Deion Sanders appreciates the “how are you doing?” questions. The small talk hits home even more after his health scare.
“I’m healthy, I’m vibrant,” the Colorado coach said Friday at the school’s media day. “I’m my old self.”
Sanders has hit the ground running since recently returning to the team after treatment for bladder cancer. There’s a lot of work to be done before the season opener on Aug. 29 against Georgia Tech at sold-out Folsom Field.
At the top of the list is settling the quarterback situation, where highly touted freshman Julian “JuJu” Lewis and Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter are contending to take over for Shedeur Sanders.
It’s the first time in a while that Deion Sanders will coach a team without his son at QB. Shedeur Sanders is now in Cleveland and will start the Browns‘ preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers.
No matter who wins the starting job, it will be a completely different style of offense — and that’s OK with Deion Sanders.
“We’re going to win differently, but we’re going to win,” said Sanders, whose team went 9-4 last season and earned a spot in the Alamo Bowl. “I don’t know if it’s going to be the Hail Marys at the end of the game, but it’s going to be hell during the game. Because we want to be visible. We want to run the heck out of the football. So it’s going to be a little different, but it’s going to be fun.”
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For Sanders, there’s no particular time crunch to pick a QB. He’s content evaluating one practice at a time as longtime NFL quarterback Byron Leftwich works with them.
“Cream of the crop will rise,” said Sanders, who signed a high school student with leukemia as an honorary member of the team Friday. “It’s not urgency that we’ve got to name this or name that. Both these guys can play. I think we can play well with either one of them.”
As for his health, Sanders said he’s walking at least a mile around campus every day after practice. Sanders, who turns 58 on Saturday, was away from the team over the summer for personal reasons.
Last month, he disclosed he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of bladder cancer. But after surgery his oncologist considered him cured.
“I’m loving life right now,” said Sanders, who’s drawn headlines for his health in the past, but with the focus largely on two toes he’s had amputated and concerns over blood clots. “I’m trying my best to live it to the fullest, considering what transpired.”
His coach’s determination inspired left tackle Jordan Seaton.
“It’s like, ‘OK, my health, I can possibly die from this but I’m going to fight this to get back to you all,’” Seaton said. “He’s the most selfless person I know. So for me, it’s just take it and do what I can on the field and pay it forward.”
One thing Sanders has learned heading into his third year with the Buffaloes is to trust his instincts.
“Year one, I would be on the sideline and I would feel something, and I didn’t go with my instincts,” Sanders said. “Year two, I went with my instincts, and now I’m going to even go more with with my instincts.
“But I feel like our staff gets better and better and better every year. I feel like the roster gets better and better and better every year.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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