Sayers battling dementia

Relatives of Pro Football Hall of Famer Gale Sayers say the Chicago Bears legend has been diagnosed with dementia.

His wife, Ardythe Sayers, tells The Kansas City Star that her 73-year-old husband was diagnosed four years ago and she blames Sayers’ football career. He played for the Bears from seven seasons starting in 1965 after setting records at the University of Kansas.

“Like the doctor at the Mayo Clinic said, ‘Yes, a part of this has to be on football,”’ Ardie Sayers said at their home in Wakarusa, Indiana. “It wasn’t so much getting hit in the head . It’s just the shaking of the brain when they took him down with the force they play the game in.”

Ardie Sayers and the rest of the family had made no secret of his condition, but hadn’t shared it publicly. In 2013, he asked to withdraw a lawsuit filed against the National Football League and a helmet maker that claimed they failed to prevent repeated head injuries. The lawsuit contended that Sayers claimed he suffers headaches, occasional short-term memory loss and other cognitive deficits because of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

Sayers is regarded as one of the greatest players in NFL history. The “Kansas Comet” played his entire career with the Bears, piling up 4,956 yards rushing in his 68-game career and was voted to four Pro Bowls. Sayers scored 22 touchdowns and 132 points in his first season, both thenrookie records.

Clark says he has ALS

Dwight Clark revealed that he has Lou Gehrig’s disease and suspects playing football might have caused the illness.

Clark announced on Twitter that he has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease that attacks cells that control muscles. The former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver linked to a post on his personal blog detailing his ALS diagnosis, but the site crashed Sunday night, apparently from an overflow of traffic.

“I’ve been asked if playing football caused this,” Clark said in the post. “I don’t know for sure. But I certainly suspect it did.”

Clark won two Super Bowls with the 49ers during a nineyear career that ended in 1987. He memorably pulled down the winning touchdown pass from Joe Montana in the 1981 NFC Championship Game against the Dallas Cowboys, a play remembered simply as “The Catch.”

Jets sign McCown

The New York Jets have signed veteran free-agent quarterback Josh McCown to a one-year deal.

The team announced the signing Monday night. Agent Mike McCartney announced on Twitter that the contract is for one season. Financial terms were not immediately available.