It’s a stark contrast from the branding of the modern NFL era, but back in the 1960’s, players with the swagger and natural ability of Gale Sayers weren’t common. A guy who talked the talk and walked the walk was a welcome breath of fresh air.
“Give me 18 inches of daylight. That’s all I need,” said Sayers in perhaps his most famous quote. And when you saw the man who largely only received a gold jacket from Canton based off of five successful years of a career actually play, you understood he wasn’t lying.
Sayers, to his credit, sometimes needed less than a foot and a half of space.