Bears great Sayers dies at age 77
Keeping an eye on the world of sports during the pandemic:
Gale Sayers, the dazzling and elusive running back who entered the ProFootballHall 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. Hewas 77.
Nicknamed “The Kansas Comet” and considered among the best open-field runners the gamehas ever seen, Sayers died Wednesday, according to the Pro FootballHall of Fame.
Relatives of Sayers had said hewas 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. “Peoplewhoweren’t evenfootball 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 shortby serious injuries to both knees.
Sayers was a two-time AllAmerican at Kansas and inducted into the College FootballHall of Fame aswell.