Gale Sayers: ‘No one has ever run prettier’

[soulman]

 

NFL 100: At No. 53, ‘No one has ever run prettier’ than Bears’ Gale Sayers

Dan Pompei Aug 1, 2021 48

Welcome to the NFL 100, The Athletic’s endeavor to identify the 100 best players in football history. Every day until the season begins, we’ll unveil new members of the list, with the No. 1 player to be crowned on Wednesday, Sept. 8.

 

Fifty years after his last run, Gale Sayers is revered not for yards, records, nor championships, certainly not championships.

He is revered for style.

No one has played the game like Sayers did — not before him, not after him. He was Fred Astaire in cleats, with grace, subtlety and savvy that was not of this world. “It was a gift,” he told Sports Illustrated in 2010. “And trust me, it was easy. It was so easy, I can’t even explain it.”

Teammate Johnny Morris said Sayers was the only player he has seen who could change directions in mid-air. It was as if his feet didn’t need the ground for him to propel himself.

Most running backs make rounded cuts. Sayers’ cuts were sharp and hard, like the corners of a square hickory table. And he could make those cuts at full speed, physics’ laws be damned.

“Every runner I know, deep down, would like to run the way Gale Sayers did,” Jim Brown wrote in his autobiography, “Out of Bounds.” “No one has ever run prettier.”

Runners usually have a plan. Sayers? He was all instinct.

“Really, I don’t know where I’m going,” he told the Chicago Tribune. “I go where my feet take me.”

His feet took him where defenders couldn’t get a hand on him, let alone a hit or a tackle. He said he never was hit solidly on a kick return or punt return because of his peripheral vision.

Sayers could make defenders, even some of the best defenders who ever lived, look like they were playing in slow motion while he was on fast-forward. One of Sayers’ cuts on a 63-yard run left Lions hall of famer Lem Barney on the ground.

 

Sayers’ elusive running abilities kept NFL defenses and special teams guessing. (Focus on Sport / Getty Images)

“I never looked forward to playing him,” hall of fame defensive tackle Merlin Olsen told the Los Angeles Times. “Every time Gale got the football, he made me sick to my stomach.”

In his book, “Pro Football’s 100 Greatest Players,” long-time NFL coach George Allen wrote, “Sayers was the most exciting running back I ever saw, the best long-gain guy I ever saw… He was the quickest at hitting a hole. If there wasn’t a hole, he was the best at finding a place to slide through. When he was going wide and found a crowd, he was the best at reversing his field and getting loose.”

It was quickly evident Sayers was not like the others. In his first preseason game, he returned a punt 77 yards, returned a kickoff 93 yards, and threw a two-yard touchdown pass. During his first season, he broke an NFL record by scoring 22 touchdowns. Fourteen of those touchdowns were rushing, six were receiving, one was on a punt return and one was on a kick return. Along the way, his teammates started calling him “Magic.”

Saying Sayers was a running back is like saying a mobile device is a telephone. When Jim Dooley took over as head coach of the Bears in 1968, he considered Sayers at flanker to replace the retiring Morris, and very well might have moved him there if he had been more confident in his running backs.

What Sayers probably did best was return kicks. His 30.6 yard average per kick return remains the best in NFL history.

It is possible, maybe probable, that no one in the history of the National Football League ever had a better performance than Sayers did on Dec. 12, 1965, against the 49ers at Wrigley Field. The rain was steady and the playing field was gray, as grass had stopped growing months prior and dirt had become mud. Everyone struggled with their footing — except Sayers. He once said on that day, he cut on the back part of his feet instead of the balls of his feet. He slipped one time, however — on the last play of the game, he fell at midfield on a punt return just as he was about to break free for what could have been a touchdown. It would have been his seventh. As it was, he tied an NFL record. Sayers took nine handoffs and scored on four of them. One of his two receptions went for an 80-yard touchdown. He fielded five punts and scored on one of the returns. He said he was hit on only one of them, as he was going into the end zone. Oh, and he totaled 336 yards.

Sayers could have scored another touchdown if head coach George Halas had not pulled him in the fourth quarter with the Bears about to score. Halas said he had a premonition Sayers would get hurt on the next play. Sayers’ backup, Jon Arnett, ran it in from two yards out and was vigorously booed.

The 49ers had come up with a special scheme for Sayers called “The Chicago Defense.” It called for defenders to be disciplined in their run gaps and double-team Bears blockers. “I just wonder how many Sayers would have scored if we hadn’t set our defense to stop him,” 49ers assistant coach Y.A. Tittle said.

In November of 1968, Sayers took a pitch on a play called 49 Toss Left and planted his right leg. San Francisco safety Kermit Alexander drove his shoulder into Sayers’ knee, which bent sideways. Teammates Ralph Kurek, Rudy Kuechenberg and Mike Reilly carried Sayers off the field, and Halas, known as impervious, wept on the sidelines.

Just three and a half years into his career, the great Sayers as we knew him was no more. But he showed his greatness was multidimensional the following year when his will became more imposing than his skill. Sayers changed his running style, bullying his way to an NFL-high 1,032 rushing yards. He also led the league with a career-high 236 rushes. He was named UPI’s comeback player of the year.

He could not have been blamed if he had been distracted that season. His fullback Brian Piccolo was fighting for his life in a New York hospital for much of the season, and Sayers was visiting him weekly. They had become close after Halas’ son-in-law Ed McCaskey made them room together early in their careers.

Piccolo passed away in June of 1970. Sayers’ autobiography, “I Am Third,” became the template for the made-for-TV movie “Brian’s Song,” which lifted Sayers to a higher level of fame. Sayers said fans throughout his life wanted to talk about the film and his friendship with Piccolo more than anything he accomplished in football. The movie’s most remembered scene was the depiction of Sayers’ speech at a New York banquet, in which he said he was accepting the most courageous player of the year award on Piccolo’s behalf.

When Sayers gave his speech, he spoke fluidly. It was an accomplishment because Sayers was a stutterer, and yards usually came easier to him than words. He often responded to questions early in his career with one-word answers, leaving the impression he was arrogant. Sayers, at the suggestion of Halas, signed up for a Dale Carnegie course. In his book “Sayers: My Life and Times,” he wrote it was one of the best things he ever did for himself.

A couple of months after Piccolo’s passing, Sayers injured his good knee in a preseason game. He played just four more games and, after the fourth knee surgery of his career, told coach Abe Gibron he had reached the end. At the age of 28, he had spent himself completely. When he retired in 1972, the Chicago Tribune called it “one of the blackest days in Bears history.”

It was a black day in part because it was understood then the Bears never would capitalize on his greatness. During his career, the Bears never played in a postseason game. Their record with Sayers was 29-36-3.

After football, Sayers returned to his alma mater, the University of Kansas, to work in administration. He later was the athletic director of Southern Illinois and then founded Sayers Computer Source, a supplier that once did $360 million in sales in one year.

He credited his second wife Ardie with helping him come out of his shell in the 1970s when he was at Kansas.

“At that time of my life, it was difficult for me to meet and converse with strangers, even though I knew it was an important part of my job,” he wrote. “Ardie was a much better conversationalist, and I counted on her to carry the conversation at the many social events where I was asked to appear. Ardie often impressed upon me the importance of communicating with people … I used to practice giving speeches in front of Ardie.”

Sayers had every right to have a star mentality, but his humility was rare. When Halas caught him speeding in a Corvette and told Sayers to get rid of it, he did it. He later followed his coach’s request to stop riding his Honda motorbike, and another to stop playing in offseason charity basketball events.  In “Sayers: My Life and Times,” published in 2007, he wrote that he hoped players who followed him wouldn’t destroy the game.

“When I see players like Terrell Owens making all of that money and then acting foolish most of the time, it really turns me off and makes me ashamed at the way some players disrespect the game. It’s a team game, simple as that … We are supposed to be role models.”

Instead of his greatness being diminished by playing in only 68 games and what amounted to five seasons, Sayers’ mystique was heightened by it. He is remembered as the one who transcended his brutish sport.

As with Marilyn, Hendrix, and Tupac, we are left to wonder what could have been if Sayers had not been stopped too soon.

“If he hadn’t gotten injured, if he could have played 10 or 11 years, Gale might hold every legitimate record there is,” Brown wrote. “His performance never will be forgotten by anyone who understands football.”

At the age of 34, Sayers was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He remains the youngest enshrinee ever.

(Illustration: Wes McCabe / The Athletic; photo: Bettman / Getty Images)

[Danger]

So this isn't a post I'm making in attempts to start ish, but I'm genuinely confused as to why Gale Sayers is in the hall of fame when looking at his career. Very short career, never had dominant numbers. Never won a championship. I just... don't get it. So I'm asking you all to try and enlighten me. 

[beardown3231]

3 minutes ago, Danger said:

So this isn't a post I'm making in attempts to start ish, but I'm genuinely confused as to why Gale Sayers is in the hall of fame when looking at his career. Very short career, never had dominant numbers. Never won a championship. I just... don't get it. So I'm asking you all to try and enlighten me. 

Devin Hester will go in next year and if you look at his stats they weren't great. Comparatively, yes, but overall he'll go into the HOF with ~20 total TD's. Like Hester, Sayers completely revolutionized the game

[Danger]

4 minutes ago, beardown3231 said:

Devin Hester will go in next year and if you look at his stats they weren't great. Comparatively, yes, but overall he'll go into the HOF with ~20 total TD's. Like Hester, Sayers completely revolutionized the game

As good as Hester was at what he did. I'm incredibly skeptical he'll go in first ballot frankly. I wouldn't say Hester revolutionized the game just that he was far better at what he did than anyone who's come before him and frankly anyone since. 

What did Sayers do that was so... atypical? All I have to look at is statistics and that doesn't really give me much context.

[soulman]

Gale's stats are only part of the story yet what he accomplished in his first three and a half seasons on a mediocre to poor Bears offense was pretty incredible.  His rookie year scoring 22 tds was a record that's also held up for decades.  Teams schemed to stop him and still couldn't do it.

Jim Brown probably said it's best in his comments; "Every runner I know, deep down, would like to run the way Gale Sayers did,” Jim Brown wrote in his autobiography, “Out of Bounds.” “No one has ever run prettier.”

He was and IMHO still is the greatest open field running back of all time.  His combination of speed and elusiveness were his trademarks and no one has ever done it better.  His career KOR average still stands as the best in history even 50 plus years later.

He could beat you with game breaking runs, pass receptions, punt returns, kickoff returns and he even threw a few TD passes.  A freak hit that collapsed his right knee and tore all of the ligaments ended what may have been a much longer career.

I would suggest that rather than simply looking at his stats you watch a few videos of him and you'll see what people talk about when they refer to his style of running.  Watch how sharply he cuts without ever breaking stride or slowing down.  That was Sayers and his "gift".

 

[soulman]

3 hours ago, Danger said:

As good as Hester was at what he did. I'm incredibly skeptical he'll go in first ballot frankly. I wouldn't say Hester revolutionized the game just that he was far better at what he did than anyone who's come before him and frankly anyone since. 

What did Sayers do that was so... atypical? All I have to look at is statistics and that doesn't really give me much context.

Whether Hester makes it on his first ballot or not I do believe it's a given that he will be inducted.  As far as KOR and PR he is the GOAT and those types seldom get passed on.  And speaking of Sayers it was Hester who reminded me a little of Gale.  He had that same ability to change direction without breaking stride or slowing down.  Like Sayers, once he got into the open field odds are he was gonna take it to the house.

Edited August 9, 2021 by soulman

[beardown3231]

20 hours ago, Danger said:

As good as Hester was at what he did. I'm incredibly skeptical he'll go in first ballot frankly. I wouldn't say Hester revolutionized the game just that he was far better at what he did than anyone who's come before him and frankly anyone since. 

What did Sayers do that was so... atypical? All I have to look at is statistics and that doesn't really give me much context.

If you wouldn't say Hester completely changed the punt and kick return portion of football, I'm not sure what to tell you

[Danger]

2 hours ago, beardown3231 said:

If you wouldn't say Hester completely changed the punt and kick return portion of football, I'm not sure what to tell you

Just because he was leaps and bounds better than anyone else ever doesn't mean he changed it.

[soulman]

1 hour ago, Danger said:

Just because he was leaps and bounds better than anyone else ever doesn't mean he changed it.

Other than to make Head Coaches think twice about whether or not to kick to him probably not.

But returning the opening kick off in a Super Bowl Game for a TD will probably get him some votes.

Devin and Sayers were both like that kid who was a running back on your HS rivals football team that every time their QB handed off to the guy all that was going through your mind was "oh ****".  LOL

[beardown3231]

15 hours ago, Danger said:

Just because he was leaps and bounds better than anyone else ever doesn't mean he changed it.

Oh lordy

[Danger]

Just now, beardown3231 said:

Oh lordy

He changed how teams approached Special Teams against the Chicago Bears during his time, but he didn't change the NFL, he wasn't a trailblazer that changed the grander NFL game as a whole. Because frankly no one else has been able to replicate what he's done. Hester didn't fundamentally change the modus operandi of the NFL, he was just that much better.

[soulman]

Gale Sayers nickname was "Magic" simply because his elusiveness seemed magical in the way he could cut.  Tacklers would square up on him only to find themselves grabbing air or falling down as he made a 90 degree cut that was like he simply disappeared from in front of them.

A well known and disgraced comedian once said he was like an amoeba.  He could split himself in two and leave that half without the ball with the tackler.  I always thought of him as being more like liquid mercury where he could just ooze his way around a tackler and keep running.

Hester never "flowed" in the same way Sayers did but he could also make very sharp smaller cuts to avoid a tackle without ever breaking stride and was also a guy who had an ability to completely reverse field on a punt return and out race everyone to the end zone to score.

Where the two were much the same is the opposition always had to worry about them whenever they had the ball in their hands because both could make a defense look silly trying to bring them down. The difference was Gale could actually play offense too.  Devin Hester could not.

Edited August 10, 2021 by soulman

[Uncle Buck]

On 8/8/2021 at 10:58 PM, soulman said:

Jim Brown probably said it's best in his comments; "Every runner I know, deep down, would like to run the way Gale Sayers did,” Jim Brown wrote in his autobiography, “Out of Bounds.” “No one has ever run prettier.”

 

If Jim Brown is saying things like that about you, it's a safe bet you were something very special.  Gale Sayers was before my time, but the old-timers I've talked to all seem to sing his praises. 

[soulman]

2 hours ago, Uncle Buck said:

If Jim Brown is saying things like that about you, it's a safe bet you were something very special.  Gale Sayers was before my time, but the old-timers I've talked to all seem to sing his praises. 

Only got to see him live once but he was definitely blessed with some magical feet and balance.

I recall one sweep where he had two blockers out front of him and a Safety had come up to close his lane between them.  He gave a little head fake to his right then just stepped to his left right around the guy without ever breaking stride as the Safety went to his knees trying to tackle him.  It was like watching a college running back playing against JV HS kids. 

One of the saddest days in NFL history was the day he got that massive knee injury.  Now he would have gotten more modern surgical repairs and rehab and his career may have been saved but back then a knee injury to a RB like him was almost a death sentence for a career.  Yet with the help of Piccolo he returned 15lbs heavier with a different running style and still managed another 1000 yard season. 

That took some real guts.

Edited August 11, 2021 by soulman

[Pool]

On 8/9/2021 at 8:17 PM, Danger said:

Just because he was leaps and bounds better than anyone else ever doesn't mean he changed it.

They changed the rules because of him. What do you call that?