Bears great Sayers dies at age 77 THE QUOTE very, very important to our game.”

Keeping an eye on the world of sports during the pandemic:

Gale Sayers, the dazzling and elusive running back who entered the Pro

Football Hall of Fame despite the briefest of careers and whose fame extended far beyond the field for decades thanks to a friendship with a dying Bears teammate, has died. He was 77.

Nicknamed “The Kansas Comet” and considered among the best open-field runners the game has ever seen, Sayers died Wednesday, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Relatives of Sayers had said he was diagnosed with dementia.

In March 2017, his wife, Ardythe, said she partly blamed his football career.

“Fans know well Gale’s many accomplishments on the field: a rare combination of speed and power as the game’s most electrifying runner, a dangerous returner, his comeback from a serious knee injury to lead the league in rushing, and becoming the youngest player inducted into the ... Hall of Fame,” Bears chairman George McCaskey said in a statement.

“People who weren’t even football fans came to know Gale through the TV movie ‘Brian’s Song,’ about his friendship with teammate Brian Piccolo. Fifty years later, the movie’s message that brotherhood and love needn’t be defined by skin color still resonates.”

Sayers was a blur to NFL defenses, ghosting would-be tacklers or zooming by them like few running backs or kick returners before or since.

Sayers became a stockbroker, sports administrator, businessman and philanthropist for several inner-city Chicago youth initiatives after his pro football career was cut short by serious injuries to both knees.

Sayers was a two-time AllAmerican at Kansas and inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as well.

“We are pressing ahead to have fans in Texas. ... Starting down the path of having fans in stadiums, and in a safe and risk-free environment, is

— MLB Commissioner

Rob Manfred on Tuesday, expressing his hope that the league will receive approval from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to have fans at the NLCS and World Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas

4

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College football season openers postponed for Houston so far this season. The Cougars’ game at North Texas on Saturday was the latest after the host said it had four positive COVID-19 tests this week. Houston previously had opening games against Rice, Memphis and Baylor postponed or canceled. In each case, the Cougars’ opponent had coronavirus issues.