Description

Gale Sayers earned the nickname "the Kansas Comet" for a running style that made him, in the eyes of teammates and opponents alike, nearly impossible to bring down in the open field. Drafted by the Bears in the first round in 1965 out of the University of Kansas, he was an instant sensation, and by the time this card was issued he had already authored one of the most electrifying highlight reels the league had seen, including a famous six-touchdown game against the 49ers. That same 49ers rivalry turned brutal in 1968. Sayers set a Bears rushing record with 205 yards on 24 carries against the Packers, but a week later tore the ACL and MCL in his right knee against the 49ers when hit by defensive back Kermit Alexander, ending his season while he led the NFL in rushing with 856 yards. It was the kind of injury that ended careers in that era, and few expected him to return to form. He did. Sayers rebounded from the injury to lead the NFL in rushing in 1969 with 1,032 yards, a comeback so admired that the league recognized it with its most courageous player award. This 1970 Topps card, printed with his 1969 statistics on the back, captures him at the peak of that second act — a player who had rebuilt a shredded knee and still topped the league in rushing. The triumph was short-lived. He injured his left knee in a 1970 preseason game and was limited to two regular season contests because of it, was eased back into the lineup in 1971 but hurt his ankle and played in only two games, then retired in the summer of 1972 after fumbling twice on three carries in a preseason game. What had looked like a storybook recovery became instead a cautionary tale about how little margin great running backs had against catastrophic injury. Despite playing parts of only five effective seasons, the body of work was enough. In 1977, at the age of 34, Sayers became the youngest man ever inducted into the Hall of Fame, and his effective playing time of 68 games is also the shortest of any Hall of Famer. His friendship with teammate Brian Piccolo, who died of cancer in 1970, later became the basis for the television movie Brian's Song, extending his fame well beyond football. This 1970 Topps issue, card #70, is not his rookie card — that distinction belongs to his 1966 Topps card — but it is the set that followed his remarkable comeback season and arrived just as the injuries that would end his career were beginning to pile up. It stands as a snapshot of Sayers at the last moment before the body gave out for good: a runner who had already proven he could come back from one devastating knee injury, pictured on cardboard the year a second one started the countdown to retirement.