The 50 Greatest Players in Chicago Bears History. Robert W. Cohen
tie by making a leaping catch in the end zone of a pass thrown by holder Bobby Douglass following a botched extra-point attempt. Butkus later called the play the favorite of his career.
Butkus carried the ball for the only time in his career during a 38–24 loss to the Lions on October 1, 1972, gaining 28 yards on a fake punt attempt.
Butkus contributed to a 35–14 win over the Houston Oilers on October 28, 1973, by intercepting a pass and scoring his lone career touchdown when he recovered a fumble in the end zone.
Notable Achievements
1 • Recorded more than 100 tackles eight times.
2 • Intercepted five passes in 1965.
3 • Recorded unofficial total of 18 sacks in 1967.
4 • Finished second in NFL with seven fumble recoveries in 1965.
5 • Led Bears in tackles eight times.
6 • Holds Bears career records for most tackles (1,509) and most fumble recoveries on defense (25).
7 • Ranks among Bears career leaders with 22 interceptions (tied-11th).
8 • Four-time NFL Defensive Player of the Week.
9 • Eight-time Pro Bowl selection (1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, and 1972).
10 • Five-time First-Team All-Pro selection (1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, and 1972).
11 • 1966 Second-Team All-Pro selection.
12 • Two-time First-Team All–Western Conference selection (1966 and 1969).
13 • Three-time First-Team All-NFC selection (1970, 1971, and 1972).
14 • Two-time Newspaper Enterprise Association NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1969 and 1970).
15 • NFL 1960s All-Decade Team.
16 • NFL 1970s All-Decade Team.
17 • #51 retired by Bears.
18 • Named to NFL’s 75th Anniversary Team in 1994.
19 • Named to Sporting News All-Century Team in 1999.
20 • Named to NFL 100 All-Time Team in 2019.
21 • Number 9 on the Sporting News ’1999 list of the 100 Greatest Players in NFL History.
22 • Number 10 on the NFL Network’s 2010 list of the NFL’s 100 Greatest Players.
23 • Number 70 on ESPN’s 1999 list of the 100 Greatest Athletes of the 20th Century.
24 • Elected to Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979.
His career shortened by a series of devastating injuries to his knees, Gale Sayers failed to compile the lofty career totals one would expect from one of the greatest running backs in NFL history. Nevertheless, Sayers proved to be just that during his relatively brief stay in the Windy City, establishing himself as the most exciting runner of his time in his seven years with the Bears. Blessed with great speed, tremendous acceleration, extraordinary peripheral vision, and exceptional cutback ability, Sayers remains, to this day, arguably the finest open-field runner ever to play the game. Despite playing only four full seasons and appearing in a total of just 68 games over the course of his career, Sayers managed to lead the league in rushing twice and all-purpose yards three times, amass more than 1,000 yards from scrimmage four times, and accumulate more than 2,000 all-purpose yards twice. The Bears’ single-season record holder for most all-purpose yards, rushing touchdowns, and total touchdowns scored, Sayers earned four trips to the Pro Bowl and five consecutive First-Team All-Pro nominations while serving as a member of the team. And following the conclusion of his playing career, Sayers received the additional distinctions of being named to the NFL’s 75th Anniversary Team, the Sporting News All-Century Team, and the NFL 100 All-Time Team, being included on both the Sporting News and the NFL Network lists of the 100 Greatest Players in NFL History, gaining induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and having his #40 retired by the Bears.
Born in Wichita, Kansas, on May 30, 1943, Gale Eugene Sayers grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, where he attended Omaha Central High School. An exceptional all-around athlete, Sayers ran track and played football at Omaha Central, starring on the gridiron at running back on offense and middle linebacker on defense. Heavily recruited as a senior, Sayers initially signed letters of intent with 17 different colleges, including Iowa State, Northwestern, and Notre Dame, before ultimately choosing to enroll at the University of Kansas. He subsequently spent three years starring at halfback for the Jayhawks, concluding his college career with 2,675 yards rushing and 4,020 all-purpose yards, with his brilliant play gaining him consensus All-America recognition in each of his last two seasons. Sayers, whose tremendous speed earned him the nickname the “Kansas Comet,” also excelled in track, competing in the high hurdles, the 100-yard dash, and the long jump, where he set a school record by leaping 24 feet, 10½ inches.
Gale Sayers earned a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame even though he appeared in a total of just 68 NFL games.
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Impressed with Sayers’s exceptional play at the collegiate level, the Bears selected him with the fourth overall pick of the 1965 NFL Draft, just moments after they claimed Dick Butkus with the third selection. Electing to sign with the Bears after also receiving a contract offer from the Kansas City Chiefs, who made him the fifth overall pick of that year’s AFL Draft, Sayers immediately displaced Jon Arnett as the team’s starting halfback upon his arrival in Chicago, after which he went on to have a fabulous rookie season. In addition to ranking among the league leaders with 867 yards rushing, 1,374 yards from scrimmage, and 898 kickoff-and punt-return yards, Sayers topped the circuit with 2,272 all-purpose yards, 22 touchdowns, 132 points scored, and a 31.4 yards per kickoff return average, earning in the process Pro Bowl, First-Team All-Pro, and NFL Rookie of the Year honors. Sayers followed that up with an equally impressive sophomore campaign, once again gaining Pro Bowl and First-Team All-Pro recognition by leading the NFL with 1,231 yards rushing, 1,678 yards from scrimmage, and 2,440 all-purpose yards, while also placing near the top of the league rankings with eight rushing touchdowns, 12 TDs, and a rushing average of 5.4 yards per carry.
Feeling that he needed very little room to free himself for a lengthy gain, the 6-foot, 198-pound Sayers once proclaimed, “Just give me 18 inches of daylight. That’s all I need.” Supporting his star running back’s contention, Bears head coach George Halas said, “Gale detects daylight. The average back, when he sees a hole, will try to bull his way through. But Gale, if the hole is even partly clogged, instinctively takes off in the right direction. And he does it so swiftly and surely that the defense is usually frozen.”
And, once Sayers broke into the open field, he proved to be the game’s most exciting runner, thrilling fans around the league with his great speed, elusiveness, and cutback ability that made him extremely difficult for defenders to bring down. Blessed with an uncanny ability to stop on a dime and accelerate back to full speed in only one or two steps, Sayers drew the following words of praise from Dick Butkus, who said of his teammate, “He had this ability to go full speed, cut, and then go full speed again right away. I saw it every day in practice. We played live, and you could never get a clean shot on Gale. Never.”
In describing his running style, Sayers said, “I had a style all my own. The way I ran, lurchy, herky-jerky, I kept people off-guard, so, if I didn’t have that much power when I hit a man, hell, he was off-balance, and I could knock him down.”
Sayers