Gale Sayers Highlights (Final Version)
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- čas přidán 15. 11. 2021
- I completely re-made the video I made for Gale Sayers. Sayers is one of the most elusive runners in NFL history. Also a great returner, Sayers scored 54 touchdowns, accrued 9,435 yards in his career. Only played 68 games in his career due to a leg injury, but made the Hall of Fame in short order.
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One of the greatest running backs ever, in only sixty eight games. He was just incredible to watch. The Dr. J of football.
The comparison I make is with what Bobby Orr used to do on ice.
That's an uncanny analogy when you dig deeper
THE greatest running back.
THE G.O.A.T.
Well said! My idol in my youth when i played football.
I'm 56 and never got to see him play. My father told me so many stories about his greatness
He had moves like a jungle cat. He wasn't human. Simply the greatest player I've ever seen.
That's a great description!
As a young boy drawn to all things football, I had the good fortune of watching the Bears v. 49ers game live on our B&W TV, when Gale Sayers ran for what? 5 touchdowns. It was a rain soaked field. He just ran the ball from on end of the field to the other, between the tackles, sideline to sideline, but mostly, in magnificent form, north and south. One of the greatest performances in NFL history and I watched it live on a 21 inch black and white. Can't top that.
Yeah, I watched that game to.
I think it was six TDs.
6 touchdowns ; should have been 7.
Six TDs, and Halas pulled him out of the game in the third quarter. Speed, balance, instinct...nobody has ever run like Sayers, and he made it look so effortless.
Blessed to have met him and have a picture with the greatest all around running back. He was not just a half back but also a good receiver, kick off returner and punt returner. A perennial MVP in all star games when they were played for real. The youngest player to be voted to the Hall of Fame! As George Hallis said at his induction, there will never again be the likes of Gale Sayers.
When I met him, I had to share how his 6 touch downs were being told on TV by Pat Summeral who kept saying "a Chicago Bears rookie just scored 3 touch downs, then the rookie scored 4 touch downs and finally in the 3rd quarter the rookie had a name when Summeral said "Gale Sayers of the Chicago Bears just scored 6 touch downs!" No one knows how many he would have scored had he played the 4th quarter. Thank goodness we have this video and some others for posterity.
Never imitated and never duplicated, he had a God given gift for his talent 💖
Nope, not even the great Barry could replicate the way Sayers moved through a defense. With what the game has turned into, there will never be another Sayers, and I'm OK with that.
He makes everyone else look like they are running in slow motion. Crazy speed! Open field he is passing everyone and they can’t catch him. Unreal!
Man, his awareness while running is off the charts!
I’m only two thirds through the video and heard Sayers himself speak of his God-given talent twice. This is the most important thing we can learn from this man and watching him run
I remember one day when I was a kid I asked my dad if Walter Payton was the greatest running back ever. He paused and said, "there was this guy named Gale Sayers who I grew up watching. I think he was probably even better than Payton". There are a few other old timers who I've asked that question to, and quite a few of them agree that Sayers was the best ever.
Gayle Sayers was the best running back ever. The Muhammad Ali of running backs. If he nevet had thst knee injury no one close to his total yardage and touchdown records. No one. His elusiveness was historical and power and speed graceful. Just a beautiful running style. A highlight film every time he touched the ball. The goat of all running backs. Rip the Kansas Comet.
If Bo Jackson did not get injured. If Mickey Mantle did not get injured.
Bo Jackson not close to Gale
Gale came to my High School in 1986. Spoke and was so incredibly humble. It left an indelible mark on me. Being a star doesn't necessarilly mean having to shine brighter than others.
Barry , You were a very close second…What you did , like Gale, Defines grace…I only saw film of Gale! I was able to have the honor of watching you play…Thank you both..never again will there be the likes of you two!
My favorite all-time player in football. He is the reason I love football. Go Bears and Go Iowa Hawkeyes!
But he played at Kansas! 😁
Poetry in motion. Pure God-given talent. The most naturally GIFTED running back ever, IMHO.
Jim Brown was Mr. Inside, Sayers Mr. Outside, Sanders and Payton somewhere in between but from all I've watched and seen, no one took to the open field like Gayle Sayers. Brown and Campbell could really pound out the yardage but Sayers remains the greatest of all gazelles. Most spectacular runner in NFL history. Wonderful highlight tape, thanks.
This
OJ took to the open field and was more dangerous. More power. Just as fast too.
The move that Gale put on at the 53 second mark of the video to go to his left was the best move that I have ever saw a runner make. I have been watching football since "Papa Bear," George Stanley Halas was the head coach of the Chicago Bears. 😀
Greatest running back I ever saw.
He's the only running back who actually makes me cry.
Did that bring back memories.. I was 13 living in Oakland I was a Huge bears fan... was traveling my dad was in the service so I was not from California see back in 65 they played 14 games and no OT and as most teams you only got 2 c your team play when they were away home games weren't televised, so that's how I got so lucky..what a game!!
Great, unique running style with amazing acceleration, lateral moves and supernatural balance. Trying to catch Gayle was like trying to catch water.
Greatest ever, plus the most fun to watch. Thankful I got to watch him regularly when I was a youth.
Greatest open field runner in football history.
Mason Rahal He's certainly among the best.
Mason, without a doubt, he was. 👌👍💪
I'm not gonna argue with you! I've heard former players and coaches that have been around the game since his playing days say the very same thing!
He was the perfect athlete in my opinion. He had God given talents but was very humble. When you’re great at what you do everyone can see it, there’s no need to brag and boast like these idiots do today. Being a cocky prick only takes away from your talent.
No but he is up there. You got guys like Barry Sanders and Devin Hester who are both better running in the open field
During this compilation, I shed a tear every time he scored against my beloved Packers, but it is an absolute joy to see Mr. Sayers work! ☺☺☺
Watching these highlights are entertaining. When I was a kid NFL Films had me believing that Sayers, Jim Brown, etc. scored or had a long run on every play. Then I saw Green Bay's team films from 1965-66-67 and these great runners were stuffed. Priceless.
Gayle Sayers had the best lateral movement of any running back I've ever scene.
Not close to Barry Sanders
ONE WORD "BARRY SANDERS"
I didn't see that game in December of 65 but it had to one of the greatest individual performance in team sports. RIP! The Kansas Comet.
I remember the game well, it was blacked out in Chicago, because of the rule heard in on the radio
Gale sayers is one of the few players you can actually say with no argument could play in any era r.i.p to the legend 👏
He was the Bears starting halfback AND main kickoff/punt returner for 4 years before his devastating knee injury.
I was born in '66 so unfortunately I just missed him, but everybody still wanted to be Sayers as I was growing up and learning the game. The next greatest thing to my generation was when everybody wanted to run like O.J. The Juice was loose all over backyards, playgrounds and side streets. I always thought they had similar running styles, especially in space...
Read his book when very young “GOD IS FIRST FAMILY SECOND IAM THIRD “ tried to live my life with those beliefs
Thank You Mr Sayers
Great video of my all time favorite running back to watch!!! Thanks Duke...
Glad you enjoyed it
I was in grade school and I saw it with everybody else. As the years go by, it's natural to lose sight of many things big and small. These CZcams vids are a gift that gives back to relive greatness.
He'd be the best back in the NFL today.
Him and Henry
Crazy watching these old school RBs like Sayers, Sanders, Peyton and Jim brown. They would all be greats in todays game I feel. They were waaaay ahead of the time.
He was my childhood hero. Period.
Great player, great footage, great narration - *GREAT VIDEO!* Thanks for posting 👍
When he was healthy one of the best to ever do it. He looked like a superhero.
I remember when Gale first started for the bears. To this day I think he is the greatest running back ever.
I am in Total Agreement, especially considering the Placement of the Hash Marks back in '65.
What a great draft for the Bears that year, Gale Sayers AND Dick Butkus!
Sayers was sheer brilliance and magic on the football field. Any career cut short by injury is sad, but the loss of Sayers after only several healthy seasons left an especially deep void and sadness for all those who are old enough to have witnessed him. I thank him for the imprint he left on the game ... RIP, Gayle.
Imagine if they had doctors and technology back then like they have today....his career would be much longer. Also Imagine if your favorite team had Sayers and Berry Sanders in the same backfield. DAMN!!! The cool thing about it is in my gameroom I have both of their rookie jerseys on the wall.
We can rebuild him.......We have the technology
Wow! Can't imagine what those jerseys might fetch at auction. Da Bears fan base would drool. Not sure if the Lions have a fan base.
Sports medicine came after his injury.
no it wouldn't have. what world do you live in. 98 out of every 100 "next big thing" athletes fail. If anything injuries are worse than ever
czcams.com/video/mXIKJKZ-sys/video.html
Could you imagine having Earl Campbell and either Sayers or Sanders? I'd want to have a punisher and an elusive runner to keep defenses off their toes, tired, and brutalized for 4 quarters. That's my all-time backfield.
His brother, Roger Sayers, once beat Bob Hayes in a race. Roger said that he was fast, but nothing like the football fast like Gale.
He wasn't breaking tackles so much as he was slipping through the defenders as they TRIED to tackle him..... I'd never seen him run prior to this video, but he is truly one of the most incredible runners I've ever seen... He seems even more elusive than Barry Sanders and faster than most other backs... Wow!
The NFL has experienced lots of running backs with Olympic level speed. Sayers is one of them.
There have been several great elusive RBs, Sanders and Dorsett chief among them, but no one was a prettier runner than Gale. He made breaking tackles look like a symphony or something like a competitive waltz against defenders. He didn't just have the instinct for avoiding tackles, he had buttery smooth moves in doing so, not running through defenders, but making them slide off him like water off a duck's back. It's like tacklers were oil, and Gale was water - they can touch, but never mix. Definitely my favorite of the "old" backs, and easily top 5 all time IMO.
Still my favourite NFL player ever. Trying to stop him must have been like trying to tackle the wind.
Gale Sayers was massive player as a running back/return specialist that no doubt was the best player in his era. His ability as a runner in the open field was considered unmatched. He possessed raw speed and was also highly elusive and had terrific vision, a combination which made him very difficult to tackle. It was a pleasure watching him play during his time in the league.
Leroy Kelly was really good, too!
@@Cornelius798yeah! I will checkout his highlights
Great instincts, strength, elusiveness, balance, hands and speed. Oh the speed. I think he ran the 100 in 9.6 seconds in college. He certainly looks like the fastest player in all these highlights. Was great watching the Bears back then. Sayers on offense and Butkus on defense.
Sayers could not only do things that no other football player could do. He could do things that nobody could even imagine being possible!
In my own opinion, he was the best running back in the history of the NFL.
There you go again underselling the guy. I grew up watching him play against my team (Packers). A runner above all else.
Jim Brown.
@@brainscott8198 Jim brown was good, but not as good as the Kansas Comet
@@brainscott8198 Gale Sayers, Jim Brown, Walter Payton, OJ, LaDainian Tomlinson, Tony Dorsett, Marshall Faulk, Marcus Allen, Barry Sanders, and let's not forget about Chris Johnson, Lenny Moore, or Bobby Mitchell. So many great ones really, hard to list them in order. Earl Campbell, Chuck Foreman, Larry Csonka, John Riggins, and so many others.
@@johnsobey4261 Yeah, I mean, what did Jim Brown ever accomplish?
Watched the six touchdown game on tv in San Mateo as 49ers away game. Best running back ever. Also saw the Kermit Alexander hit. Even though I am a 49er fan, I missed not being able to see him longer. Nobody has ever changed direction faster and better than him.
Nobody could hold a candle to him as far as moves combined with finesse
YOU GOT THAT RIGHT!!!!
Wasn't old enough to get the privelage to watch him play but damn, watching these old films he was in my opinion, the greatest pure runner ever.
The first time Sayers put his hands on a football in a Bears uniform was in pre-season. He ran 76 yards for a touchdown. The second time he ran a kickoff return 80 yards for a TD but the Bears lined up offside, calling the play back. Then he ran the next attempt 100 yards for a TD.
Halas called Sayers into his office, informing him that he made the team. However, "I don't start rookies. Butkus is an exception because the defense was so bad. Gale was allowed in for one play on opening day. He ran a kickoff 80 yards for TD.
In the second game he was put in for one punt return. - 63 yards for a TD. The third game he was given one play and threw a 29 yard TD pass. Halas gave him a starting role from there. He would score 21 touchdowns in 7 games, most from 60 yards and deeper. He moved like a snake through the defense.
Today there are more players running like that than ever before. Like Gale, they are all getting injuries, but more in the hip region than in the knee area.
It always shocks me when younger football fans do not know who Sayers was. One of the greatest players of all time. Just amazing to watch.
David W. Kowalski I recall a CZcams comment from a fan who not only had never heard of Dick Butkus but thought he had a very funny name.
@@vestibulate Sad.
I wasn’t old enough to see most of the bears legends play, but I could still watch Sayers and Payton run all day. It’s guys like these that give me an appreciation for bygone eras of football.
Sayers was overrated
@@charleynewman4783
How? Explain Your Reply.
The cut at :52 is off the charts!
Most running backs would break their ankles or blow out their knees if they tried to make a cut like that!
My Dad’s favorite running back. I remember watching highlights of him for the first time and he was a smooth runner and had eyes in the back of his head because I have seen defenders coming behind him from the blind side to tackle and eludes them.
My favorite too
I have his autograph on a Chicago mini helmet and it is certainly a prized possession
Sayers comments in this film that he could sense opponents behind him. This , to me, is a supreme ability or instinct for a player of this game.
The Bears may have arguably had 2 of the top 5 RBs in the history of the league in Sayers and Payton.
Gale Sayers and Barry Sanders are the best Rb's to ever play this game of Football. I SAID WHAT I SAID. 💯💯💯💯
Greatest of All Time. The Numbers he would've put up if he didn't get hurt.
I think to be more accurate, he was the greatest of his time.
Well you can always enjoy his rookie season
@@DanielSong39
The Most Exciting Player in the NFL for 3 1/2 seasons before he got hurt.
Gale Sayers used his field vision and the physics of running a football to an incredible degree, and he followed two basic techniques all the time. He would cut against tacklers coming from in front of him, and cut away from tacklers chasing him from behind. In cutting against, Gale uses the tackler's momentum against him, cutting at an angle just out of his reach at the last instant, and he's by him and gone. For pursuit from behind, he cuts away laterally, instantly putting an insurmountable distance between himself and the would-be tackler. Plus, he was tough, rugged, and fast, with perfect balance. It's genius in motion. The closest I have seen to him is Devin Hester, another Bear, in his punt return runs. Same technique.
Sayers had immense physical talent and could have done almost anything if he hadn't played football. As a senior in high school Gale long jumped 24' 10" in 1960!! He felt slighted because he should have been named Nebraska HS Athlete of the Year, but it went to a white kid from a class B school. Some say that's why he chose Kansas rather than Nebraska, his home state. Had he chosen Nebraska under Devaney with those great offensive lines he would be one of the all time leading rushers in NCAA history and probably won a Heisman.
That’s interesting Mike. If he gone to the Chief’s would have gone to the Super Bowl twice.
He also ran a 9.2 100 yd dash which back then was amazing
@@kaivrock its still amazing to this day . he ran it with cleats as did Bob Hayes now they where sneakers or what ever you want to call them , cleats slow u down a bit
Kent McCullough. Who? Yeah, that guy that won NE HS athlete of the year.
Gale was actually born in Kansas, but grew up in Omaha, that added to his decision to attend Kansas.
@@kaivrock Where did you get that number? I understand he ran a 9.5, but his brother who beat Bob Hayes said Gale was much more football fast than he was.
Exceptional blend of speed, quickness and cutting ability. Plus he anticipated guys from every direction.
I always tried to emulate Gale Sayers when I was growing up. Sometimes I even thought I could run like him. I think the knees are happy that that dream was over by the 8th grade.
My heart beats when he runs
His running style, while superbly reactive, also seemed to be like he was living 10 seconds in the future and knew what the defenders were going to do! He was one of the bookends of maybe the greatest draft in NFL history - Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus in the first round!
I attended some of those games in the 60's, with Sayers and Butkus. Wrigley Field was an awesome place to watch them.
True. It was almost like his running instincts were so good, he could bait defenders into missing him before they even got him in their sights, like he was plotting his path through a maze that hadn't even formed yet.
I'll add - I hate that all we get from these old players is the film that shows them slowed down. I don't know enough about film technology to know why that is, but I wish we could get film of them that showed their abilities in real time, showing the real speed of their jukes, jumps, broken tackles, and sprints. We can't appreciate how great they were looking at this old film... really bums be out.
His skill set was simply ahead of its time. Defenders wouldn't develop the skills and athleticism to tackle him for another 30 years!!!!!
The Bears should have been much better than they were in that era. They had great players on both sides of the ball.
He ran like a deer: so graceful, fast and agile. My favorite football player along with Dick Butkus. And to think the Bears got them both in the same draft of 1965. Man! Red Grange was pretty good, too. In fact, I think Gale was the second coming of #77. Grange did it all. Mr. Grange was also a track star in high school. Had speed, made defenders look silly.
I used to marvel at his games when I watched the NFL films weekly highlight show. We rarely got to see Chicago Bears games on TV in my area. He was terrific - and played in the tough Western Division where they played Green Bay and Baltimore twice a year. Later, Chicago played in the Central Division, the “black and blue” division, known for tough defenses and low-scoring games. He was poetry in motion.
The Kansas Comet ☄️ he was never the same after he blew his knee out against the San Francisco Forty Niners in 1968
49ers still making noise! Go 9ers!
Greatest running back ever and one of the greatest human beings
Without question the greatest rookie season by a running back ever. And the greatest pure runner that ever played.
He was the greatest runner I’ve ever seen. Barry Sanders had what I’d call “big” fakes. Sayers would barely shift and fake everybody out. He was always moving forward. Incredible.
Good description. Barry was phenomenal at breaking tackles, but he did it with a lot of exaggerated hip movements and low center of gravity that made him hard to knock down. Sayers just seemed to flow through the defense like water carving out a path in dirt down a hill. Whatever got in his way, he just weaved around and kept going.
Agreed
I don’t think you will witness those kind of moves , for many years to come..! With the exception of William “ the refrigerator “ Perry !
Barry Sanders played in a 90s football era with a lot of legendary defensive linemen and linebackers..I wouldn't dare call him a "big fake" ...his style was different because of the era he played in. The DBs also weren't as talented back in the days of Sayers in comparison to Barry Sanders days of playing.
Gale Sayers was on a higher level than Barry Sanders. And that's saying a LOT.
One of the 5 greatest running backs ever. In the same breath as Barry Sanders and Jim Brown.
Walter Payton......
Ollie Matson
Agreed, although I personally think Jim Brown is overrated in the conversation of greatest backs all time. He was other worldly in his time, but he played in an era with vastly inferior athletes on defense compared to the ones that came decades later, and I think the fact his greatness has been in conversation so long is the reason he's constantly thrown around in the conversation. I don't think he would make an NFL roster today. Sayers, on the other hand, probably could, and he'd still excel.
My top 5 would be:
1) Barry Sanders
2) Earl Campbell
3) Walter Payton
4) Ricky Williams (no, I'm not trolling, he was a freak on the field when he was actually playing)
5) Gale Sayers
@@haroldfarquad6886 Jim brown played where dick night train lane played probably the most dangerous era of football where the athletes back then were just as good just didn’t have the medicine. Jim brown coulda played in any era
GO PACK GO!!! Seriously though, Sayers was a hell of a running back!!!! I love the way he would carry the ball one handed like a loaf of bread while making sick moves and eluding the defenders.
Like He said humbly it was God given instinct ! Best on the field i ever saw. I was also priveledged to see The Bears play a Basketball Game with The Harlem Globetrotters at my Grade School Greenwood Elementary , they were actually pretty good ! ThX God for allowing me to watch Perfection in Motion !!🙌☝💜
The career-ending knee injury would only have cost him a few weeks today. He got injured before the MRI was invented
I have his Jersey....just legends #40 one of the greatest of all-time and btw to this day that movie still brings tears to my eyes and i'm 57 yrs. old...
😂 I dont watch it that much either for that reason, Dont wanna embarass myself in front of the kids, My dad passed away and this was his favorite all -time player, I grew up watching Payton having never seen Gayle play My Dad was Oh , Gayle was better , I was No way Dad look at the stats Payton blows him away ! My Dad yeah but he had no blocking and everytime he touched the Ball something Magic happens ! God I miss my dad , and his insight and now when I watch this Im like Ok Dad I see now Gayle had magic.
Run for run, the greatest RB in NFL history.
THE GREATEST EVER... to me...so very fluid.......subtle.......smooth...fast.....beautiful....ballet
Imagine Gale Sayers today? Off the charts!
One of the best cut back runners of all times.
Barry Sanders is the grea..
Somebody roll that tape of
Mr. Sayers.
Gale Sayers , along with OJ Simpson, Walter Payton and Barry Sanders, the most exciting RB'S in NFL history. Sadly the game has changed and offense is all about passing the ball now . Go Hawks
I'd rather watch Jim Brown or Earl Campbell bulldoze everyone in their path.
Emmitt smith too
Adrian Peterson
I love how he looks like he's on the attack all the time no matter what. Like he's not just avoiding the defense. He's aggressively seizing the empty space on the field.
The best there ever was I don’t care what anybody says
Hall Of Famer and only played 68 games. So in a way you can say he was the greatest player on a "per game" basis the NFL ever had. With Terrell Davis a close 2nd with 78 games, not counting his post season.
He was a very Smooth runner. 'Graceful' is the word.
We must remember our past performances to have a chance to succeed in the future
The human spirit on magnificent legs.
Gale's ball carrying style really was like poetry. Weaving a story, thinking many chess moves ahead. Just stupefying the crowd watching it take place. The diametric opposite of a wrecking ball carrier. Instead of inviting contact, defying contact.
Look at how many incredible highlights of him in only a 4 year career.
I got to see him play many times. My dad was a lifelong Chicago Bears fan.
Greatest open field runner in history.
A NFL Rookie Of The Year .
Outstanding.
Just a fantastic runner! The only somewhat modern RB that reminded my of Gale was Adrian Peterson in his first couple of seasons. I'm a Walter Payton guy through and through, but my formative years were spent watching Gale Sayers on TV. He was the youngest player to enter the HOF for a reason.
There STILL hasn't been a back as elusive or graceful. I doubt there ever will be.
faster and quicker than anyone on the field, what's instantly noticeable about sayers highlights is how many times defenders are lucky to get a hand on him, he'd just make a move and out quick you to a spot, once you had to comit to anything you were done, he was gone.. or he just simply out ran your pursuit, and he had the breakaway speed.
Freak athlete. Amazing talent. BUT, seeing how he often held the ball like a fumble wasn't possible, watching him live would have driven me nuts.
Grace god given, talent unmatched, beautiful athlete
Bro had to be the entire team on every touch. Remarkable gifts you just can't teach. The speed is what gets me as well.
Most exciting broken field RB in NFL history.
I'm old enough to say that I was "privileged" to watch Gale Sayers run the football for the Chicago Bears. The 1965 draft was the Bears' best ever getting Sayers and Dick Butkus back to back in the same draft. Billy Dee was absolutely correct when he said Sayers reminded him of a ballet dancer. Only one other player has ever reminded me of Sayers since and that's Barry Sanders.
I'm surprised no other team took Butkus before the Bears claimed him! He and Sayers without question the 2 best NFL prospects coming out of college in 1965.
Notice that he never ran out of bounds. Unlike today's prima donnas, he was fearless. He was so gifted.