Gale Sayers

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Sources:

• Official NFL.com Kick return All-Time Leaders
• Current Player stats

Brian's Song

Main article: Brian's Song

Sayers' friendship with teammate Brian Piccolo, and Piccolo's struggle with cancer (embryonal cell carcinoma, a type of testicular cancer, presenting as a large tumor in his chest cavity, and which would shortly result in his death), became the subject of the made-for-TV movie Brian's Song . The movie, in which Sayers was portrayed by Billy Dee Williams in the 1971 original, and by Mekhi Phifer in the 2001 remake, was adapted from Sayers' account of this story in his 1971 autobiography, I Am Third .

A notable aspect of Sayers' friendship with Piccolo, a white man, and the first film's depiction of their friendship, was its effect on race relations. The first film was made in the wake of racial riots, escalating racial tensions in the wake of Martin Luther King's assassination, and charges of discrimination across the nation. Sayers and Piccolo were devoted friends and deeply respectful of and affectionate with each other. Piccolo helped Sayers through rehabilitation after injury, and Sayers was by Piccolo's side throughout his illness.

Retirement

Gale Sayers has had a successful career following his retirement from football. In 1976, Sayers was named Athletic Director at Southern Illinois University. Later, in 1984 he founded Crest Computer Supply Company in the Chicago-area. Under Gale's leadership, this company experienced consistent growth and was renamed Sayers 40, Inc.

Currently, he is Chairman of Sayers 40, Inc., which is now a leader in technology consulting and implementation serving Fortune 1000 companies nationally with offices in Vernon Hills, IL, Canton, MA, St. Petersburg, FL, and Atlanta, GA.

Gale Sayers and his wife are also active philanthropists in Chicago. They support the Cradle Foundation—an adoption organization in Evanston, IL, and, most recently, they founded the Gale Sayers Center in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago. The Gale Sayers Center is an after-school program for children ages 8–12 from Chicago's west side and focuses on leadership development, tutoring, and mentoring.

In 2009, Sayers joined the University of Kansas Athletic Department staff as Director of Fundraising for Special Projects.

Categories: 1943 births | Living people | American football return specialists | American football running backs | Chicago Bears player

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