Gale Sayers, the legendary Chicago Bears running back and Pro Football Hall of Famer, died early Wednesday at age 77.
Sayers’ death comes as the Bears are getting ready to play the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium this Sunday.
Sayers “was the very essence of a team player – quiet, unassuming and always ready to compliment a teammate for a key block,” said Pro Football Hall of Fame President and CEO David Baker. “Gale was an extraordinary man who overcame a great deal of adversity during his NFL career and life.”
Despite playing only 68 NFL games because of an injury-shortened career, Sayers was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1977 and the youngest inductee ever at age 34.
Sayers began his pro career as the No. 4 overall draft pick of the Chicago Bears in 1965. In his first heavy preseason action, Sayers raced 77 yards on a punt return, 93 yards on a kickoff return and startled everyone with a 25-yard scoring pass against the Los Angeles Rams.
Later, he scored four touchdowns, including a 96-yard, game-breaking kickoff return, against the Minnesota Vikings. In his next-to-last game of the season, playing on a muddy Wrigley Field that would have stalled most runners, he pivoted, shifted and applied the brakes as tacklers flew by to score a record-tying six touchdowns in a 61-20 win against the San Francisco 49ers.
Included were an 80-yard pass-run play, a 50-yard rush and a 65-yard punt return. For the season, Sayers scored a then-record 22 touchdowns and 132 points, both also then-rookie records.
Sayers continued to sizzle in 1967 and into 1968 until the ninth game, when he suffered a knee injury that required immediate surgery. Sayers came back in 1969 with his second 1,000-yard rushing season and Comeback of the Year honors.
It was during this time the Bears instituted the policy of roommates by position during training camp. Sayers and Brian Piccolo became the first interracial roommates in NFL history. During the 1969 season, Piccolo was diagnosed with embryonal cell carcinoma and died the following spring. Their relationship became a made-for-TV movie, “Brian’s Song,” a recipient of three Emmys.
Injuries continued to take their toll on Sayers and, just before the 1972 season, he retired. His career numbers include 9,435 combined net yards; 4,956 yards rushing; and 336 points scored. At his retirement, he was the NFL’s all-time leader in kickoff return yards. He won All-NFL honors five consecutive years and was named Offensive Player of the Game in three of the four Pro Bowls in which he played. He holds 20 Bears records and is a member of the NFL100 All-Time Team.
Sayers worked in the athletic department at his alma mater, the University of Kansas, for 3 ½ years before he was named the athletic director at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1976. He stayed there until 1981.
In 1984, Sayers founded Crest Computer Supply Co. in the Chicago area. In 2009, Sayers rejoined the University of Kansas' athletic department as director of fundraising for special projects.
Sayers and his wife, Ardythe, were philanthropists in the Chicago area, supporting the Cradle Foundation, which founded the Gale Sayers Center in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago.
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