(1) Gale Sayers was an amazing football player. He was small and astonishingly fast. His nickname was the Kansas Comet because he attended college at the University of Kansas, where he was an All-American running back. In a game in his junior year, he set an NCAA record with a 99-yard run against Nebraska. The next year, he scored the winning touchdown against Oklahoma when he ran a kickoff back 96 yards. Many think he was the best open-field runner who ever played the game. He was like a ballerina among sumo wrestlers. (2) As a professional player with the Chicago Bears starting in 1965, he led the league in rushing his first season. In his rookie season, he scored an NFL record 22 touchdowns (14 rushing, 6 receiving, and 1 each on punt and kickoff returns). He gained 1,374 yards from scrimmage and had 2,272 all-purpose yards (also a record). He thrilled the crowd in December when he scored six touchdowns against the San Francisco 49ers, tying the record for most touchdowns in a single game. He won every post-season honor that year. The Bears finished a disappointing third in their conference. (3) In his second season, despite being the focus of opposing defenses, Sayers led the league in rushing with 1,231 yards, averaging 5.4 yards per carry with eight touchdowns. He set another NFL record with 2,440 all-purpose yards despite the fact the Bears struggled, finishing in fifth place with a 5-7-2 record. Sayers also won the Pro Bowl Most Valuable Player award, the first of three. (4) In his third season, Sayers again starred on a mediocre Bears squad. Sharing more of the rushing duties with another running back, Sayers gained only 880 yards with a 4.7 average per carry. He was still the league’s best and most exciting kickoff returner. He was always a danger to go all the way, and in fact returned three kickoffs for touchdowns on only 16 returns in 1967. Chicago finished in second place with a 7-6-1 record. (5) After the first nine games of his fourth season (1968), Sayers was again leading the