Chris Fowler sends heartfelt message to Deion Sanders after cancer announcement

ESPN play-by-play man Chris Fowler tipped his cap to Deion Sanders for being outspoken about his health issues and revealing a bladder cancer diagnosis. Sanders was open and honest about his health scare, surgeries and recovery since being diagnosed.

Fowler, a Colorado alum, has covered Sanders since the latter’s days at Florida State. He was truly moved but Coach Prime’s willingness to open up about cancer and pleaded for others to get checked, despite any fears.

“Deion Sanders, cancer survivor,” Fowler said on Instagram. “Deion spoke about that today at a press conference in Boulder. I just got done watching it, and he spoke with such honesty, transparency, such grace and humor about his bout with bladder cancer picked up in a routine scan, no symptoms, thank God, caught in time. Doctors talked about removing his bladder and building a bladder from his small intestine to replace it. He spoke with honesty and humor about the symptoms of that and what he is going to live with going forward things that include adult diapers. 

“But for him to talk about that in such a way, was just so impressive to me, not surprising, but impressive. Deion, as deeply personal as something like this might be, always views things through a wider lens. His faith is a big part of that he and I have talked about just truly believing that things happen for you and not to you. He never sank to the ‘why me’ internal dialog. Went about it privately. His team didn’t really know what he was going through. We knew there was some health issue that had been sort of whispered about, but they kept a tight lid on it, and today he revealed all that stuff in a press conference.” 

Chris Fowler sends heartfelt message to Deion Sanders

Rumors circulated that Sanders would step away from coaching, but he didn’t think of that for a second. Now, he’s set to return to the sidelines after a scary battle that was kept virtually private.

“And there’s so much to admire about the guy. He’s not just the coach of my alma mater. I’ve covered Deion as a player since he was a Florida State way back in the 80s, and admired lots of things about him,” Fowler said. “He’s a polarizing figure. You can have your opinions about it, but he views things, no matter how deeply personal or painful, through a wider lens. And he talked about wanting to help people, wanting people to go out and get checked out and pay attention to doctors and not be reluctant to deal with serious issues because it’s uncomfortable, and I applaud that it’s going to save lives. 

“The fact that he did that today, a reporter talked about putting his affairs in order with a will, and what it was like to stare death in the face. And he stopped right there, said ‘I wasn’t staring death in the face. I was staring life in the face.’ You can say that’s word play, but he embodies it. He lives it, and always has stared life in the face fully and so pretty thankful the prognosis is good and that he’s going to be able to get back and do what he loves and impact lots of lives, but it is a cautionary tale for all of us. Cancer has touched almost everyone out there, as he acknowledged. So yes, please do get yourself checked out. Don’t assume everything’s okay and then try to approach it the way he approaches it. It’s happening for you, if it’s possible to approach it that way with strength and dignity and even a little humor.”