The Greatest NFL Career That Ended Too Soon

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  • Опубліковано 9 лют 2025

КОМЕНТАРІ • 149

  • @nflunveiled
    @nflunveiled  25 днів тому +2

    Apologies future viewers, this video just got demonetised for a couple short clips used during Sayers 6 TD game, so I had to cut it & blur some of it. Again, it gets copyrighted 2 weeks after upload. If I got notified when I uploaded it, which is how it usually works, I could have fixed it. Unfortunately now it affects the viewer experience.

  • @9Ballr
    @9Ballr Місяць тому +27

    It's sad that Sayers' career was cut so short, but he will forever be among the greatest runners and all-around talents in NFL history.

    • @mik3ymomo
      @mik3ymomo Місяць тому +1

      We saw this happen with Bo Jackson as well; the unrealized potential of a once in a generation phenomenon. Hate to see this as fans of the game.

  • @jamalama5548
    @jamalama5548 Місяць тому +20

    Every time he got the ball, you would hold your breath cuz you just knew something spectacular could happen and many, many times, it did.

  • @philbarber9738
    @philbarber9738 Місяць тому +5

    Greatest open field runner in history and perhaps my favorite player ever to watch play the game. I would sometimes forget myself and root against my club to see this guy excel.

  • @xero402
    @xero402 День тому

    I remember seeing this guy when I was a little kid. Every time he touched the ball , it was electrifying

  • @the-eye-is-watching
    @the-eye-is-watching Місяць тому +6

    I was very fortunate to have met him one evening when he visited our parish rectory when I was a teenager. A very humble man.

  • @wallyjohns7312
    @wallyjohns7312 Місяць тому +3

    An unbelievable talent, I cried when he went down with a knee injury.

  • @jago76
    @jago76 Місяць тому +2

    He was a brillant talent. He could do everything and was truly magical.

  • @robertledford499
    @robertledford499 Місяць тому +9

    NFL front offices and the coaches they hire demonstrate what it is to be brain dead.I was a teenager during his career and saw every game he played on TV. What a player. That's all I can say. He was magic. Barry and Gale are comparably GREAT.

  • @hardtack8776
    @hardtack8776 Місяць тому +2

    One of biggest “what could have been” stories in NFL history - no telling what he could have accomplished if he had not been injured.
    Smoothest and prettiest runner to watch I ever saw - he made doing very difficult things look so easy.
    What an incredible talent, and by all accounts a very good man.

  • @jerryblair4106
    @jerryblair4106 Місяць тому +6

    Gale Sayers The Kansas Comet as kids I used to watch this man he was so amazing to me.RIP

  • @ricelaker
    @ricelaker Місяць тому +4

    My favorite Bear player. I saw him play for his whole pro career.

  • @MrBmic
    @MrBmic Місяць тому +5

    He was ridiculous with the ball in his hand. Top 5 all time greatest RB in NFL history.

    • @nflunveiled
      @nflunveiled  Місяць тому

      I agree. His career was so short, but to still be considered one of the best says it all

  • @RandySmith-iz1ml
    @RandySmith-iz1ml Місяць тому +2

    I was fortunate enough to watch him from his rookie year on, and he has always been my favorite RB, but Barry Sanders certainly reminded us all of what it was like to watch Gale. They were both great.

    • @nflunveiled
      @nflunveiled  Місяць тому

      yep Barry was like the second coming

  • @Pookiepup1
    @Pookiepup1 2 дні тому

    The best I ever saw! I am a die-hard Missouri football fan. When Sayers was at Kansas, (Missouri's bitter rival), Missouri had a great running back named Johnny Roland. Great matchups between the two, but Sayers was better. (I have to be honest.) Roland was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals and rushed for over 900 yards his first year. An impressive total in those days. In his second year he tore up his knee, which ended his career. Sad that neither got to show what they could do over a normal career!

  • @veganliving6255
    @veganliving6255 Місяць тому +3

    Great video, thanks for making it. I didn't know much about Gayle Sayers before watching this although I'd heard a lot about him. I see now why he is so revered.

    • @nflunveiled
      @nflunveiled  Місяць тому

      awesome! I really appreciate it 🙏

  • @joemannix6155
    @joemannix6155 Місяць тому +13

    Sayers was the greatest

  • @dodavega
    @dodavega Місяць тому +5

    He was unearthly good and a great human being!

  • @persistentintensity
    @persistentintensity Місяць тому +1

    I started watching football in '65 and Butkus and Sayers were magical! I was 10 and I was instantly a Bears fan!

  • @robertsmit9872
    @robertsmit9872 Місяць тому +4

    He was the greatest! And what a class act!

  • @jahmanoog461
    @jahmanoog461 Місяць тому +4

    Flowed like water, so smooth

  • @danastearns7939
    @danastearns7939 Місяць тому

    I was 9-10 yrs old when I started watching Pro football on TV. Had not picked a favorite team, until I watched Sayers and Butkus playing for The Bears. Yep, I became a Bear fan and am still a Bear fan. Watching Sayers was like watching a gazelle - gracefulness and speed combined into one fluid movement. Watching Butkus was like watching a wrecking ball tear down a building - double-teamed, triple- teamed, it didn't matter he still got to the ball handler and if the exchange from the qb to the rb wasn't fast enough #51 was there to take it! Devastation of the football field bar none!

    • @nflunveiled
      @nflunveiled  29 днів тому

      so true...Sayers and Butkus had completely contrasting play styles

  • @muhammadshakoor8745
    @muhammadshakoor8745 Місяць тому +1

    What a runner, I got to see Gayle Sayers run as a kid, the best with the rock 🏈

  • @collinwilson4223
    @collinwilson4223 Місяць тому +4

    My heart was broken when sayers got hurt butkus too

  • @Riles3152
    @Riles3152 Місяць тому +3

    Even though Jim Brown was easily the dominant RB and for that matter, player of the 60’s, Gale Sayers was a RB who’s running style was FAR ahead of its time, and would have worked in ANY future era of NFL football. Gale was an artist and one of the first versatile RB’s that could be used in multiple offensive roles, including special teams. His numbers don’t pop out at you, but eye test easily concludes that he was one of the most gifted running backs in the history of pro football.

    • @nflunveiled
      @nflunveiled  Місяць тому +4

      100% agree, his style was timeless

  • @tomv4408
    @tomv4408 Місяць тому +8

    If Sayers and Butkus hadn't been injured, they could have eventually had Walter Payton as a teammate. That would've been insane.

    • @RexPomaro
      @RexPomaro Місяць тому +1

      Payton-sayers running duo is the craziest possible thing

    • @anthonytaylor7928
      @anthonytaylor7928 Місяць тому +1

      Stop it they were years before Payton

    • @RexPomaro
      @RexPomaro Місяць тому +1

      @@anthonytaylor7928 they were that draft class of 1965, Payton was 1975, so it’s not impossible for them to have had one to three years with him

  • @newtheis
    @newtheis Місяць тому +8

    @2:28, I saw him live. Trust me, Gale did not even need 18 inches.

  • @patrickmcglynn5383
    @patrickmcglynn5383 Місяць тому +10

    Billy Sims is a big what if too.

    • @newtheis
      @newtheis Місяць тому +3

      The biggest "what if", there was this quarterback who Bill Walsh said was the best he had ever coached, better than Montana, better than Young. Look up Greg Cook, how spectacular he was until he got injured in his third game of his rookie year vs. SB IV champs K.C Chiefs. He won those first three games, but with a torn rotator cuff injury, the Bengals went 1-9-1 and his career was over. (Walsh next year had to figure out how to win with Virgil Carter, and thus the West Coast offense was invented for a guy who could not throw the ball downfield.)

    • @user-jv9qz2bu1r
      @user-jv9qz2bu1r Місяць тому

      @@newtheis thanks for posting - i never knew this

    • @PatBrooks-u6w
      @PatBrooks-u6w Місяць тому

      William Andrews and Bo Jackson too.

  • @robertcurry7860
    @robertcurry7860 Місяць тому +2

    I agree.....as a Bears fan since 1975, such a great athlete and RB, KR & PR, Gayle Sayers NFL Career cut short due to knee injuries and an ankle injury.....
    the possibilities are endless if the "Kansas Comet" could have played a little bit longer.
    🤔☹ #BearDown Go Bears! 🐻🏈🏈🏈

    • @INYB
      @INYB Місяць тому +1

      I gree up in Canton, Ohio. My 1st memory of the Hall of Fame was with my dad. He pointed at this man and said "Hey Bud, go shake his hand". I said Why? He said "because that's Gale Sayers". I will never forget it.

  • @ZZSmithReal
    @ZZSmithReal 29 днів тому

    To this day Gale Sayers is the best combination of size, speed and ability to change direction ever.

  • @eedresparker2671
    @eedresparker2671 Місяць тому

    Yes I was blessed too see him play could have the best ever

  • @AbqRealDeals
    @AbqRealDeals Місяць тому

    Truly, poetry in motion.

  • @rawbfish9355
    @rawbfish9355 Місяць тому

    I saw him when I was a kid living by Chicago on a black and white TV. He was special and really fun to watch. It was a shame that injuries shortened his career.

    • @nflunveiled
      @nflunveiled  Місяць тому

      so sad when a generational talent has their career ended abruptly

  • @eddierivera1860
    @eddierivera1860 Місяць тому

    Sayers was AMAZING!!!

  • @johnleeson6946
    @johnleeson6946 Місяць тому +1

    When I moved to Chicago in ‘91, a made it a priority to go the 🐻- 🦁 games. I saw Sayers on 📺, but I wanted to see his doppelgänger Barry Sanders live!
    Amazing!!!🤩

    • @nflunveiled
      @nflunveiled  Місяць тому

      awesome you got to see both!

  • @hesavedawretchlikeme6902
    @hesavedawretchlikeme6902 Місяць тому +2

    Gale Sayers, Jim Brown...great running backs when I was growing up in 60s & 70s. We had a running back in high school who ran just like Sayers. He was not a huge running back. Fast as lightning, darted here and there, only needed a small crevice to get through the scrimmage line. He was able to make the same cuts as Sayers, make people miss him. His name is Jerry Flemons, and he was an excellent back, and helped us win championships. I was an offensive lineman.

  • @cmkilcullen8176
    @cmkilcullen8176 Місяць тому +1

    He's the greatest.

  • @paulsommer6756
    @paulsommer6756 Місяць тому +2

    Most spectacular!

  • @kingKing-is6me
    @kingKing-is6me Місяць тому

    Gale Sayers was the GREATEST

  • @jgrizzy
    @jgrizzy Місяць тому

    Dang his passion years later as a older man tells me a alot. 🤦🏿‍♂️started tearing thinking about a better doctor back then. DESIRE 🔥

  • @rickstevens1384
    @rickstevens1384 Місяць тому +2

    Can you imagine Sayers on the Chiefs team of those years. They were stacked with future all pro, hall of fame players. Sayers on that team? Good Lord!.

    • @nflunveiled
      @nflunveiled  Місяць тому +1

      oh...what could have been!

  • @tmgco
    @tmgco Місяць тому

    I saw just about every carry of his career. He was just coming into his prime when he got hurt. A crying shame.

  • @christopherohara68
    @christopherohara68 Місяць тому +1

    He was chosen for halfback on the NFL's 75th anniversary team so maybe he is the GOAT.

  • @lancejames1160
    @lancejames1160 Місяць тому +1

    I actually saw the play that he got injured ordered on TV and I cried

  • @michaelcolloton6971
    @michaelcolloton6971 Місяць тому

    I lived in Northern Illinois when Sayers and Butkus played. It was a magical time.

  • @tuffyrhodes3830
    @tuffyrhodes3830 29 днів тому

    I ran into Gale Sayers at the lobby entrance of a Bennigans downtown Chicago years ago, he was on a pay phone and trying not to be seen. There was nobody else in the place at the time. I instantly recognized him, and said hello, and left him alone; he looked like he was in the middle of something unpleasant. But I thought it was pretty cool just to bump into him by chance

  • @ChetMathieu
    @ChetMathieu Місяць тому +1

    THANKS'' SAYERS''+BUTKUS'' For Making Me A Bears Fan For Life''

  • @dudermcdude9245
    @dudermcdude9245 Місяць тому

    Even smooth in the mud.

  • @chrisphillips348
    @chrisphillips348 12 днів тому

    Gayle, Bobby Orr & Joe Namath were victims of ACL & MCL tears. Gayle was the only one of them to have a few seasons with the ligaments in tact as the other two were Dead kneed before entering the professional leagues

  • @davidkacinec7620
    @davidkacinec7620 Місяць тому

    Best open field runner ever.

  • @TheOlmonroe1
    @TheOlmonroe1 Місяць тому

    16 touches 336 yards and 6 TDs. Let that sink in.

  • @TheRocker27
    @TheRocker27 Місяць тому

    He was the most exciting player ever. He could run for a td anytime he carried the ball. 🤘🃏🎸🥃🍺🤤🛸

  • @dreams2xs
    @dreams2xs Місяць тому

    I remember watching Sayers play. I also remember watchin Piccilo play. I actually bought a car from Gale in the 80's. After leaving football, he started a chain of car lots.

  • @dandyer2616
    @dandyer2616 Місяць тому

    My opinion,,, the greatest of all time
    I treasure my Chicago mini helmet with his autograph on the side.

  • @arnoldstevenson4427
    @arnoldstevenson4427 Місяць тому +1

    Johnny Morris said best , for 1 play I take Sayers , for a career I take Payton.. !

  • @kellyzillmer3932
    @kellyzillmer3932 Місяць тому

    Green Bay's Golden Boy, Paul Hornung, scored 6 on the same day in a comeback season, after injury and suspension for gambling. He received NO press because of what Gayle did that day. He loved Gayle but hated that day.

  • @DariusJones
    @DariusJones Місяць тому

    And now both these men are gone.

  • @Marcuswelby-nx2te
    @Marcuswelby-nx2te Місяць тому

    Got his autograph shortly before he passed on.

  • @GeneHornung
    @GeneHornung Місяць тому

    Some people say that he was the greatest broken field runner of all time.

  • @jaywysard
    @jaywysard Місяць тому

    As a kid who grew up in the 1970s, I never got a chance to see Sayers play. But I did see the film. I mean, just look at the damn film. That's all I have to say.

  • @Mchiaramonte1
    @Mchiaramonte1 Місяць тому

    I was lucky enough to see him play. True, every time he touch the ball there was a chance he would be gone to the goal line

  • @jordanalia4595
    @jordanalia4595 Місяць тому

    Gayle Sayers, Derrick Rose…Chicago had two of the biggest What Ifs

  • @kylerott
    @kylerott 14 днів тому

    He had a sense when an opponent was about to reach him and he would cut leaving the opponent with nothing

  • @samuelsimmons105
    @samuelsimmons105 Місяць тому

    Its true Gale was like a ghost!!!💯😎

  • @roberthudson1959
    @roberthudson1959 Місяць тому

    Brown, Sanders, and Sayers are generally considered to be three of the four best backs in NFL history. The fourth slot is widely debated.

    • @billmorrison9068
      @billmorrison9068 Місяць тому

      Well, there's OJ, Walter Payton, Marshall Falk, LaDanian Tomlinson, Marcus Allen, and lots of others who are also in the conversation. Barry Sanders was prone to negative yardage runs, he couldn't block, and wasn't much as a receiver. He was sort of useless on third down.

    • @roberthudson1959
      @roberthudson1959 Місяць тому

      @@billmorrison9068 Sanders was the running back equivalent of a 1950's quarterback whose completion percentage wasn't as important as yards per attempt, but he was definitely an asset because his yardage totals include the negative plays. You also need to remember that Brown wasn't known as an all-around back. I stand by my comment.

    • @billmorrison9068
      @billmorrison9068 Місяць тому

      @roberthudson1959 Check out Brown's receiving totals. He was a great receiver.

    • @roberthudson1959
      @roberthudson1959 Місяць тому

      @@billmorrison9068 I did. He averaged 2.2 catches and 21.2 yards receiving per game, with 20 touchdowns. I am not as impressed as you seem to be.

    • @billmorrison9068
      @billmorrison9068 Місяць тому

      @@roberthudson1959 Well now, let's take a closer look: Reception totals during the last five years of his career: 46, 47, 24, 36, 24; Y/R for those years: 10.0, 11.0, 11.2, 9.4 and 9.6. In his career, Jim Brown tallied 262 receptions for 2499 yards with 20 touchdowns, averaging 9.5 yards per reception. In other words, very impressive totals for a RB in the 1960s. Strange how you would minimize that.

  • @davidalexander8996
    @davidalexander8996 Місяць тому

    I'm also reminded of Terrell Davis who played 4 years and excelled in the postseason with 2 Super Bowl rings alongside John Elway before knee injuries cut short his Hall of Fame career. Who knows if Sayers might have won a pair of Super Bowls himself with the Chiefs had he stayed close to home and been luckier?

  • @patriot4america
    @patriot4america Місяць тому

    Barry Sanders is the only other running back who was as exciting as Gale Sayers. Too bad they didn't have the surgeries they have now back then.

  • @ellisblom339
    @ellisblom339 Місяць тому +2

    He was the best, and Jim Brown was correct.

  • @bimbamjam
    @bimbamjam 29 днів тому

    Sayers road roommates used to say that he was so fast that he could turn off the room light & be in bed before the room got dark.

  • @octavioaraujo1674
    @octavioaraujo1674 Місяць тому

    2:12, same old Bears, tragic!

  • @stevefowler2112
    @stevefowler2112 Місяць тому

    I am old enough to have watched the great ones in their prime...the three best RB's I ever saw were: 1.) Jim Brown, 2.) Gale Sayers and 3.) Early Campbell...i would have Bo at 4 but he didn't play long enough.

    • @billmorrison9068
      @billmorrison9068 Місяць тому

      So many great running backs, it's hard to rank them. No knock on Bo, but he is nowhere near #4.

  • @Davepool-hs7vr
    @Davepool-hs7vr Місяць тому +1

    Both Sayers and Butkus could have had longer careers if George Halas wasn’t so cheap.

  • @kennethgoldberg83
    @kennethgoldberg83 Місяць тому

    I did see him play in Baltimore

  • @kellyzillmer3932
    @kellyzillmer3932 Місяць тому

    Imagine- Sayers followed by Payton. What a run. Butkus followed, kind of , by Urlacker.What a run.Chicago fans should not be troubled by Farve followed by Rogers. Jury is still out on Love (but it is not looking good.)

    • @nflunveiled
      @nflunveiled  Місяць тому

      for sure, the Bears have been blessed with some of the greats. But they have not been a well run team for a while. That being said, having two of the all time great QBs and only winning two Super Bowls in a ~30 year period pains me (as a Packers fan).

  • @dklang
    @dklang Місяць тому

    Let's get a Brit guy as an expert on American Football, and it's legends. Strange.

  • @nadavegan
    @nadavegan Місяць тому

    I miss muddy football.

  • @snarkmark2806
    @snarkmark2806 Місяць тому

    His style ended his career early. Cuts are normally made on the ball of the foot, but Gayle cut on his heels, screwing up his knees.

    • @robertsmit9872
      @robertsmit9872 Місяць тому

      I believe it was a Kermit Washington tackle that destroyed his knee!

  • @kms6802
    @kms6802 Місяць тому

    Gale was great, but Tony Dorsett was pretty poetic as well, in a much more competitive era . . .

    • @billmorrison9068
      @billmorrison9068 Місяць тому

      Pocket OJ! Great, but not on the level of Sayers.

  • @joemcbride3564
    @joemcbride3564 Місяць тому

    ...so you're telling me that Billy D Williams could have been the GOAT?...cause that is the guy in the main photo here...

  • @chipschannel9494
    @chipschannel9494 Місяць тому

    He came to your stadium an made you crazy trying not to root for him.

  • @joeallenboxing
    @joeallenboxing Місяць тому

    Sayers and Billy Simms would have been the greatest had not been for injuries.

  • @jamesshaw5247
    @jamesshaw5247 Місяць тому

    Chicago still makes the same type of decisions unfortunately

  • @damonsonnier34
    @damonsonnier34 Місяць тому +1

    Sterling Sharpe was a better Wide Receiver than Michael Irvin.

    • @INYB
      @INYB Місяць тому

      Whew. They were both great. Very similar styles too.

  • @kingKing-is6me
    @kingKing-is6me Місяць тому

    What Sanders could only do on astro turf Sayers did on natural grass

  • @g.scottdeshefy4568
    @g.scottdeshefy4568 Місяць тому

    Jaguar Jon Arnett, one of the great all purpose backs and open field runners ever, was also in that backfield for the last two years of his career after so many great ones with the Rams. Ronny Bull was pretty good, too. Bears should have dominated, but alas did not.

  • @kms6802
    @kms6802 Місяць тому

    There has only been one two time Heisman trophy winner, Archie Griffin, the second year he won it the runner up was . . . Tony Dorsett . . . Compare , TD should have been the only two rime Heisman winner

  • @kms6802
    @kms6802 Місяць тому

    Watch the Dorsett video, you’ll think . . . Gale who?

  • @larky368
    @larky368 Місяць тому

    What if he had taken the extra two thousand bucks and played for the Chiefs?

  • @johnrains8409
    @johnrains8409 28 днів тому

    But he didn't. Score everytime he touched the ball that is.

  • @jamessammaro6887
    @jamessammaro6887 Місяць тому

    The title he could score at any time well how come he didn’t? 🥴

  • @androlibre9661
    @androlibre9661 Місяць тому

    Closest thing to Gale Sayers as a PRO was Reggie Bush in College.

    • @billmorrison9068
      @billmorrison9068 Місяць тому

      Lots of other great RBs are in that conversation.

  • @kms6802
    @kms6802 Місяць тому

    Here you go ua-cam.com/video/ZD4dcmyWODA/v-deo.htmlsi=NoL-V1PNzwmR2ZJY

  • @Aubreykrendale
    @Aubreykrendale Місяць тому

    I you don't cry watching Brians Song there's something wrong with you.

  • @raymondpierotti8414
    @raymondpierotti8414 Місяць тому

    Routine play, my ass. Kermit Alexander targeted Sayers knee and tried to destroy what might have been the greatest career. Who is the British Twit AI bot.

  • @225deejay
    @225deejay Місяць тому

    Great subject matter. Terrible presentation. You need help.

  • @LucienClark-dt1mf
    @LucienClark-dt1mf 8 днів тому

    B.s.

  • @samuelsimmons105
    @samuelsimmons105 Місяць тому

    Ditka,did the same to Walter, in the SB!!!💯😎

  • @mhenderson1000
    @mhenderson1000 Місяць тому

    Magic is my altime favorite Bear, RB to ever play in the NFL..I'll take him over Walter Payton and Jim Brown..My 1st football game was that Dec 12th, game at Wrigley Field and he electrify..I always told my dad that was the best Christmas present I have ever had and I'm 64 years young..Sayers was called Magic because every time he touched the ball you knew something magical was going to happen.

    • @nflunveiled
      @nflunveiled  29 днів тому

      wow what a first game to watch!