Deion Sanders Jr., known to fans as Bucky, posted a video Wednesday that had nothing to do with football and everything to do with his dad. It showed Deion Sanders receiving a set of custom prosthetic toes from Colorado’s training staff, ahead of this week’s game against Northwestern.
Sanders tried them on right there on camera, walking around with and without shoes to test them out. His reaction said everything.
“This is amazing,” Sanders said. “It feels like it’s dragging, but guess what? I am ten toes down again.”
It’s Official pic.twitter.com/7bsWKyN39x
— Deion Sanders Jr (@DeionSandersJr) September 17, 2026
How He Lost Them In The First Place
To understand why a pair of silicone toes meant so much, it helps to go back to 2021, when Sanders was still coaching at Jackson State. A procedure to fix a dislocated toe and an inflamed nerve spiraled into something far more serious. He developed a femoral arterial blood clot, then compartment syndrome, the kind of swelling that required doctors to cut his leg open just to drain the fluid.
For a stretch, doctors weren’t just discussing his toes. They were discussing whether he’d keep the leg at all. Sanders has talked about how close that moment felt.
“First it was the leg, then life and the 2 toes… I thank God it got to 2 toes. Take them, I’m good!”
He ended up losing his big toe and second toe on his left foot, and he’s been open about the recovery ever since, including showing the aftermath during an interview with Shannon Sharpe and documenting the hospital stay on his “Coach Prime” series.
The new prosthetics are meant to fix problems that have lingered since then. His remaining toes had started curling to compensate for the missing ones, throwing off his balance and weight distribution. The custom fit is designed to straighten that out, help him bear weight more evenly, and cut down on the blisters and discomfort that came with walking on an incomplete foot for five years.
There’s a lighter side to it too. Sanders has never hidden his love of sneakers, and the new toes should let him actually enjoy the collection again.
“I’m just trying to fill my shoe up,” Sanders said.
Sanders has made light of the missing toes for years now, and Wednesday’s video was no different, treating a genuinely difficult health scare with the same humor he brings to most things. Colorado heads into its Northwestern matchup sitting at 2-0, and for the first time in half a decade, Coach Prime will be pacing that sideline on a pair of feet that finally feel whole again.