Deion Sanders was iconic athlete; standing through CU game is new goal

Jul 02, 2023

BOULDER, Colo. – Treatment time. Three times per day, Deion Sanders stretches his left leg on the chaise sofa in his office at Folsom Stadium while Lauren Askevold works her magic with a therapeutic foot massage.

Askevold, an assistant athletic trainer at Colorado who made the move with Sanders from Jackson State, is the resident expert on Coach Prime’s surgically corrected left foot. She’s been with him through all 12 surgeries – including two in late July – to address the blood clots and other issues that threatened to cost Sanders his foot or leg.

"I know the color, I know every anatomy landscape of his foot," Askevold noted.

As a collection of soothing old-school soul played in the background, Sanders suddenly grimaced. Askevold had encountered a sensitive spot.

"It hurts!" he said. "These toes are like Vienna sausages."

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The pain now is a far cry from the lowest point, when Sanders was forced to miss three games at Jackson State in 2021 as he underwent eight surgeries within a month and had two toes amputated.

In late June, one of the surgeries required doctors to get to his legs through his groin to relieve clots in his thighs and knees. A subsequent surgery was needed in July to remove another clot.

"It was different, because it wasn’t just this," Sanders said, pointing at his foot. "I’ve got two cuts right here," he added, motioning to his groin. "I’ve got 21 stitches right here, on both sides."

The procedures were apparently successful.

"Now the blood flow is great," Sanders, 55, told USA TODAY Sports. "I was hurting so bad because I wasn’t getting any blood flow down there over the last year. That’s why I was hurting … and walking crazy."

The other surgery in late July involved straightening his curled “hammer toes,” aided by the insertion of pins.

"It’s insane watching him walk now," Askevold said. "He can stand upright. He’s not bent over."

The bond between the athletic trainer and the rehabbing patient was distinctive following a recent practice, when Askevold pulled, tugged, rubbed and applied pressure for roughly 20 minutes of therapy. When Sanders was asked about his goal of running out of the tunnel with the Buffaloes before their season opener Saturday at TCU, it was Askevold who quickly responded.

"That’s what he’s used to," she said.

Sanders: "I’m used to running a lot."

Askevold: "Like two 110s after every practice."

There are no doubts in the room that Sanders – who has used knee-scooters, golf carts and bicycles to get around the fields and facilities for two years – will achieve the goal of running out with his team before his Colorado debut. For roughly two weeks, he has worn a soft cast that replaced the hard cast formulated after the surgery. On Aug. 27, six days before the opener – the plan was for Sanders to begin wearing a custom shoe designed by Nike.

The markers of progression are obviously uplifting – pain was relieved significantly after the last surgeries – yet Sanders wraps his optimism with caution and humility.

"You don’t know until you’re able to do what you’re able to do," he said. "But it was different when she was working on me and I didn’t have the pain. In the spring, the pain was excruciating. It was so bad that if she bent something, it would take 15 minutes for my foot to even warm up. I was walking on my heel just to alleviate the pain. But now, I’m good."

Sanders said he told his players during a recent meeting that while they are chasing victory, he is “chasing normalcy” with his recovery.

"That’s all I want," he said. "I want normalcy. I want to be able to walk in two shoes and not be in pain, not taking meds all night. At one point, man, I was taking so many darn pills every night, it was like, ‘C’mon. I can’t live the rest of my life like this.’ It was double-figure pills."

Added Askevold: "I think it was 14."

To run out of the tunnel on Saturday, Sanders has accepted the possibility of receiving a pain-killing injection.

"If I have to get shot up to run out, I’m running out," he said. "They used to shoot me up before the game at Jackson, just to make it through. And it would be worn off by that last quarter. That thing would be screaming!"

Yes, Sanders is planning a grand entrance for his CU debut. Yet a more substantial goal, he reveals, is to make it through the game while standing.

"I’m trying to build up to be able to stand for three hours," Sanders said.

During last Monday’s practice, 11 days before the opener, Sanders began by observing from an equipment cart. After about 30 minutes, he got out of the cart and stood coaching for 1 hour, 5 minutes – slightly hobbling as he shuttled between two fields – before getting back into the cart for the final stages of practice.

"In the scrimmage the other day (Aug. 19), I started hurting real bad at the end," he said. "They had to give me a stool. I had to sit down on it while the scrimmage was going on, because I’m trying to build up to the game. Three hours. That’s a long time. I’ll have to medicate myself as well.

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"But that’s what we’re trying to work towards ... But with the right shoes and the support and all that and doing this (massage treatment) to get it ready, it should be all right."

Sanders draws encouragement from daily progress.

"I feel stronger every day," he contends. "It’s getting better and better."

There’s no reason to doubt that. He knows his body. And his transparency throughout his physical battle has been exemplary … and inspiring.

Yet it’s fair to wonder about the psychological challenge for a man who during his heyday was one of America’s greatest all-around athletes. Sanders was so equipped and talented that in addition to being the NFL’s best cornerback and returner – the electricity accented by creative dances to celebrate big plays and signature struts to the end zone – he excelled as a two-sport star who for several years started as a Major League Baseball outfielder.

Now, the man once called “Neon Deion” battles health issues traced to heredity. He lost an uncle to blood clots, and his mother and another uncle have also battled clots.

How does he process that juxtaposition?

"I don’t really process much," Sanders said. "It is what it is to me. Now, how do we overcome it? How can we get through it? I’m not going to sit down and have no pity party. And nobody’s going to have a pity party for someone as blessed as I am. And I’m not going to major on a minor. I’m going to major on all the other stuff I have going on in my life."

Leaning into his spiritual beliefs, Sanders added, “I realize the enemy has to do his job, because I’m really good at mine. He’s got to be on his job to stop me from doing mine. And I’m always going to be on mine.”

Of course, certain parts of that job have become such a challenge – especially for a legend who was a world-class athlete and one of the NFL’s fastest players.

"It’s the hardest thing," Sanders said. "To have been an athlete at that status and you can’t walk right. You can’t run. Or you’ve got to get on a scooter to go downstairs. You have to sit down during a game. And you can’t make it through a whole practice. That’s troubling. That’s challenging. You can’t demonstrate what you want this kid to do, to show him, or jog with him at the end of practice, because that’s who you are.

"I’m a demonstrative type of guy. So God says, ‘Tell the enemy that he can take your mobility, but he can’t take your ability.’ So now my voice and words become more prominent because I’m not as mobile. I have to lean on another resource."

Sanders, a twice-divorced father of five, has been typically open in sharing details of his ordeal, including behind-the-scenes video material produced by his son Deion Jr. and shared on social media. After his surgery in June, his girlfriend, Tracey Edmonds, provided an update and posted a picture on Instagram from his hospital bed.

Askevold reminded Sanders of the decision to have his toes amputated. Doctors told him that they could have saved the toes, which would have required him being hospitalized for another two to three weeks and missing additional games.

His response?

"Man, forget the toes," he reflected. "They were charcoal black. They were dead. You look down there and it’s two black toes. Take ‘em. What am I going to do with them?"

Sanders saw losing the toes as collateral damage, particularly if the leg and foot could be saved. In another context, he believes there’s a purpose attached to his pain, which is why he has been so public in sharing details of his ordeal.

"This is my calling and I take it seriously," he said. "God allowed me to go through this on front street, so that people would be inspired and encouraged."

Challenged to revive a floundering football program, he is a hope agent in more ways than one.

"I’m a homey with the amputees," he said. "Every time I see an amputee somewhere, I give love and hug them. I understand."

Yet he draws a line when told he can now park in accessible spaces. He scoffs at the idea.

"My kids say that all the time," he said. "Man, there are people who really, really need those spots. I’m good. I can make it."

Which is merely one measure of his determination to succeed in a new arena.