Gale Sayers passed away -- Did you see him play?

[NFLfan]

Hall of Fame running back Gale Sayers died yesterday (9/23/20) of complications from dementia. He was 77. It seems that he suffered with dementia for many years.  

 

Most of us never saw him play but those who saw him thought he was a dynamic runner. I read Brian Piccolo: A Short Season many years well before I had an appreciation for football. I enjoyed the book as well as the movie Brian's Song.

 

Anyone have memories of Gale Sayers?

[shakedownstreet]

Before my time & I'm old

[crazycolt1]

Yes I remember him playing. 

Before the Colts relocated to Indy it was the Bears we seen every week.  I would say Indy was Bear country more than any other team I can think of.

My parents were huge Bear fans so we didn't miss a game.  

Most don't recall he was a halfback, not really a regular RB. He also retuned kick and punt returns. 

He ran a 100 yd dash in 9.7 seconds. 

Sadly the Bears used and abused him and he only played about 5 years out of a 7 year career. 

 

RIP Mr. Sayers. 

 

[pacolts56]

Barely remember seeing him  having grown up in NJ.... but the film says it all.

 

An all time great among RBs

[NFLfan]

1 hour ago, shakedownstreet said:

Before my time & I'm old

 

Me too. I think he played before I was born. However, I became a fan of sports talk radio when I was still in my teens. I loved stories of the history of different sports. Gale Sayers was among those talked about as being a great among greats. So, I love hearing peoples' stories about great players.

[indykmj]

Yep, saw him play live a couple times and numerous times on TV. He was something else.

 

Unfortunately, I also saw the Kermit Alexander hit (TV, not live) that tore up his knee and ultimately

 ended his career.

 

 

[King Colt]

Saw him play several times at Soldier Field and to this day no back ever looked so graceful as #40 when he was open.

My friend still has his practice jersey. 6 TDs in one game.

[Caffrey]

I'm an old guy and I remember him and was watching the game live when he got hurt on a tackle by CB Kermit Alexander of the 49ers, a hit at the knee.  He was my idle and a great breakaway threat RB.  I think he was averaging 6.2 yards per carry at the time of injury, having a great year.   I was a Baltimore Colt fan and we beat the Bears 28-7, the Bears 7 points was the highlight run they always show of him, he was trapped on an end run by a few Colt defenders and he cut inside of Bubba Smith and was off the races on a long TD run.  He cut back ability the best I've ever see, was smooth and had excellent speed. One of the greatest.  Can see him on Youtube highlights, I done it several times, just for some feel good memories.   Brian Song was great too. 

 

[2006Coltsbestever]

RIP, great player, great person. Before my time but I seen highlights of him. He was a highlight film. He was Barry Sanders before Barry Sanders.

[King Colt]

The knee injury would have been a routine repair these days.

[shakedownstreet]

4 hours ago, King Colt said:

The knee injury would have been a routine repair these days.

 

Edgerrin James was on the cusp of modern day ACL repairs. He tore his in 2001 when players never fully came back, and James never was the same, but still very good

 

Today it just takes a while. But the players come back as good if not better

[ColtsBlueFL]

My father was a huge Bears fan, and I saw Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus play on TV a lot (we got 4 channels via a rooftop aerial!) when we lived in central Indiana, Lawrence (Fort Harrison) then Edgewood - (west suburb of Anderson) in middle / late 1960's. They were both elite players.

 

 

Butkus through 4:25, then Sayers after that

 

I was given a black helmet with a white Chicago C on it.  I later painted it dark purple, created stencils for viking horns and painted them on. Couldn't stand the Bears and was a huge Vikings/Purple People Eaters fan at the time.  It was not long after I joined my older brother in being a Baltimore Colts fan, and never looked back.

 

 

[LJpalmbeacher2]

I never seen him play but know his name is synonymous with Legendary.