ain't all the way recovered."
Whatever Sanders is going through must be fairly serious to still be affecting him months after the fact, though it's not expected to hinder him being ready for the team's season opener against Georgia Tech on Aug. 29.
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The video also shows Sanders a bit hesitant to get into the outdoor ice bath before climbing in up to his knees.
"I'm going to show you I ain't scared," Sanders bragged. "I used to do this for a living. It'll get my body back right."
Sanders stayed in the ice tub for less than a minute before exiting for good.
The nine-time Pro Bowler has dealt with his share of health-related incidents over the years. He had two toes amputated and part of his left calf removed, and he's also dealt with blood clots in his legs.
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