Tribal Warfare
06-20-2008, 03:59 AM
http://www.kansascity.com/sports/chiefs/story/671902.html
What if Sayers had been a Chief?
By BLAIR KERKHOFF
The Kansas City Star
Gale Sayers turned down Lamar Hunt the first time. He wouldn’t do it again.[
One of the greatest running backs in history accepted the Lamar Hunt Lifetime Achievement Award on Thursday night at the Sprint Center at the Kansas City Sports Commission’s annual banquet.
In 1965, after concluding a fabulous career at Kansas, Sayers was selected by the Chiefs in the first round of the AFL draft, the fifth overall pick.
He also was taken by the Chicago Bears in the NFL draft. Sayers was the Bears’ second choice in the first round, behind linebacker Dick Butkus.
Hunt, the Chiefs owner who died in 2006, had helped create the AFL in 1960. But when it came to the bottom line, the established league won out.
“I signed a four-year contract with the Bears for $25,000 a year,” Sayers said. “I thought (Hunt) would give me something better. He offered $27,500.
“I thought, ‘New league, no, I can’t do that.’ You didn’t know it was going to be a good league, so I decided to go with the Bears.”
And history was made — by both teams. In Chicago, Sayers became the stuff of legend. He was among the game’s first stop-on-a-dime, cut-back, juke-a-defender artists. Volumes of NFL Films are dedicated to the magic of Sayers’ 68-game career, sadly cut short by a knee injury.
The Chiefs survived nicely. Sayers accumulated big numbers as a running back and return specialist, but his Chicago teams never reached the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Chiefs were putting together some of the best teams in franchise history.
“If I went with Kansas City, they might not have drafted Mike Garrett the next year, and I probably would have been on the team that went to the Super Bowl,” Sayers said. “But I enjoyed my career, as short as it was.”
Sayers, known as the Kansas Comet during his Jayhawk days, was thrilled to watch his alma mater go 12-1 last season, finishing with an Orange Bowl victory. He sees no reason why Kansas can’t take a place among the group of schools that competes at the highest level nationally in football and basketball.
“If we can do it in basketball, why can’t we do it in football?” Sayers said. “There are too many programs around the country that have good football and good basketball.”
Sayers sees Kansas on the right track and pointed to athletic director Lew Perkins, who accepted the Citation for Amateur Sports Excellence Award on Thursday.
“The excellence can continue, but you still have to have the funding to go out and recruit top players,” Sayers said. “Lew Perkins is doing a great job, building up the facilities, and it’s allowing us to compete with the rest of the Big 12.”
What if Sayers had been a Chief?
By BLAIR KERKHOFF
The Kansas City Star
Gale Sayers turned down Lamar Hunt the first time. He wouldn’t do it again.[
One of the greatest running backs in history accepted the Lamar Hunt Lifetime Achievement Award on Thursday night at the Sprint Center at the Kansas City Sports Commission’s annual banquet.
In 1965, after concluding a fabulous career at Kansas, Sayers was selected by the Chiefs in the first round of the AFL draft, the fifth overall pick.
He also was taken by the Chicago Bears in the NFL draft. Sayers was the Bears’ second choice in the first round, behind linebacker Dick Butkus.
Hunt, the Chiefs owner who died in 2006, had helped create the AFL in 1960. But when it came to the bottom line, the established league won out.
“I signed a four-year contract with the Bears for $25,000 a year,” Sayers said. “I thought (Hunt) would give me something better. He offered $27,500.
“I thought, ‘New league, no, I can’t do that.’ You didn’t know it was going to be a good league, so I decided to go with the Bears.”
And history was made — by both teams. In Chicago, Sayers became the stuff of legend. He was among the game’s first stop-on-a-dime, cut-back, juke-a-defender artists. Volumes of NFL Films are dedicated to the magic of Sayers’ 68-game career, sadly cut short by a knee injury.
The Chiefs survived nicely. Sayers accumulated big numbers as a running back and return specialist, but his Chicago teams never reached the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Chiefs were putting together some of the best teams in franchise history.
“If I went with Kansas City, they might not have drafted Mike Garrett the next year, and I probably would have been on the team that went to the Super Bowl,” Sayers said. “But I enjoyed my career, as short as it was.”
Sayers, known as the Kansas Comet during his Jayhawk days, was thrilled to watch his alma mater go 12-1 last season, finishing with an Orange Bowl victory. He sees no reason why Kansas can’t take a place among the group of schools that competes at the highest level nationally in football and basketball.
“If we can do it in basketball, why can’t we do it in football?” Sayers said. “There are too many programs around the country that have good football and good basketball.”
Sayers sees Kansas on the right track and pointed to athletic director Lew Perkins, who accepted the Citation for Amateur Sports Excellence Award on Thursday.
“The excellence can continue, but you still have to have the funding to go out and recruit top players,” Sayers said. “Lew Perkins is doing a great job, building up the facilities, and it’s allowing us to compete with the rest of the Big 12.”