Chicago Bears Legend Gale Sayers Dead At 77
Gale Sayers, the renowned Chicago Bears running back who made history as the youngest player ever inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, has died.
Sayers, lovingly nicknamed the “Kansas Comet”, passed on Tuesday at his home in Wakarusa at age 77, due to health complications from arthritis and dementia.
Sayers’ dynamic running ability helped him earn All-Pro recognition in each of his five full seasons. It also left teammates, coaches, fans and pundits to wonder what he might have accomplished in football had knee injuries not ended his career in 1971 after only seven seasons (68 games).
Back in 2017, Sayers’ wife, Ardythe Sayers, told The Kansas City Star that her then 73-year-old husband was diagnosed with dementia in 2013. She blamed the diagnosis on Sayers’ football career. He played for the Bears for seven seasons starting in 1965 after setting records at the University of Kansas.
Gale Eugene Sayers was born May 30, 1943, in Wichita, Kan. He was raised in Omaha, Neb., and starred in football and track at Omaha Central High School. He set the state long jump record of 24 feet, 11¾ inches. At Kansas he became a two-time All-American in football.
