Jill Sayers, Bears Hall of Fame, died at age 77

 

Chicago (AFP) - Gail Sayers, the dazzling runner and elusive who entered the Professional Football Hall of Fame despite shorter careers and whose fame has stretched far beyond the field for decades thanks to his friendship with fellow dying Chicago Bears, has passed away. . He was 77 years old.

Nicknamed "The Kansas Comet" and considered one of the best open field runners the game has ever seen, Cyrus passed away Wednesday, according to the Professional Football Hall of Fame.

Sayers' relatives said he has dementia. In March 2017, his wife Ardith said she had partially blamed his football career.

`` Football fans know very well Jill's many achievements on the field: a rare combination of speed and strength as the game's most exciting runner, the dangerous return for a kick, his return from a serious knee injury to lead the league in a rush, becoming the youngest player inducted into the Football Hall of Fame Professionalism, "Bears President George McCasky said in a statement. People who weren't even soccer fans got to know Jill through the TV movie 'Brian's Song,' about his friendship with teammate Brian Piccolo. Fifty years later, the movie’s message that brotherhood and love need not be defined by skin color still echoes. Hesitating. "

L from running back or kick back before or after. However, it was his enduring friendship with Piccolo, portrayed in "The Song of Brian", that marked him as more than just a sports star.

Hall of Fame president David Baker said, "The core of the team player was - calm, humble, and always ready to praise a teammate in a major block." "Gale was an extraordinary man who had overcome a great deal of adversity during his career and life in the NFL."

Sayers has become a stock broker, sports director, entrepreneur, and philanthropist for several youth initiatives within the city of Chicago after his football career was cut short by severe knee injuries.

"Jill was one of the best men in NFL history and one of the game's most exciting players," said Roger Goodell, NFL commissioner. "Jill was an exciting and elusive runner, and he impressed fans every time he touched the ball. He got his place as the first ballot in the Hall of Fame."

Football star and tracker at Omaha Central High School in Nebraska, Sayers was an all-American twice in Kansas and inducted into the College of Football Hall of Fame. Chosen by Chicago with the fourth pick overall in 1965, its versatility produced profits and spotlight reel wagons with opposing defenses initially.

He tied the NFL record with six touchdowns in a game and another mode with 22 touchdowns in his first season: 14 lunges, six recalls, one kick and one kick return. Sayers was the unanimous choice of Rookie of the Year.

"I've played football for a long time and have never seen a better footballer than the Sayers generation," said Mike Ditka, Sayers' teammate from 1965 to 1966. "I mean this. The hair was in motion. Besides, he was an amazing guy. It's just a shame that he's gone. He was special."

Ditka later coached Walter Payton, giving him a closer look at two of the best full-backs. But the greatest performance it saw was perhaps the Sayers' landing six. Playing San Francisco in muddy Wrigley Stadium, almost everyone was slipping and sliding.

"He was playing in a different stadium than we are now," Ditka said. "The field was wet, it was slippery, and it was kind of mud. It was incredible. It had incredible rides and wounds."

Sayers was an all-professional during the first five of his seven NFL seasons (1965-1971). But he was stuck in a handful of medium to bad bear teams, and like Dick Butkus, another Hall of Fame teammate chosen in the same 1965 draft, never played in the post-season period. Sayers has appeared in only 68 matches and only 2 in each of the last two seasons while trying to return from knee injuries.

"I will miss a great friend who helped me become the player I became because after training and quarreling against a generation I knew I could play against anyone," said Boutkus. "We lost one of the best bears ever, and most importantly, we lost an adorable person."

In 1977, at the age of 34, Sayers became the youngest player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Upon presenting it at the ceremony, Bears founder George Hallas said: "If you want to see perfection as a step backwards, you'd better get a Gail Sayers movie. The hair was in motion. The like would never be seen again."

Butkos said he didn't even watch Sayers play until a landmark movie was shown at an event in New York that both attended in honor of the All-America team.

Of 1964. He said the realistic version of Sayers was better.

"It was amazing. I still attribute a lot of my success to trying to heal it (practically)," said Potkus at the Bears centenary celebration in June 2019.

"I've never had a back like this in my entire career, even full-back. That was involving OJ (Simpson) and two other men." "Nobody can touch this man."

The Bears penned them with straight picks in '65, with Butkus taking 3 and Sayers at No. 4. It didn't take long for Sayers to beat the veterans who helped the Bears win the NFL Championship in 1963.

"We were first, so they will make it difficult for us and show us the ropes and everything else," said Potkus. "But Gail was running circles around everyone. They quickly adopted it."

The friendship between Sayers and co-star Piccolo began in 1967, when the two became unexpected roommates. Sayers was black and he was already a star; Piccolo was white and his way out of the training squad. Early on, K.