Chicago Bears Top 100: #4 Gale Sayers

Aug 2, 2014; Canton, OH, USA; Gale Sayers waves to the crowd at the TimkenSteel Grand Parade on Cleveland Avenue in advance of the 2014 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Things went downhill for Sayers in 1968.  He was leading the league in rushing  until he tore his knee up in the ninth game of the season.  Sayers underwent surgery to repair the knee, but it was never quite the same.  He lost a lot of his speed and elusiveness.  He still managed to lead the league in rushing in 1969.

1970 was a rough year for Sayers, as he tore up his other knee and lost his teammate Brian Piccolo to cancer, the inspiration for Brian’s Song.  Sayers tried another comeback in 1971, but was unsuccessful.  Here are some highlights of Sayers:

He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977, the youngest inductee in history.  He was a four time Pro Bowler and three time co-MVP of the Pro Bowl.  He was a 5 time first team All-Pro while amassing nearly 9500 all purpose yards and 56 touchdowns in just 68 games.  He is truly one of the greatest Chicago Bears of all time.

What do you think of the ranking?  Too high?  Too low?  I guess you’ll have to check back to see who finished ahead of him to judge for yourself.  We’ll be counting down a different person each day as we inch our way to the September 7th season opener.