-Former Bears running back Gale Sayers, the "Kansas Comet" whose dazzling moves and breakaway speed made him the most dangerous runner in football in the 1960s and earned him Hall of Fame honors despite playing in just 68 games because of injuries, died Wednesday at age 77. He had been diagnosed with dementia in 2012, his wife Ardythe announced in 2017.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced his death.
Though other great running backs were more prolific — Jim Brown before him and Walter Payton after him, among others — there rarely if ever has been a weapon as dangerous from anywhere on a football field as Sayers. He scored 56 touchdowns in 64 games over his first five seasons in the NFL from 1965-69 — 39 rushing, nine receiving, six on kickoff returns and two on punt returns. He also threw a touchdown pass.
"Give me 18 inches of daylight, that's all I need," Sayers famously said early in his career...
Gale Sayers, Bears legend and “Kansas Comet” dies at 77 - Chicago Sun-Times