RIP Gale Sayers

[TheCatInTheHat]

He just passed away.

There have been some tremendous running backs in the NFL, and maybe it's just youthful eyes before they have the experience of having more of a sample size for comparison purposes. But, to this very day, I consider him the most exciting and enjoyable back to watch ply his craft that I've ever seen. He was just such a slasher and fake-you-out-of-your-jock/change of direction guy. Given just a little blocking, he could create space, make you miss a tackle, and then good luck catching him. Kind of the Earl Monroe of football. To make it better, he played at Wrigley Field, which was obviously a very intimate setting for pro football. QB Jack Concannon offset his runs with bombs to WR Dick Gordon and shorter stuff to TE Mike Ditka. And then, you had the entertainment of LBs Dick Butkus and Doug Buffone scaring the life out of the other team's QB. Other than the Super Bowl title team, those may have been the most entertaining Bears teams. I didn't really consider myself a Bears fan then (as just a little kid) or now, but I watched because I lived outside the Chicago area.

Back to Sayers, in addition to being an amazing athlete, he apparently also was a very decent and charitable man.

RIP Gale Sayers.

[dovecanyoncat]

The thing I most remember about him was that it could have been a game of flag football and his yardage gains would have been about the same.

[azcat49]

Sad news. He was one of the greats at that position. Always remember the movie Brian's Song and his relationship with Brian Piccallo. Reality hits as your childhood stars start to pass away. You know you are in your own fourth quarter of life

[Merkin]

I wasn't a huge Gale Sayers fan, as he was a Bear, and I was a huge Lions fan, but after Brian's Song came out, it changed everything about him. Glad he lived up to being a great human being.