Gale Sayers
| Gale Sayers | |
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Positions: RB , KR , PR |
Jersey number (s): 40 |
| born May 30, 1943 in Wichita , Kansas | |
| Career information | |
| Active : 1965 - 1971 | |
| NFL Draft : 1965 / Round: 1 / Pick: 4th | |
| AFL Draft : 1965 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5 by the Kansas City Chiefs | |
| College : University of Kansas | |
| Teams | |
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| Career statistics | |
| Gaining space through running play | 4,956 yards |
| Average per run | 5 yards |
| Touchdowns | 56 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
| Stats at pro-football-reference.com | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Pro Football Hall of Fame | |
| College Football Hall of Fame | |
Gale Eugene Sayers (born May 30, 1943 in Wichita , Kansas , USA ), nickname: "The Kansas Comet" is a former American American football player on the position of running back . He played for the Chicago Bears in the National Football League (NFL).
youth
Gale Sayers was born the second of three children to auto mechanic Roger Winfield and his wife Bernice Sayers. Since his mother was hoping to have a girl and had intended the name "Gail" for her, this name was changed to Gale after the birth of her son. In 1950 the family moved to the Winfield Farm in Speed to take care of their sick grandfather . After the grandfather's death, there was another change of residence, this time to Omaha , Nebraska . There Gale played American football in a children's league. Sayers attended high school in Omaha , where he continued to play as an American football player, but also as a track and field athlete . In his last two years at school he led the football league of his school with 127 points each. His long jump performance of 7.58 meters was the Nebraska state record until 2005. In 1961 he was accepted as a track and field athlete in the national team of this US state.
Player career
College career
Gale Sayers studied at the University of Kansas from 1962 to 1964 . With numerous other offers from colleges around the country, he ultimately decided to study in Lawrence . Sayers played for his college football team , the Kansas Jayhawks , and he was running back. In 1963 and 1964, he was voted All-American . Because of his athletic achievements, his college honored him in all three school years.
Professional career
Sayers was drafted fourth in the first round by the Chicago Bears in 1965 . The Kansas City Chiefs , who were still at home in the American Football League (AFL) in 1965 , were also interested in Sayers and drew him in the first round in fifth place in the AFL draft. Sayers decided to pursue a career with the Bears, trained by George Halas , and was used by the Chicago teams as a running back, as well as a kickoff and punt returner . In his rookie year he was able to achieve an NFL annual best with 22 touchdowns . So far, no rookie in the NFL has managed to break this record. On December 12, 1965 he got six touchdowns in a game against the San Francisco 49ers in the 61:20 victory of his team. This achievement has so far only been achieved in the NFL by Ernie Nevers and Dub Jones .
The following year was also excellent for Sayers. He was able to achieve a space gain of 1231 yards by running game . This was also an annual record in the NFL. Over the next two years, the Bears lost more and more contact with the top teams. Sayers' achievements in 1967 also did not come close to those of the two previous years. In 1968 he managed a running average of 6.2 yards per run. He achieved another NFL annual high. However, this year his career also experienced its first low point. In a game against the 49ers on November 10, 1968, he suffered a serious injury to his right knee through a tackle by an opponent , which meant the end of the season for him.
In 1969 Sayers recovered from the serious injury and was able to set further career highlights. Although the Bears only won one of 14 games and were the worst team in the league, he achieved a space gain of 1,032 yards with 236 attempts and was again the front runner in the NFL. The game year 1970 was bad for Sayers, an injury to his left knee, which he sustained in the second game of the season, meant the end of the season for him. A comeback attempt in 1971 failed due to a third knee injury. Gale Sayers ended his football career afterwards. His career average of 30.56 yards of space gained per kick-off return is still the best in the league today.
Off the NFL
In 1970 Sayers' friend and teammate with the Bears, Brian Piccolo, died of cancer. The friendship between the two men was the subject of the film " Brian's Song " by Buzz Kulik . Sayers was played by Billy Dee Williams in the 1971 film . Sayers also worked on the film's script . In the 2001 remake of the film, Mekhi Phifer played Gale Sayers .
After the career
Gale Sayers became a successful businessman after his playing career and is currently running his own company. Sayers is socially committed and supports children and young football players at his old college.
Honors
Gale Sayers played four times in the Pro Bowl , the final game of the best players of the season. He was named a Pro Bowl MVP three times . He was voted All-Pro five times and NFL Rookie of the Year in 1965. He is a member of the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team , the NFL 1960s All-Decade Team , the College Football Hall of Fame , the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame , and Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. Together with the shirt number of Dick Butkus , a longtime team-mate of Sayers, the Bears blocked his shirt number in 1994. In 1977 the Kansas Jayhawks banned his college shirt number. The Kansas Jayhawks also honor him in their stadium at the Ring of Honor. In 1999, The Sporting News magazine named him 21st on the list of the 100 greatest football players of all time.
Web links
- Gale Sayers with the Chicago Bears ( September 5, 2015 memento on the Internet Archive )
- Company of Gale Sayers
- Short biography ( Memento from December 16, 2011 in the web archive archive.today )
- Gale Sayer's rookie season ( Memento from December 18, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 27 kB)
- Gale Sayers in college
- Gale Sayers in the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame
- Gale Sayers in the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame
literature
- Gale Sayers, Dick Butkus , Fred Mitchell: Sayers. My Life and Times. Triumph Books, Chicago IL 2007, ISBN 978-1-57243-995-5 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Family and naming
- ↑ Awards from Gale Sayers ( page no longer available , search in web archives )
- ↑ Gale Sayers' record
- ^ Sayers' shirt number in the Chicago Bears banned article in the New York Times
- ^ Sayers jersey banned from college
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sayers, Gale |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Sayers, Gale Eugene |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American football player and entrepreneur |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 30, 1943 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wichita , Kansas |