Gale Sayers

At 77 years old, Gale Sayers has this physical status:

Gale Eugene Sayers (born May 30, 1943) is an American former professional football player who has earned acclaim as both a halfback and return specialist in the National Football League.

Sayers spent seven seasons with the Chicago Bears from 1965 to 1971, but multiple injuries effectively restricted him to five seasons of play.

He was known for his elusiveness and tenacity, and his peers regarded him as one of the most difficult opponents to beat. Sayers, nicknamed "Kansas Comet," played college football for the Kansas Jayhawks' football team, where he gained 4,020 all-purpose yards in three seasons and was twice named a consensus All-American.

He set a new NFL record by scoring 22 touchdowns, including a record-tying six in a single game, and gained 2,272 all-purpose yards in his rookie NFL debut.

He continued his success in his first five seasons, winning four Pro Bowl appearances and five first-team All-Pro picks.

Sayers had to miss the final five games of the 1968 season due to a right knee injury, but he returned in 1969 to lead the NFL in passing yards and be named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 1969.

He was sidelined for the majority of his final two seasons due to a left knee injury in the 1970 preseason as well as subsequent injuries. Sayers' friendship with Bears teammate Brian Piccolo, who died of cancer in 1970, inspired him to write his autobiography, I Am Third, which in turn was the inspiration for Brian's Song, a 1971 made-for-TV film.

Sayers was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977 at the age of 34, and he is the youngest person to be honoured.

He was named as a halfback and kick returner on the NFL's 75th Anniversary team, becoming the first player to play in two positions on the team.

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame the same year for his college accomplishments.

Both the Bears and University of Kansas have cut him off his jersey number.

Sayers began working in sport and industry and spent time at Southern Illinois University from 1976 to 1981.

Early years

Gale Eugene Sayers was born in Wichita, Kansas, and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, to Roger Earl Sayers and Bernice Ross. His father, a mechanic, was a mechanic for Goodyear, Fargo, and worked with auto dealerships. Ron Sayers' younger brother, Ron, later played for the San Diego Chargers of the American Football League. Roger, his older brother, was a champion of college track and field. Gale graduated from Omaha Central High School, where he competed in football and track and field. In 1961, he set a state long jump record of 24 ft 1012 (7.58 m) as a senior.

Later life

Sayers spent three and half years at his alma mater, the University of Kansas, before being named athletic director at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1976. In 1981, he resigned from his position at Southern Illinois. Sayers served as the athletic director at Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN, from 1985 to 1986.

Sayers formed Crest Computer Supply Company in the Chicago area in 1984. This company experienced steady growth under Sayers' leadership, and Sayers 40, Inc. was renamed Sayers 40, Inc. He was chairman of Sayers 40, Inc., the aforementioned technology consulting and implementation company that supports Fortune 1000 companies throughout the country, with offices in Vernon Hills, Illinois, Walpole, Massachusetts, Clearwater, Florida, and Atlanta. Both Sayers and his partner Ardythe were Chicago philanthropists. He founded the Gale Sayers Center in Evanston, Illinois, and helped the Cradle Foundation, an adoption group. The Gale Sayers Center is a after-school program for children aged 8 to 12 from Chicago's west side, focusing on leadership growth, tutoring, and mentoring. Sayers joined the University of Kansas Athletic Department as the Director of Fundraising for Special Projects in 2009.

Sayers is reportedly suing the NFL after suffering repeated head injury throughout his career in September 2013. According to the complaint, Sayers suffered with headaches and short-term memory loss since retirement. After suffering concussions, he was often recalled to games, and the league did not do enough to shield him, according to the league. Sayers had argued that it was dismissed because the lawsuit was initiated without his authorization, but it was later dismissed due to other litigation in which Sayers was involved at the time. In January 2014, the attorneys, as well as six other former players, filed a new lawsuit.

O. J. Simpson, a record for 22 touchdowns in a season, was broken by him in 1975, who scored 23 points; his 22 touchdowns, according to 545, was the first player to score at least six touchdowns in a game until 2021. His kickoff return average of 30.56 yards is a franchise record for players with at least 75 attempts, 560, and he is one of many players to have scored two return touchdowns in a game. 561 He is tied for the second most career kickoff return touchdowns with six of them. Tim Brown, a former All-purpose yard receiver from 1988, claimed 2,000 yards in 16 games, two more games than Sayers' record of 5,272 yards in 1988. Mack Herron broke his single-season all-purpose yards record of 2,440 yards in 1966, beating it by four yards.

In 1973, Sayers was elected to the Lincoln Journal's Nebraska Sports Hall of Fame, becoming the first black person to be honoured. In 1977, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. One of three players suspended by the Kansas Jayhawks football team is his number 48 jersey.

Sayers was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977 and is now the youngest inductee in the organization's history. The Bears and number 51, worn by teammate, linebacker Dick Butkus, retired his number 40 at Soldier Field on October 31, 1994, at halftime of a Monday night game. Sayers has been selected by the Pro Football Hall of Fame committee for the NFL 1960s All-Decade Team, which is made up of the best players of the 1960s at each position. Sayers was selected for multiple positions on the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1994 as both a halfback and a kickoff returner; he was the only player selected for multiple positions. In 2019, he was one of twelve running backs selected to the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team. In 1999, he ranked 22nd on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

Ardythe, Sayers' wife, revealed in March 2017 that he had been diagnosed with dementia four years ago. It was most likely due to her football career, according to Mayo Clinic doctor Dawn Mayo. "It wasn't so much getting hit in the head," she explained. "They took him down with the force they play the game in, and that's just the shaking of the head." Although he was physically fit, the disease had an adverse effect on his mental stability and memory, particularly when it came to simple tasks such as signing his own name. Sayers died on September 23, 2020, at the age of 77, after suffering from dementia for many years.

Source

College career

According to the University of Kansas, the recruiters were recruited by several large Midwestern colleges before deciding to play football. When being interviewed during a live broadcast of a Chicago Cubs game on September 8, 2010, Sayers said he had initially intended to go to the University of Iowa. During his one-campus visit, Sayers said he decided against going to Iowa because Jerry Burns, Iowa's head coach, didn't have time to visit Sayers. During his Jayhawks career, he rushed for 2,675 yards and gained a Big Eight Conference-record 4,020 all-purpose yards. In both 1963 and 1964, he was selected as a first-team All-Big Eight pick and was a consensus pick for the College Football All-America Team.

Sayers led the Big Eight Conference in 1962, his first year on the varsity team, and was ranked third in the country with 1,125 rushing yards. His 7.1 yards-per-carry average was the highest of any player in the NCAA this season. He went through 21 times for a single-game record 283 yards against Oklahoma State, leading Kansas to a 36-17 victory. With a 99-yard run against Nebraska in 1963, Sayers tied a NCAA Division I FBS record. He finished the year with 917 passing yards, his highest rusher in the Big Eight this year. Among other items, he was named first-team All-America by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), the Newspaper Writers Association of America (NEA), The Sporting News, and United Press International (UPI). In 1964, he was a senior quarterback for the Jayhawks, leading to a 15-14 victory over Oklahoma with a 93-yard return to the game's opening kickoff for a touchdown. He had 633 yards, third most among Big Eight rushers, caught 17 punts for 138 yards, recovered 15 punts for 138 yards, and had seven kickoffs for 193 yards. Among other things, he received first-team All-America recognition from each of the same selectors as in the previous year, in comparison to the Associated Press (AP).

Professional career

According to claimers, he was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the first round, fourth overall, in the 1965 NFL Draft, and was also drafted fifth overall by the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League in the AFL draft. He decided against playing in Chicago after consulting his wife and signing with the Bears' George Halas. He made an NFL record 22 touchdowns in his rookie season: 14 rushing, six receiving, and one each on punt and kickoff returns. He had 2,272 all-purpose yards, a record for an NFL rookie, with 1,371 coming from scrimmage. According to the sayers, they had 5.2 yards per pass and 17.5 yards per reception. His return averages were 14.9 yards per punt return and a league-best 31.4 yards per kickoff return.

Sayers finished 13 times for 64 yards and two touchdowns against the Minnesota Vikings on October 17, saiders passed for 63 yards and two touchdowns; and had a 98-yard kickoff return touchdown against the 45–37 Bears. He was the first NFL player to score a touchdown, receiving, and kickoff return touchdown in the same game until Tyreek Hill did it more than 50 years ago in 2016. After the game, Bears coach Halas lauded Sayers, saying, "I don't remember seeing a rookie back who was as good," and compared his talents to former Bears greats Red Grange and George McAfee. "We used to call George 'One-Play McAfee,'" Halas explained. In a 61-20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in muddy weather at the Chicago Cubs' Wrigley Field, Sayers tied Ernie Nevers' and Dub Jones' record for touchdowns in a single game, scoring six points. He had 326 yards in the game, with 113 passing, 89 receiving, and 134 on punt returns. According to the AP, UPI, and NEA, Sayers was the consensus pick for NFL Rookie of the Year awards from the AP, UPI, and NEA.

He was quoted as saying at the time:

Sayers led the league in rushing with 1,231 yards per pass with eight touchdowns and eight touchdowns, and the first halfback to win the rushing title since 1949. With 34 catches, 447 yards, and two more touchdowns, he also led the Bears in receiving with 34 touchdowns, 447 yards, and two more touchdowns. With two touchdowns, he surpassed his rookie season's kick return numbers, averaging 31.2 yards per return. He also boosted his all-purpose yards total from the previous season, rising 2,440 yards to set the NFL record. He made his first kickoff return touchdowns of the season against the Los Angeles Rams as he followed a wedge of blockers en route to a 93-yard field goal. In the Bears' last game of the season and first of Sayers' pro career with his parents in attendance, he carried 17 times for a touchdown. According to the AP, UPI, The Sporting News, and the Pro Football Writers Association, among other things, the writers were selected to All-Pro first-teams. Sayers passed 11 times for 110 yards and was ranked second in his second straight Pro Bowl, with Sayers running 11 times for 110 yards and being named back of the game. The Bears posted a 5–7-2 record in the season, while the Chicago Tribune tabbed Sayers as "the one bright spot in Chicago's pro football season."

Sayers appeared again in Halas' last season as an NFL coach. Sayers gained 880 yards per carry on average, with some backs like Brian Piccolo. His receptions were also poor. On 16 attempts, he had three kickoff returns for touchdowns, averaging 37.7 yards per return. Only rarely returning punts — he came back three times this season — but the San Francisco 49ers' game featured 97 yards for a touchdown and a rushing touchdown on a rain-soaked field. "It was a bad field, but it didn't stop some people," 49ers coach Jack Christiansen of Sayers' success. Christiansen said after Sayers' kickoff return that he had ordered that all punts be out of bounds. However, Sayers punt and ran 58 yards through the field for the score. Sayers' cutback prompted Lem Barney to forfeit in a November game against the Detroit Lions, prompting him to fall over, which led to a 63-yard gain. He returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown later in the game. Sayers was selected for his third straight Pro Bowl, in which he returned a kickoff 75 yards and scored a three-yard rushing touchdown and was named player of the game honors for his third straight Pro Bowl. Chicago earned second place in the newly formed Central Division with a 7–6-1 record.

On November 3, 1968, the Green Bay Packers' most productive rushing yardage game of his career, when he totaled 24 yards. His season came to an end early this week against Kermit Alexander of the 49ers, when he tore ligaments in his right knee, including his anterior cruciate ligament, his medial collateral ligament, and his meniscus cartilage. "I saw his eyes kind of glass over," Garry Lyle, the teammate nearest Sayers at the time, said. I heard him holler. I knew he was hurt. Through the first nine games, the Steelers had been leading the league in rushing yards and finished the year with 856 yards. Sayers went through a physical therapy program after surgery, with the support of Piccolo, who had recalled him in the starting lineup. Despite missing the Bears' last five games, he has received first-team All-Pro recognition from several media outlets, including the AP, UPI, and NEA.

Sayers led the league in rushing for the first time in 1969, after a slow start and a slowed rate and acceleration. He had 4.4 yards per carry and was the only player to reach over 1,000 yards this year. Bronko Nagurski put him in second place on the Bears' all-time rushing yards list, taking second place. United Press International named Sayers as the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year. The Bears, who have long been fans of Halas, came home in last place with a franchise-worst 1-13 record. Sayers was the West's top rusher and the West's top receiver in his fourth and final Pro Bowl appearance. He was named "Back of the Game" for the third time in as many Pro Bowl appearances.

Sayers sustained his second knee injury in the 1970s, this time bone bruises to his left knee. In the first game against the Giants, he was forced to play due to a shoulder injury. He stayed out the next two games and returned against the Vikings in Week 4, but it was also hampered when he was unable to chase down Vikings defensive lineman Alan Page after a 65-yard fumble return. According to the claimants, they only carried nine yards before fracturing his knee. He underwent surgery the following week and was declared out for the remainder of the season. He had carried 23 times for 52 yards to that point. Sayers went to school to become a stockbroker and became the first black stockbroker in his company's history. He also joined a Paine Webber service for 45 national stockbroker trainees, finishing second in sales.

Sayers attempted to return to form in 1971 after another knee injury and recovery period. As Bears head coach Jim Dooley continued to gradually bring him back to the rotation, he was kept out of the first three games after being running the ball only twice in the preseason. On October 10, he played eight times for 30 yards in his first game back against the New Orleans Saints. He was content with his results and that his knee felt fine after the game, according to the reporter. He carried five times against the 49ers this week before injuring his ankle in the first quarter, causing him to miss the remainder of the season. He was supposed to leave football but decided to give football a last try. According to Sayers, his last game was in the 1972 preseason, in which he fumbled twice in three carries; he recovered from professional football days later.

Source