Can you believe we are just under six weeks until the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers kickoff at Soldier Field?
Today we look at one of the greatest Bears to ever step on the field as we continue to count down the days until kickoff at Soldier Field on September 13th.
Gale Sayers
Dubbed the “Kansas Comet”, Gale Sayers was drafted with the fourth overall pick in the 1965 NFL Draft. That draft was one of the greatest in NFL history as the Bears also landed Hall of Famer Dick Butkus in the first round.
Sayers made an impact in Chicago right away as he rushed for 867 yards his rookie season. Serving as a running back and return man, Sayers finished with 22 total touchdowns in his rookie season. Sayers most notable game came his rookie season when he scored six touchdowns vs. the San Francisco 49ers.
Sayers had officially arrived in the NFL.
The all-purpose back spent just seven seasons with the Bears racking up 4,956 yards rushing and 56 combined touchdowns as his career was cut short by knee injuries. A pretty impressive stat that goes unnoticed is that Sayers actually averaged 5.0 yards per carry in his NFL career..
His career included four trips to the NFL Pro Bowl where he won three MVP’s in the games, the 1965 NFL Rookie of the Year and a two-time NFL rushing champion among other honors. Sayers retired as one of the best backs in NFL history and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977.
The Bears retired the #40 jersey in 1994 along with Sayers’ teammate and member of the 1965 draft class Dick Butkus.
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