Pro Football Hall of Famer Gale Sayers battling dementia

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Pro Football Hall of Famer Gale Sayers battling dementia

Mar. 20, 2017 2:26 PM EDT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Relatives of Pro Football Hall of Famer Gale Sayers say the Chicago Bears legend has been diagnosed with dementia.

His wife, Ardythe Sayers, tells The Kansas City Star that her 73-year-old husband was diagnosed four years ago and she blames Sayers' football career. He played for the Bears from seven seasons starting in 1965 after setting records at the University of Kansas.

"Like the doctor at the Mayo Clinic said, 'Yes, a part of this has to be on football,'" Ardie Sayers said at their home in Wakarusa, Indiana. "It wasn't so much getting hit in the head . It's just the shaking of the brain when they took him down with the force they play the game in."

Ardie Sayers and the rest of the family had made no secret of his condition, but hadn't shared it publicly. In 2013, he asked to withdraw a lawsuit filed against the National Football League and a helmet maker that claimed they failed to prevent repeated head injuries. The lawsuit contended that Sayers claimed he suffers headaches, occasional short-term memory loss and other cognitive deficits because of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

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Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/714c676650b043fcb350a8d8e6319316/pro-football-hall-famer-gale-sayers-battling-dementia


[font size=1]FILE - In this Sept. 1968, file photo, Chicago Bears' halfback Gale Sayers runs with the ball. (AP Photo/File)[/font]

[Docreed2003]

1. So sad....Sayers was a beast in his time...

Interestingly, Dwight Clark has been diagnosed with ALS, another in a long line of NFL players diagnosed with that disease and so many other cognitive diseases.

[elfin]

2. This Packer's fan is sad - he was a joy to watch.

Dammit.

[SHRED]

3. One of the best ever

[lapfog_1]

4. As a small boy I remember him

playing at the Univ of Kansas. Just amazing. He was unstoppable.

And also the friend of Brian Piccolo of "Brian's Song" fame and played by Billy Dee Williams.

[rsdsharp]

5. This is so sad.

I was 11 when he was drafted by the Bears. i was a Lombardi Packer fan, but as they were winning three consecutive championships, Sayers was by far the most exciting thing in football. He only played 68 NFL games, and none of those was an NFL championship or Super Bowl game. To this day, watching film of him is like watching the physical embodiment of poetry. No one before or since has ever run with that kind of grace.

[joeybee12]

6. Oh no

So very sad

[watrwefitinfor]

7. Just magnificent. He was amazing, even to a teen aged girl who didn't like football.

I became an instant fan, and remain so. The last half of this video consists of many of his record breaking runs. If you've never seen Gale in action, treat yourself.

ON EDIT: Sorry, Youtube won't allow it to run here.
This is the url: youtubeDOTcom/watch?v=vNy7SvrLE9w
(substitute . for DOT)

I am so sorry to hear about his medical issues, and wish the best to Gale and his family.

Wat

[world wide wally]

8. He was also one of the nicest people you could hope to meet

[BHDem53]

9. The Kansas Comet

He and Butkus are the main reasons I am a Bears fan to this day. Butkus was drafted 3rd and Gale was drafted 4th in the 1965 draft. He and Brian Piccolo were the first interracial roommates in NFL history. A great player and a classy man.