Deion Sanders' return 'a breath of fresh air' for Colorado players - ESPN

BOULDER, Colo. — To Colorado defensive back Carter Stoutmire, Deion Sanders is more than just a coach. He's like an uncle who's been in his life since pretty much the day he was born.

So hearing his coach's booming voice back in meetings and seeing his coach's swagger at camp this week, well, it lifted his spirits. Not just for him, but the entire team in the wake of Sanders announcing news of his private battle with bladder cancer.

«Whatever hardship trials he goes through, he always makes it through,» Stoutmire said after practice Wednesday. «Seeing him back, just a breath of fresh air for the whole team.»

It's been a few months since they've seen their coach after Sanders stepped away to deal with his health. He revealed Monday that doctors removed his bladder to ward off an aggressive form of cancer. He had a section of his intestine reconstructed to function as a bladder.

«Honestly, just having Coach Prime's presence back in the building is an amazing feeling,» said safety DJ McKinney, whose team opens the season Aug. 29 against Georgia Tech at Folsom Field. «I feel like everybody just has a chip on their shoulder.»

Namely, to work as hard they can for him.

«I mean, it hit different for me, just because that's like family to me,» Stoutmire said. «That was like real, genuine concern.»

Stoutmire's father, Omar, played for the Dallas Cowboys with Sanders in the 1990s. His dad and Sanders have been longtime friends, which is why he considers him an uncle.

«First time I met him? I don't remember — he was in my birth room,» Carter Stoutmire said of Sanders. «We've just got a whole lot of history, so it's hard to remember the first genuine time I really met him.»

He's had a big impact, too. So much so that Carter Stoutmire