This man played before the NFL became such a reviled politically charged Commie organization.

Gale Sayers, legendary Chicago Bears star and Pro Football Hall of Famer, dead at 77

Gale Sayers, one of football's biggest stars in the late-1960s whose friendship with a fellow Chicago Bears player inspired the TV movie "Brian's Song," died Wednesday at the age of 77, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced.

The cause of death was not immediately clear.

This is a developing story; check back for updates.

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/gale...nd-pro-football-hall-of-famer-dead-at-77

Was his dying wish for the Senate to wait on picking a Supreme Court Justice???

Helluva player.

My wife worked for him one semester at SIU when he was Athletic Director. I also met met him twice and got a couple footballs signed by him. Very humble and kind. Both times I met him.
The Kansas Comet.....RIP

Gale Sayers speaking to our military in Afghanistan in 2005.

Great player. I remember he went to Kansas. His pro career was cut short by injury but he was one of the greats. Always seemed like he was a good guy.

I had the opportunity to meet and spend time with him a couple of times. Saying that Sayers was a class act and a very bright man is an understatement.

I met with him last about 4 years ago, and we talked about his time as AD at SIU and Kansas, as well as his software company in Chicago. Of, course, we talked football.

Cut from a different cloth than many today & one of the greatest running backs ever..............poetry in motion.

RIP Kansas Comet.

MM

Old school cool.

Goodnight Sweet Prince of the Gridiron!

lol

Gale Sayers, the Hall of Fame running back who starred for the Chicago Bears in the 1960s, died on Monday. He was 77.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced Sayers’ death. His cause of death was not disclosed. Sayers was diagnosed with dementia in 2013.

“All those who love the game of football mourn the loss of one of the greatest to ever play this game with the passing of Chicago Bears legend Gale Sayers,” Hall of Fame President David Baker said.

“He was the very essence of a team player — quiet, unassuming and always ready to compliment a teammate for a key block. Gale was an extraordinary man who overcame a great deal of adversity during his NFL career and life.”

Sayers entered the NFL as the No. 4 overall pick in the 1965 NFL Draft. He played his entire seven-year career with the Bears. The five-time All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowl selection dealt with numerous injuries, which shortened his professional football tenure.

He was the 1965 Offensive Rookie of the Year and led the NFL in rushing yards in 1966 and 1969 before he was limited to just four games from 1970 through 1971 due to knee injuries. Sayers was the league’s all-time leader in kickoff return yards at the time of his retirement.

He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977 and remains the youngest person in history (34) to receive the honor.

Sayers’ friendship with Bears teammate Brian Piccolo — who died of cancer in 1970 — inspired Sayers book I am Third. The autobiography inspired the 1971 movie Brian’s Song.

The Wichita, Kan., native was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1977. His jersey No. 48 is retired at the University of Kansas and his jersey No. 40 is retired by the Bears.

Sayers also served as the athletic director at Southern Illinois University from 1976 to 1981 after he retired from the NFL.

“The entire Pro Football Hall of Fame family mourns the passing of Gale,” Baker said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Ardie, and their entire family. We will forever keep his legacy alive to serve as inspiration for future generations.

“The Hall of Fame flag will fly at half-staff until he is laid to rest.”

https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2020/09/23/chicago-bears-legend-gale-sayers-dies-at-77/#

He was a class act all the way .RIP Mr.Sayers.

RIP.

RIP.

My earliest football memories are of Sayers running and Unitas throwing. Great stuff.

RS

Alzheimer's Dementia. A terrible neuro psychological disorder. Sorry he suffered so long.

L.W.

RIP, Good Man.

RIP and thanks for the memories .

This was an excellent man - and the most graceful and quick football runner I ever have seen. He was like slippery lightning.

RIP Gayle Sayers.

RIP. I remember watching him!

Memory Eternal.

Too many years of beating your head in with other heads. It adds up and the damage is irreversible. Countries who play a lot of rugby laugh at American football players with all their padding but they never mention what their rate of dementia is in top players. I'll bet it's high.

Perhaps the greatest career not realized due to injury in the history of the NFL.

Yeah it’s sad but he had nothing on Bo Jackson

The first run you saw I think he busted his jaw.......the defensive guy got his jaw broke.
RIP gale.

Anyone remember “Brian’s Song”, the story of him and Brian Piccolo from the early 70s? One of the all time great sports movies. He was way too young to go down to Alzheimers

Loved watching him run...and a class act.

Yeah I do
True man...... imho.

I have to chuckle on that one.

My son, 12 at the time got to ask Sayers, "Who was better, you or Bo?" Sayers stood up and thought and told him "Bo might get me in a straight 100 yard race, but .." and with that he did a quick shimmy shake "... making them miss was my game!' At 70 years old, he looked like an elite athlete and still had moves.

I went to college with Bo and know him. He is not from planet Earth. BUT - I watched Sayers as a kid, and he's not from Earth either. Sayers was super fast but nobody had those kind of moves. How'd you like to have both of those guys in your backfield?

Let me add this, talking with Gale Sayers was like talking with Col. Allen West. You got the same vibe. Good man gone. (:

Payton was a bow hunter.

So was, and is, Bo Jackson. Bo knows bows.

"Just give me 6 inches of daylight"
Chicago was lucky to have Sayers and Payton.
Not to mention Grange and Nagurski........

Nice story, hatari

Not many like him who could run the ball.

I agree with you.

I also agree with wabi, Walter Payton was a heck of a runner. He did it good to.

Bo hunts to.

I have his book and met him at a fundraiser in College Station in the late nineties. Wish I would have had him autograph it. He was very nice. Humble and unassuming

I thought he was a running back, not a QB.😁😁😁

That’s pretty cool Hatari!

"The bigger they are, the nicer they are".

Since you mentioned Mike Ditka, here's what he had to say about Gale Sayers:
“People will say there were better players, but I don’t know who they are,” Ditka said. “I don’t know anybody that ran the football any better than Gale Sayers.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2020/9/23/21452428/bears-gale-sayers-mike-ditka-he-was-magic

Rugger don't tackle with their heads or with intent to maim anyone.

I am a long time soccer player, and I lettered in college for 4 years. I love soccer. I don't go for these Sister Boys who play these days, whose biggest moment in the game is to do a dive and pretend they got fouled, in order to draw a penalty kick. We didn't play that way when I played.

But, there is a saying out there,

"Soccer is a sport for gentlemen and it is played by animals.
Rugby is a sport for animals and it is played by gentlemen."

Good man gone. RIP