Football great Gale Sayers died at his home in Wakarusa, Ind., on Sept. 23 at the age of 77. Many consider him the greatest halfback ever.
The cause of death was complications from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, according to his family.
Although Sayers’ football career was cut short by knee injuries, he made an indelible mark. “Sayers is the greatest halfback I ever saw,” Ernie Accorsi, who was general manager of three National Football League teams, wrote in an email in 2017.
“I never saw anyone who could be at full speed, stop on a dime and, in one step acceleration, be at top speed again,” Accorsi said. “I saw runs he made that if it was one-handed touch football instead of tackle they couldn’t have caught him.”
Here are seven things to know about the Hall-Of-Fame life of Bears running back Gale Sayers.
Sayers was nicknamed the “Kansas Comet” when he played college football for the Kansas Jayhawks at the University of Kansas. While there he compiled 4,020 all-purpose yards over three seasons and was twice recognized as a consensus All-American.
In 1965 he signed with the Chicago Bears and spent his entire playing career there.
In his rookie NFL season, he set a league record by scoring 22 touchdowns and gained 2,272 all-purpose yards en route to being named the NFL’s Rookie of the Year.
He continued this productivity through his first five seasons, earning four Pro Bowl appearances and five first-team All-Pro selections.
An injury to his right knee forced Sayers to miss the final five games of the 1968 season. He made a comeback in 1969 to lead the NFL in rushing yards and be named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year. Then an injury to his left knee in the 1970 preseason and subsequent injuries kept him sidelined for most of his final two seasons.
In all, Sayers spent seven seasons with the Chicago Bears from 1965 to 1971.
A made-for-TV movie “Brian’s Song” made Sayers a household name. His friendship with Bears teammate Brian Piccolo, who died of cancer in 1970 at age 26, inspired Sayers to write the autobiography, “I Am Third.” The book was the basis for the 1971 movie.
On Dec. 12, 1965 Sayers tied the then-record for touchdowns in a single game, scoring six in a 61–20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers that was played in muddy conditions at the Chicago Cubs’ Wrigley Field. Sayers accounted for 326 yards in the game: 113 rushing, 89 receiving, and 134 on punt returns.
Sayers was the hands-down choice for NFL Rookie of the Year honors from the media outlets the AP, UPI, and NEA.
He was quoted as saying at the time, “Just give me 18 inches of daylight. That’s all I need.”
Following his retirement, Sayers returned to Kansas University to complete his undergraduate degree and continued to earn a postgraduate degree. He also served as the assistant athletic director. He became the athletic director of Southern Illinois University in 1976.
In 1977, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as the youngest inductee in its history. Sayers’ jersey number is retired by both the Bears and the University of Kansas, Kansaspedia reported.
He was named 2016 Kansan of the Year by the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas.
In 1984 Sayers returned to Chicago and he went on to launch Crest Computer Supply Company, later renamed Sayers 40, Inc. It was a tech consulting and implementation firm serving Fortune 1000 companies. He served on boards of social welfare organizations and athletic corporations.
In March 2017, his family revealed that Sayers had dementia after he had publicly displayed symptoms of it for four years. Sayers joined a growing list of football players who developed dementia and died of brain damage, The New York Times reported.
“Like the doctor at the Mayo Clinic said, ‘Yes, a part of this has to be on football,’” said Ardythe Sayers, hiss wife, in an Associated Press interview. “It wasn’t so much getting hit in the head. It’s just the shaking of the brain when they took him down with the force they play the game in.”
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Online tributes for Sayers were posted all over social media. “What could have been if Gale Sayers played in the era of modern knee surgery techniques……..” @billybaroodo tweeted.
“I saw a video of Gale Sayers choking back tears, it was just a few years ago. He was still heartbroken over his knee injury that prevented him from having a full career and reaching all his goals. The guy just loved football and wanted to be the best. RIP to a Chicago legend” @Lorenzo_sssss tweeted:
Another Twitter user spoke about Sayer’s autobiography. “I read ‘I am Third as a kid his story was one that should not be lost to time. I highly recommend this book for anyone especially young kids. It helped shape my attitude towards life” @MarkSpille tweeted.
