Gale Oswald Sayers (b. May 30, 1943 in Wichita, Kansas) was a former professional football player in the National Football League who spent his entire career with the Chicago Bears. He was a 2-time All-American player at the University of Kansas, and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977. He was NFL Rookie of the Year in 1965 and was a 5-time All-Pro with Chicago. He scored a record 22 touchdowns in his rookie year, and led the NFC in rushing twice, in 1966 and 1969. Sayers, although born in Kansas, grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. Today he is the CEO of a computer company.
His friendship with teammate Brian Piccolo, and Piccolo's struggle with the cancer that would eventually kill him, became the subject of the legendary made-for-TV movie Brian's Song . The movie was adapted from Sayers' telling of this story in his 1971 autobiography I Am Third .
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