Gale Sayers, the legendary all-purpose running back whose friendship with cancer-stricken Chicago Bears teammate Brian Piccolo was recounted in the fabled telefilm Brian's Song, has died.
He was 77. Nicknamed "The Kansas Comet" and considered among the best open-field runners the game has ever seen, Sayers died Wednesday, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Relatives of Sayers had said that he was diagnosed with dementia. In March 2017, his wife, Ardythe, said she partly blamed his football career.
In Brian's Song, a 1971 ABC Movie of the Week, Billy Dee Williams played Sayers and James Caan was Piccolo, a fellow running back who was diagnosed with terminal cancer shortly after turning pro.
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