The sports book at Red Rock Resort was proud to host football legend Gale Sayers, who signed autographs and took photos with fans. He answered media’s questions about his history in addition to the NFL season.
Sayers burst upon the pro football scene in 1965 with the Chicago Bears. In his relatively short career, Sayers won “All NFL” honors for five straight years and was named “Offensive Player of the Game” in three of the four Pro Bowls. In 1977, Sayers was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and is still the youngest inductee in the Hall’s history. In 1994, the Bears retired his number, 40, at Soldier Field. Despite the brevity of his career, he was ranked #22 on The Sporting News’s list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. Sayers’ records include most touchdowns in a rookie season (22 in 1965), most touchdowns in a game (6, tied with Nevers and Jones), highest career kickoff return average (30.56), and most return touchdowns in a game (2, tied with many players).
Vegas24Seven interviewed Gale Sayers at this event and found him very friendly and easy to talk to. Gale likes Las Vegas and is looking on purchasing a home here soon. His primary residence is in downtown Chicago and he also has homes in Kansas City and California. We always ask about Chicago food and while he said he likes the food in Chicago none can compare to the cooking of his wife Ardie. We asked Gale what NFL running back he admired when he was younger and the answer was Cleveland Browns Hall of Famer Jim Brown. Although they had different running styles Gale was very impressed with Browns accomplishments on the field. They similarly both had shortened careers, Browns by choice and Sayers due to injuries. When asked about the current state if thr NFL he seemed disillusioned regarding players and the league in general. We could have talked to to him all afternoon but there were still quite a few fans waiting to meet and greet him. We were glad to have met Gale and hope he finds a home here in Vegas and enjoys it as much as we all do.
