OT: How the hell did Gale Sayers get into the Hall of Fame?

[RayClay]

Just reading about the NFLPA and league trying to do something about a real issue which no one cares about, helping former players get decent health care.

Ditka or somebody mentioned hall of famer Gale Sayer and I'm thinking, "he was injured, how did he get the stats for the HOF?

Answer: He didn't. Chicago media and having somebody on his team die with a tear jerking movie about him was enough.

Sayers didn't die. He had knee injuries like many running backs. Became the CEO of a computer company (probably should have gone into public relations based on this fraud).

Funny thing is, I saw Sayers. He was wonderful to watch and a huge talent, but like many (200 lbs.) lighter running backs, it seems he didn't have the durability.

Did he have a Hall of fame career? Not even close. He didn't have half a HOF career.

Two (2) thousand yard seasons, 4956 total yards. That's it!

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/SayeGa00.htm

Dillon and Curtis Martin get in twice each by these standards, not to mention the unexceptional Tiki Barber.

Sorry Chitown, this guy plays in Detroit or someplace with no movie and he's just a local warm memory and trivia question.

The line to whack RayClay starts here, but I am right.

 

[patriot lifer]

Re: OT How the hell did Gale Sayers get into the hall of fame?

from http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=188

Gale Eugene Sayers. . .Kansas All-America. . .Exceptional break-away runner. . .Scored rookie record 22 TDs, 132 points, 1965. . .Led NFL rushers, 1966, 1969. . .Named all-time NFL halfback, 1969. . . All-NFL five straight years. . .Player of Game in three Pro Bowls. . .Career totals: 9,435 combined net yards, 4,956 yards rushing, 336 points. . . NFL lifetime kickoff return leader. . .Born May 30, 1943, in Wichita, Kansas

i guess we'll have to take the writers' words for it.

 

[RayClay]

Re: OT How the hell did Gale Sayers get into the hall of fame?

from http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=188

Gale Eugene Sayers. . .Kansas All-America. . .Exceptional break-away runner. . .Scored rookie record 22 TDs, 132 points, 1965. . .Led NFL rushers, 1966, 1969. . .Named all-time NFL halfback, 1969. . . All-NFL five straight years. . .Player of Game in three Pro Bowls. . .Career totals: 9,435 combined net yards, 4,956 yards rushing, 336 points. . . NFL lifetime kickoff return leader. . .Born May 30, 1943, in Wichita, Kansas

i guess we'll have to take the writers' words for it.

Word for what? I saw Gale Sayers when he played. I don't dispute he was a outstanding runner and great to watch.

Are you saying because the writer used the word "excrutiating" when describing his knee injury that it was different than knee injuries other promising running backs have suffered?

By the way, you truncated a stat. He was the NFL kickoff return leader when he retired, he retired a long time ago.

The actual quote "At the time of his retirement he was the NFL's all-time leader in kickoff returns"

 

[FloridaHerb]

Re: OT How the hell did Gale Sayers get into the hall of fame?

Maybe so, but that movie was so sad.....

Thanks, now I've got that crappy song in my head!

 

[upstater1]

Re: OT How the hell did Gale Sayers get into the hall of fame?

Probably because he was the best running back the game had ever seen.

You're right. He didn't do it over a long career. But there may be a place in Canton for the guy who is the answer to this question: If you had to choose a RB for one game, jut one game, who would it be?

Gale Sayers
.....
.....
.....
.....
Then Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, OJ Simpson, Eric ****erson.

I'd say that Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton are a little bit below these top 5.

 

[DarrylS]

Re: OT How the hell did Gale Sayers get into the hall of fame?

Probably because he was the best running back the game had ever seen.

You're right. He didn't do it over a long career. But there may be a place in Canton for the guy who is the answer to this question: If you had to choose a RB for one game, jut one game, who would it be?

Gale Sayers
.....
.....
.....
.....
Then Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, OJ Simpson, Eric ****erson.

I'd say that Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton are a little bit below these top 5.

Would take Jim Brown any day, big, mean, fast, strictly north south and hit like a mule... he was the greatest RB of all time, no one else is close.. he quit at his prime to pursue other things...

 

[patchick]

Re: OT How the hell did Gale Sayers get into the hall of fame?

JSorry Chitown, this guy plays in Detroit or someplace with no movie and he's just a local warm memory and trivia question.

He plays in Detroit, he gets taken out in redzone situations.

I have no problem with Sayers in the Hall. Sometimes I think we get obsessed with career totals and end up rewarding guys who were merely good but stuck around for ever. I'll take greatness, even if it was over all too soon.

 

[RayClay]

Re: OT How the hell did Gale Sayers get into the hall of fame?

Probably because he was the best running back the game had ever seen.

You're right. He didn't do it over a long career. But there may be a place in Canton for the guy who is the answer to this question: If you had to choose a RB for one game, jut one game, who would it be?

Gale Sayers
.....
.....
.....
.....
Then Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, OJ Simpson, Eric ****erson.

I'd say that Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton are a little bit below these top 5.

Sorry, I'm not choosing a 198 lb. running back for one game no matter how pretty he runs.

The answer to that question is Jim Brown easily and I'd go with Earl and OJ before Sayers also.

By the way, he didn't do it over a short career either.

Here's Jim Brown's stats. Please pull out any 3,4 or 5 year period where Sayers was the greater running back.

I assume you're judgment is solely based on watching both of them run, but remember, I did also.

 

[upstater1]

Re: OT How the hell did Gale Sayers get into the hall of fame?

Sorry, I'm not choosing a 198 lb. running back for one game no matter how pretty he runs.

The answer to that question is Jim Brown easily and I'd go with Earl and OJ before Sayers also.

By the way, he didn't do it over a short career either.

Here's Jim Brown's stats. Please pull out any 3,4 or 5 year period where Sayers was the greater running back.

I assume you're judgment is solely based on watching both of them run, but remember, I did also.

Yes, I saw them both. But sayers had a total effect on the game. He was what Reggie Bush was supposed to be but isn't. Kind of a Randy Moss effect. I'd certainly take Brown over the course of a season, but I think Sayers was electrifying for one game the way Randy Moss is.

 

[RayClay]

Re: OT How the hell did Gale Sayers get into the hall of fame?

He plays in Detroit, he gets taken out in redzone situations.

I have no problem with Sayers in the Hall. Sometimes I think we get obsessed with career totals and end up rewarding guys who were merely good but stuck around for ever. I'll take greatness, even if it was over all too soon.

You make an excellent point and Sayers was an outstanding (though light, I'm sorry but light running backs don't last long in the NFL) running back and great to watch.

What does that do to standards though?

Sayers, pretty runner, CEO, wonderful guy nice movie=hall.

Dillon: snarling, nasty, tough plays with the bones in his leg coming apart (2005) and hops through games on one leg.=no hall. The press doesn't like him.

Robert Edwards. Looked good, horrible injury. Excrutiating pain, torturous recovery (adjectives courtesy of NFL hall of fame article on Sayers). If he looked as good as Sayers could we project him to the Hall?

 

[upstater1]

Re: OT How the hell did Gale Sayers get into the hall of fame?

I googled top running backs and saw that most users severely overrate Barry Sanders and Marcus Allen (top 3) while completely missing on Earl Campbell.

Jim Brown was at the top of most lists with Payton. I was surprised to see that so many remembered how good ****erson was. But Earl Campbell is completely forgotten.

 

[RayClay]

Re: OT How the hell did Gale Sayers get into the hall of fame?

Yes, I saw them both. But sayers had a total effect on the game. He was what Reggie Bush was supposed to be but isn't. Kind of a Randy Moss effect. I'd certainly take Brown over the course of a season, but I think Sayers was electrifying for one game the way Randy Moss is.

Sayers was exceptional and worth the price of admission to watch. No argument.

Unfortunately, light running backs often can't endure in the NFL. Bottom line, you either have standards or you don't. Do we project every good looking athlete would have more than doubled their output had they been healthy?

Do we add to that a bonus for well spoken, obviously intelligent (CEO of a computer company) players that we like?

Would have, could have, should have. We're on a slippery slope when we veer so far from objectivity into prediction and favoritism.

 

[RayClay]

Re: OT How the hell did Gale Sayers get into the hall of fame?

I googled top running backs and saw that most users severely overrate Barry Sanders and Marcus Allen (top 3) while completely missing on Earl Campbell.

Jim Brown was at the top of most lists with Payton. I was surprised to see that so many remembered how good ****erson was. But Earl Campbell is completely forgotten.

When it comes to what wins NFL (as opposed to college) games Earl is second only to Brown. He made you stack the middle to the detriment of your pass defense, then could still plow through.

 

[Maroney TD]

Re: OT How the hell did Gale Sayers get into the hall of fame?

Never saw Campbell play but I just saw this clip online and its just awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdvVaTbwMrE

 

[QuiGon]

Re: OT How the hell did Gale Sayers get into the hall of fame?

I met him once... he was a surly guy... maybe I just caught him on a bad day though...

 

[RayClay]

Re: OT How the hell did Gale Sayers get into the hall of fame?

Never saw Campbell play but I just saw this clip online and its just awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdvVaTbwMrE

If you watched Earl your only thought would be "that was only one guy".

He would routinely drag 3 or 4 LB types for 4-5 yards. Play after play.

By the way, Sayers was a special player. that has nothing to do with my thread it's more about fairness.

Enjoy:

http://www.twincitiesminnesotablog.com/2006/09/gale_sayers_vid.html

 

[jimmyjames]

Re: OT How the hell did Gale Sayers get into the hall of fame?

Don't you think that the fact that he was so electrifying warrants his induction?
You have to remember that when Sayers was playing the NFL was not the league it is today. Basball was America's pastime and people got their footabll fix from the college game. It was through watching players like Sayers and Joe Namath on TV that brought the league popularity.

Maybe their stats don't hold up to the modern standards, but these guys are the foundation of the modern league and for that they deserve to be in the Hall.

 

[Deus Irae]

Re: OT How the hell did Gale Sayers get into the hall of fame?

Never saw Campbell play but I just saw this clip online and its just awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdvVaTbwMrE

Barry Sanders made defensive players miss. Earl Campbell made defensive players wish they had missed.

 

[RayClay]

Re: OT How the hell did Gale Sayers get into the hall of fame?

Don't you think that the fact that he was so electrifying warrants his induction?
You have to remember that when Sayers was playing the NFL was not the league it is today. Basball was America's pastime and people got their footabll fix from the college game. It was through watching players like Sayers and Joe Namath on TV that brought the league popularity.

Maybe their stats don't hold up to the modern standards, but these guys are the foundation of the modern league and for that they deserve to be in the Hall.

No. His stats are not even exceptional in his time, for 2-3 seasons.

Do I think an outstanding player with the bare minimum stats should be chosen over a consistent but ordinary player?

Yes. The Luis Tiant-Don Sutton comparison is relevant.

2 thousand yard seasons, less than 5,000 total rushing yards. Double those totals and maybe he gets in along with players who have hundreds more.

 

[RayClay]

Re: OT How the hell did Gale Sayers get into the hall of fame?

Barry Sanders made defensive players miss. Earl Campbell made defensive players wish they had missed.

Or found another line of work.