Colts’ Rigoberto Sanchez put off cancer procedure to help team

Indianapolis Colts punter Rigoberto Sanchez has a chance to return roughly three weeks after undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumor. That surgery could have been done sooner, but Sanchez had quite the reason for postponing it.

Sanchez learned of the tumor and the necessity of its removal a few days before the team’s Week 11 game on Nov. 22. Instead of getting it removed immediately, Sanchez said he asked team doctors if it could get worse if he played. When told it couldn’t, he decided to play for a specific reason.

“Wasn’t gonna do that to my team. They weren’t gonna be able to get a punter in time,” Sanchez said Wednesday, via Zak Keefer of The Athletic.

The Colts ended up winning that game in overtime over the Green Bay Packers. Sanchez was called on to punt twice, dropping both of them inside the 20. That’s some serious commitment to the team, as nobody would have questioned it had Sanchez wanted that taken care of immediately.