Strike 2: Deion Sanders has faced more than his fair share of health related roadblocks in recent years. As a hall of fame player, he avoided any noteworthy injury stints during a career that spanned 188 NFL games. But 10 years after he was enshrined in Canton, he developed blood clots that cost him a pair of toes and have been the reason for 16 surgeries. Now he can add cancer to the list of life threatening maladies he’s had to overcome.

Blood clots are insanely serious. But not much of anything tops the “Big C.”

According to doctors and the man himself, Deion has defeated bladder cancer. Ring the bell. It’s a bigger win than either of his two Super Bowls or any other game he’s ever played or coached in.

With questions about his current health status apparently over, attention turns to his team, the Colorado Buffaloes. They opened camp this week and play a for real football game in almost exactly one month.

How will Deion’s fist fight with cancer and his healthy return to Boulder impact his team, a group that no longer includes any players named Sanders or anyone that can be a standout on both sides of the line of scrimmage?

Will it remain an uncomfortable distraction or serve to help team unity and focus?

Back in 1991, the Big C impacted CU on an even larger scale, in ways only the players on that team can truly speak to. Quarterback Sal Aunese had been under center for the Buffs for two seasons, 1987 and 1988, going 15-7 including a loss in the 1988 Holiday Bowl. Three months later he was diagnosed with stomach cancer and after a six month battle, passed away in late September of 1989.

Then-CU head coach Bill McCartney made Aunese’s plight a rallying cry for his team. It wasn’t “win one for Sal” as much as it was “play every play for Sal.”

It worked. The ’89 Buffs went 11-0 before losing the Orange Bowl to Notre Dame.

McCartney wasn’t shy about reminding everyone about Aunese’s emotional importance to the team. Things like leaving an empty locker with Aunese’s name on it in the locker room were in place to keep the Buffs eye on the prize, as it were. That Big Eight championship team literally wore their former QB’s name on their sleeves.

Obviously that tragedy isn’t repeating itself with Deion, but the coach’s ability to turn a life threatening distraction into a unifying force for over 100 young football players – a large number of whom will be wearing the silver and gold for the first time – may define the Buffs 2025 season.

Deion’s health problems are not totally behind him of course. He will still have to deal with bladder issues that may cost him some time away from the team. That remains to be seen. But having him stand up in front of a locker room and talk about what it means to fight for your life should certainly put some things in perspective.

Players – especially younger ones – are impacted emotionally by serious things like this that happen in their tightly controlled orbit. Be it a teammate or a coach, something like this can either remain a distraction, or it can galvanize a group and give them an unmatched resolve. What it does for the 2025 Buffaloes also remains to be seen.