Gale Sayers Dead at 77

Humphrey

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 3, 2010
3,163
His running style was an accident waiting to happen; but, God, he was incredible to watch while he was healthy.
 

Papo The Snow Tiger

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 18, 2010
1,409
Connecticut
It's ironic, I watched "Brian's Song" on my local PBS station last Saturday. A perfect movie to watch in our troubled times. I'd like to think that Gale Sayers and Brain PIccolo are meeting up right now in heaven.
 

E5 Yaz

Transcends message boarding
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Apr 25, 2002
90,014
Oregon
It's ironic, I watched "Brian's Song" on my local PBS station last Saturday. A perfect movie to watch in our troubled times. I'd like to think that Gale Sayers and Brain PIccolo are meeting up right now in heaven.
And Piccolo is telling him to make sure he talks to God in His good ear
 

bankshot1

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 12, 2003
24,651
where I was last at
I was lucky enough to see Sayer's 6 TD games against the 49ers. It was one of those holy shit games. He was a spectacular quick cutting rocket of a running back.
 

Al Zarilla

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 8, 2005
58,867
San Andreas Fault
I was lucky enough to see Sayer's 6 TD games against the 49ers. It was one of those holy shit games. He was a spectacular quick cutting rocket of a running back.
I saw it too. The field was even muddy. Maybe that helped him because he knew where he was going and the defense couldn't react. Jim Brown and Sayers were the most electrifying runners in history, for me, and I've watched them all. Throw Barry Sanders in there, of course. Sayers was faster and made even more outrageous cuts than Sanders.
 

tmracht

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 19, 2009
3,070
I saw it too. The field was even muddy. Maybe that helped him because he knew where he was going and the defense couldn't react. Jim Brown and Sayers were the most electrifying runners in history, for me, and I've watched them all. Throw Barry Sanders in there, of course. Sayers was faster and made even more outrageous cuts than Sanders.
Man I remember being a young kid watching Sanders during thanksgiving when I was 14? and thinking he was the most body defying runner imaginable (19 for 167 and 3 scores), then you hear so many people talk about Sayers and Brown like he was just Pretty Darn Good and its pretty unbelievable. RIP Mr. Sayers.
 

joe dokes

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
30,236
Every once in a while, film pops up of later career Sayers (who only played 4 games in his last 2 seasons) playing on the paper thin, 1st generation artificial turf. Its always sad.
"Brian's Song" was adapted from a single chapter of Sayers's autobiography, "I Am Third." Which i still have somewhere.
 

Deweys New Stance

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jul 8, 2001
2,888
Here to Eternity
Tribute by Billy Dee Williams. Surprised I've never seen this photo before

View: https://twitter.com/realbdw/status/1308775720638840833?s=20


Billy Dee Williams
@realbdw
My heart is broken over the loss of my dear friend, Gale Sayers.
Portraying Gale in Brian’s Song was a true honor and one of the nightlights of my career. He was an extraordinary human being with the the kindest heart.
My sincerest condolences to his family Broken heart#RIPGaleSayers
 

Average Reds

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 24, 2007
35,330
Southwestern CT
Cross posting from These People Died thread.

12/12/65
9 rushes for 113 yards and 4 TDs
2 catches for 89 yards and 1 TD
5 punt returns for 134 yards and 1 TD

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/196512120chi.htm
The Kansas Comet was one of the best in the business. RIP.
It is no disrespect to Barry Sanders to say that Sayers was a bigger, quicker, more powerful version of Sanders. Had he not suffered his knee injuries, we'd be talking about him as the no-question GOAT running back.

As indicated by the stats above, his performance against the 49ers is perhaps the greatest single offensive game ever.
 

bankshot1

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 12, 2003
24,651
where I was last at
It is no disrespect to Barry Sanders to say that Sayers was a bigger, quicker, more powerful version of Sanders. Had he not suffered his knee injuries, we'd be talking about him as the no-question GOAT running back.

As indicated by the stats above, his performance against the 49ers is perhaps the greatest single offensive game ever.
No-question GOAT running back?

Jim Brown might have some questions and answers.

And no disrespect to Sayers he may have been quicker or faster than Brown (but I'm not sure) but there's no doubt Brown was bigger and more powerful.

Brown ran through people, over them and then accelated away from them.

Sayers injuries may have cheated him of more stats and black ink, but I do not think that he knocks off Brown as GOAT-running back.

IMO Brown was in a class by himself
 

Average Reds

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 24, 2007
35,330
Southwestern CT
I am not trying to diminish Jim Brown. (I couldn’t if I wanted to.) I’m instead suggesting what I believe was Sayers’ true talent level, had we seen it for more than just a couple of seasons before he suffered his first horrific injury at age 25.
 

edoug

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
6,007
Tribute by Billy Dee Williams. Surprised I've never seen this photo before

View: https://twitter.com/realbdw/status/1308775720638840833?s=20


Billy Dee Williams
@realbdw
My heart is broken over the loss of my dear friend, Gale Sayers.
Portraying Gale in Brian’s Song was a true honor and one of the nightlights of my career. He was an extraordinary human being with the the kindest heart.
My sincerest condolences to his family Broken heart#RIPGaleSayers
James Caan has expressed his condolences as well.
View: https://twitter.com/James_Caan/status/1308788502226546688


To one of the greatest ever an inspiration to so many. So proud to have known him. My love and condolences to the family. #RIPGaleSayers End of tweet
 

terrynever

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Aug 25, 2005
21,717
pawtucket
I put Sayers and Bobby Orr in the same athletic pantheon, just totally elusive with the ball, or puck, in their possession.
 

terrynever

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Aug 25, 2005
21,717
pawtucket
Great comp. Both in ways that hadn't been seen before.
And maybe since? Sayers used a practiced move from those days of showing a tackler a leg and then planting before accelerating off at a different angle. Stop and go, hesitation move. With his speed, he just burst through defenses that often featured white, not very speedy, safeties.
I’m not a hockey guy but Orr seemed to stop on a dime and then embarrass people who got too close. Maybe Orr and Sayers stick in our memories because their skills were a generation ahead of their time. But they both left a huge mark on our memory banks.
It’s unfair to compare athletes across generations. But those two guys were unlike anyone else from the 1960s. Bobby actually lasted longer than Gale.
 

edoug

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
6,007
And maybe since? Sayers used a practiced move from those days of showing a tackler a leg and then planting before accelerating off at a different angle. Stop and go, hesitation move. With his speed, he just burst through defenses that often featured white, not very speedy, safeties.
I’m not a hockey guy but Orr seemed to stop on a dime and then embarrass people who got too close. Maybe Orr and Sayers stick in our memories because their skills were a generation ahead of their time. But they both left a huge mark on our memory banks.
It’s unfair to compare athletes across generations. But those two guys were unlike anyone else from the 1960s. Bobby actually lasted longer than Gale.
Ask Harlon Barnett, a pretty decent football player.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl94uX4JiTY
 

SeoulSoxFan

I Want to Hit the World with Rocket Punch
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jun 27, 2006
22,089
A Scud Away from Hell
Even as a kid fresh-off-the-tarp getting to this weird game called American football, Sayers was a name I heard constantly in the early 80's.

He was also one of my father's favorite players, who was buried with his Eagles and Phillies jerseys.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,375
So Sayers' death has me thinking: Which players have been, in your own opinions, the most *exciting* players to watch? Even if not the "best", just the most exciting. For example, Emmitt Smith was obviously an all-time great, but he wasn't very exciting. Just a consistent yard-gaining, touchdown-scoring machine, but not really a guy that gets the pulse racing. So for me, here are some of those guys...

Lawrence Taylor
Andre Tippett
Randy Moss
Jerry Rice
Michael Vick (didn't like him but couldn't deny the excitement level he brought to a game)
Rob Gronkowski
Barry Sanders
Darren Sproles
Deion Sanders
Ronnie Lott
Earl Campbell
John Riggins
JJ Watt
Dan Marino (didn't like him b/c Dolphins but he was the first electric QB I really watched)
Tom Brady
Ed Reed
Ray Lewis (didn't like him but at his peak he was a destroyer on the field)
 

MuppetAsteriskTalk

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 19, 2015
5,399
Some that popped into my head in no particular order, with an obvious Patriots bias.

Stanley Morgan
Russ Francis
Ronnie Lott
Jerry Rice
Randy Moss
Lynn Swann
Dan Fouts
Barry Sanders
Mean Joe Green
Walter Payton
Lawrence Taylor
Bruce Smith
Reggie White
Gronk
Brady
Revis
Tony Dorsett
Calvin Johnson
Ty Law
Devin Hester
Dion Sanders
 

tmracht

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 19, 2009
3,070
Similar to the Hester pick. Dante Hall was always a blast to watch return kicks.

Steve McNair ah the Air McNair days RIP.

Antonio Gates and Tony Gonzalez were a great treat.

Larry Allen and Anthony Munoz were who I always pretended to be in football practice. Those dudes inspired me to be a better olineman.

Warren Sapp was the NT I pretended to be.