Gale Sayers had special meaning to me

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Gale Sayers had special meaning to me

Wed, 09/30/2020 - 13:46
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I presume you have seen the ads for Medicare Coverage Helpline on television. Many of them involve Joe Namath. I like seeing those ads, not because I’m interested in finding different coverage--my wife and I have a plan we like. I enjoy watching Joe’s spiel because when I look at him I remember that he and I are the same age and he is looking old, too.

Namath and I graduated from college in 1965. Not putting myself in their category by any stretch of the imagination, but there were many, many superb college athletes in that class. Namath, Dick Butkus, Bill Bradley, Roger Staubach and Gale Sayers, just to mention a few. I never met Namath, Butkus, Bradley or Staubach. But I did have some contact with Sayers over the years. It was with a degree of sadness that I heard of Sayers’ passing last week.

One thing that we have in common is that we were born in Kansas--Sayers in Wichita and me in Clay Center. Another thing in common was that we were freshmen at the University of Kansas in the fall of 1961. He had gone to high school in Omaha where he was a multisport athlete and I went to school in Esbon, Kan., where I was a wannabe athlete.

At KU, we wound up living in the same dorm, J. R. Pearson Hall. I worked in the dormitory cafeteria where I learned to know most of the residents. Sayers ate in the athletic dining hall which was in a nearby dorm, so he didn’t come through the JRP food line very often. Where I got to know him some was in a PE class we shared. When I enrolled, my adviser told me that I was required to take a physical education course and said that I could take elementary physical education which included a variety of activities. Or, he said, you can take a class in a specialized activity or sport. “Do you like to run?” he asked suggesting that I might take a course in jogging. “There isn’t a text book and it is primarily an activity class.” Running has never been one of my strong suits so I nixed that idea quickly. “What kind of sport do you like?” was the next question addressed to me. “Basketball,” was my instantaneous answer. “I like to play basketball. Is that a possibility?” Assuring me that basketball was an option, he signed me up.

The very first class session was an eye opener for me. The instructor made a point of mentioning that 17 of the 20 members of the class were on the freshman football team. He said that to give an opportunity to the three of us who weren’t under athletic scholarship to seek another class. I didn’t know any better so stuck it out. He also pointed out Sid Micek, who was the freshman quarterback. “You want to get to know Mr. Micek. He might be able get you tickets to football games.” Micek turned the attention away from himself and pointed to another class member. “The guy you want to pay attention to is Gale Sayers. He is going to be an All-American someday.”

Micek did play quarterback three seasons at KU. But he was right. Sayers did become a two-time All-American in college and then went on to become a member of the NFL Hall-of-Fame after a short career with the Chicago Bears.

Sayers was quiet and unassuming as a member of the basketball class. But he could play. His athleticism made him easily the best player on the court. Seemed like he was always stealing the ball and leading face breaks to the other end of the court. He was a tough rebounder and since we were approximately the same height often I ended up guarding him, or at least that was what I was supposed to do. I remember a number of times when I thought I was going to pull down a rebound only to have a body slam into mine, knock me out of the way and be in perfect position to get the ball. That body was Mr. Sayers.

In an early class, the instructor had us tell about our home towns. Most of those in the class were from big cities or metropolitan areas. Sayers was from Omaha. Micek was from Scottsbluff, Neb. Lots of the others were from Wichita, Kansas City or St. Louis. When I told where I was from, there were lots of quizzical looks. “Where is Esbon,” someone asked. Thinking that I would pinpoint it for my inquisitor I replied that it was half way between Smith Center and Mankato. The rest of the class thought I was a comedian. They had never heard of those two places either. Sayers remembered my answer and ever after called me “Esbon.” The highlight of the semester was one play where I actually did get a rebound over Mr. Sayers. I brought the ball down and then dribbled around him and put the ball in the basket. He looked at me as if he had never seen me before and then with a smile said “Good job, Esbon.” With those words he made my day, my semester and my year at KU.

After that class, he would nod at me when our paths crossed on campus. I was told that he was a great student and was in a lot of advanced classes as a freshman. The next year I transferred to Kansas State and didn’t see Gale Sayers in person again until I was living in Illinois about 15 years later. Sayers came to our newsroom in Decatur in his role as athletic director at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. I went over to shake his hand and when I told him about our mutual time at KU, he was nice enough to say he remembered me. But I wasn’t so sure. He didn’t call me “Esbon.”

I always followed his career with interest. One of my favorite sports moments in college came while I was a senior at K-State. KU and K-State were locked in a scoreless tie until late in the game Sayers was handed the ball and he ran 90-yards for a touchdown. Even though KU won the game 7-0 over the school I was attending, I always cherished that moment because I was a huge fan of the man who made the TD.

Sayers was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs of the AFL and the Chicago Bears of the NFL and he chose to play for the latter. I instantly was proud to cheer for the Bears and I was even prouder when he became a huge star. He set a record for 22 touchdowns in a season and I was watching on TV when he scored six in one game. Injuries forced him to retire early but he was elected to the Hall of Fame at the age of 34, the youngest to make it. After meeting him again in the Decatur newsroom, I basically lost track of him. He left SIU in the early 1980s and went into business in Chicago. Not too many years ago I read that he was suffering from dementia. His wife said it was due to the hard pounding he received while playing football. His name was applied to a lawsuit against the NFL seeking damages for players who suffered concussions or experienced dementia later in life.

One thing I learned not too many years ago was that Sayers’ family had roots back to the little community of Nicodemus located on the Northwest Kansas Plains. What is unique about Nicodemus is that it was established as an all-Black community after the Civil War as a possible refuge for former slaves in which to build a new life. There were several such communities formed west of the Mississippi River, but it is the only one that remains a community today. I have always wanted to visit Nicodemus, Kan., which is a National Historic Site.

Many people who could have cared less about football and the NFL became aware of Sayers when the television movie “Brian’s Song” aired. It was the story about Brian Piccolo, who was Sayers’ roommate on the Bears. Piccolo was diagnosed with cancer and died while a very young man. It was Sayers’ autobiography that prompted the writing of “Brian’s Song.”

As I said, I was saddened to learn of his passing. The very, very brief time our shoulders bumped has provided me with a bunch of pleasant memories.