Best Effort

We often hear of famous people who have passed away, but if we weren’t around when they were famous, those names really don’t mean much.

We all know who LeBron James, Mike Trout, Clayton Kershaw, Russell Wilson and Tom Brady are, and why they are talked about as having greatness. We are barraged with highlights from ESPN, FOX Sports, MLB, NFL and NBA networks. People much younger than me have gaming devices that highlight these athletes and their talent. But will you, as an individual, have special memories 40 or 50 years from now when some of these sports figures die?

On August 31, former New York Met pitcher Tom (Tom Terrific) Seaver passed way at the age of 75. On September 6, former St. Louis star Lou Brock died at the age of 81, and on September 23 Gale Sayers, the great Chicago Bears’ running back, passed away at the age of 77.

Now I could tell you that I was a big fan of each of these guys, and with the exception of Sayers, I would be lying. Brock and Seaver were not guys I cheered for, because I was a Dodger fan at the time, and those guys would too often break my heart.

Tom Seaver became a New York Met in 1967. The Mets franchise began playing baseball in 1962. The Mets were famous for playing bad baseball and the 1962 team was considered one of the worst, if not the worst, team to ever play a Major League season.

In 1969 that would change when the ‘Miracle Mets’ with Seaver as their pitching Ace would overtake the Chicago Cubs to win the National League pennant, and then upset the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. He would be inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 1992.

Lou Brock was a base-stealing sensation, something many baseball fans have little care about these days, since the home run is king. In 1974 he stole 118 bases. He could hit, and his speed was amazing. He was talented and he made the Cardinals a winner whenever he was on the field. In 1964 Brock was traded by the Cubs and sent to the Cardinals. His impact was immediate and rallied the sixth-place Cardinals to a National League Pennant on the last day of the season, and they would go on to defeat the New York Yankees in the World Series.

Gale Sayers played for the Chicago Bears starting in 1965, after a highly successful career at Kansas. He would be named “Rookie of the Year.” Unfortunately, Sayers career was cut short due to injuries to both knees. These were the days before sports medicine and scope surgery, so when they said that he went under the knife (scalpel) they meant it. Rehab was also much different then.

Sayers was injured in the 1968 season with five games remaining, but returned in 1969 to lead the league in rushing, earning the “Comeback Player of the Year” award. He would retire after only a couple of game into the 1972 season, due to injuries. Even though his career was cut short, he was voted into the NFL Hall of Fame at the age of 34; the youngest person to earn that honor.

Now the Bears weren’t the team that I would say I would cheer for, but I just loved the way Sayers played the game of football. It is unfortunate that he played on some terrible football fields in soggy, muddy conditions that could not have been good for anyone’s career; especially a guy who depended on good footing to make some of the most entertaining runs imaginable.

I didn’t get a chance to see very many of his games, but you could count on the sportscasters to show a few highlights of Gale Sayers and his exploits utilizing speed and footing to score TDs for some not-so-great Bear teams.

In 1967, Sayers and a white running back by the name of Brian Piccolo became the first interracial roommates in the NFL. Their friendship and Piccolo’s battle with cancer and death in 1970 were made famous with the made-for-TV movie “Brian’s Song” in 1971. A real tearjerker, for sure.

As sports fans we see athletes who play for other teams and because of that we may not like them, but mostly it is the uniform they wear. Lou Brock, Tom Seaver and Gale Sayers gave their best effort each and every time they put on those uniforms because the game and their team meant everything. I wish every athlete played that way.