Gale Sayers
1943 - 2020
University of Kansas and Chicago Bears all-time great and Pro Football Hall of Famer Gale Sayers died today at the age of 77. It has been 49 years since Sayers played his last game, and, really, 51 years since he made any meaningful impact on the game. Thus, most people know him more for his relationship with teammate Brian Piccolo that a was immortalized in the TV movie "Brian's Song."
Severe knee injuries limited Sayers career to a mere seven seasons, 1965-71, and he only appeared in four games in those final two seasons, so Sayers' accomplishments were limited to an astonishing five year span. By today's standards, Sayers stats seem rather modest when you look at them in a reference guide. 4,956 yards and 39 TDs rushing (5.0 yds/carry), 112 catches for 1,307 yards and 9 TDs, and 3,172 return yards for 6 TDs. In his rookie season, he even THREW a TD pass. Still, only twice did he rush for over 1,000 yards in a season. And he only played in 68 games. Why is he in the Hall of Fame?
Well, he shares the NFL record for once scoring six touchdowns in a single game, but more to the point, if you ever saw him play, and I did (see next paragraph), you have no doubt as to his worthiness as a Hall of Famer. Only an injury shorthened career kept Sayers from compiling numbers that would probably have surpassed Jim Brown, the all-time rushing leader at the time of his retirement. The HOF voters recognized that and voted Sayers in in his first year of eligibility.
I have one very distinct personal memory of Gale Sayers. It was September 17, 1967 (I looked it up. Thank you, Internet and pro-football-reference.com). The Steelers against the Bears, and I was sitting in the scoreboard end zone at Pitt Stadium. I was there with my Dad, and I think that my brother Jim was there. Don't think that brother Bill was, but I could be wrong. From our seats, we were looking straight up what would have been to us the left hand sideline. The Steelers took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, and on the ensuing kickoff, Sayers took the ball three yards deep in the end zone, ran to his right and then began steaming down that sideline, his right, our left, and took it all the way for a touchdown. It looked like he was running right at us. I was sixteen years old at the time, what did I know, but I did know that I had just witnessed something GREAT.
As an aside, my only memory of that game was that kick return by Sayers, and all these years later, I had always assumed that the Steelers, a lousy team at the time, lost that game. Not so. In fact, the Steelers shut out the Bears over the last three quarters and won that game 41-13. The Steelers didn't win much in those days, so why don't I remember what had to be a pretty significant win for them back then? Well, the reason, I guess, is that everything else that day was eclipsed but that Gale Sayers kick return for a touchdown.
Here is some more minutia about that game. Bill Nelson threw for 223, yards and two TDs for the Steelers that day. Steelers scoring TDs that day were Willie Asbury (2), Mike Hilton, Charlie Bivins, and Dick Compton. The Steelers would finish that season 4-9-1, the Bears 7-6-1. (Better days and better players were ahead for the Steelers.)
Oh, and what else did Sayers do that day. Astonishingly, the Steelers defense held him to a total of two (2!!) yards rushing on seven carries.
Below is a link to a 3:41 YouTube clip that might give some of you youngsters out there an idea of just how Great with a capital G Gale Sayers was.
RIP Gale Sayers
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