Why did Gale Sayers spurn the Chiefs in 1965?

[teedubya]

This has probably been a topic of a thread before, but I've not seen it. I was thinking about Sayers yesterday... and wondering why he didn't come to KC?

Kansas City made an aggressive offer for Sayers, and wooed him hard to join their team. He summarized the package Chicago offered him as "$4.95 and a carton of Cokes", but spurned the Chiefs to sign with the Bears.

This was before the first Superbowl... and considering that Gale made ZERO championship games, and KC went to 2 during his career... I'd say he made the wrong choice.

Especially, when you consider that he went to KU.

[Rain Man]

It's a great question. I'd love to hear Sayers' answer.

My guess would be that that the Bears were a historically strong team in the big leagues, and they had squat at running back. Sayers was destined to be their star. In contrast, the Chiefs were still young upstarts for the most part, and we had a very good young runner in Mack Lee Hill who would certainly get carries (though he ended up dying at the end of the season).

Race could have played a role, and the black community in Chicago is way, way larger than in Kansas City. Whether it was concern of racism or perhaps just a goal to live in a larger black community, maybe it played a role.

[ChiefsCountry]

Originally Posted by Stewie

That's complete and utter bullshit. The Chiefs made their name drafting black players from black schools in the 1960s. Sayers was from Nebraska and played at KU. Was Chicago a racism island? Hardly! For Sayers it was about playing in the established league rather than an upstart.

Buck Buchanan, Willie Lanier, Bobby Bell, Curly Culp, Otis Taylor... among others played here and loved it. In fact, most of them made KC their home and are still active in the community.

Nope its the truth, Kansas City in 1965 wasn't as friendly for African-Americans.

Curtis and Gale were, and remain, good friends. Gale asked for advice. Curtis told him that if he picked K.C., regardless of his resources, he could get a good house in a poor neighborhood or a poor house in a good neighborhood. At the time, Curtis says, 27th Street was pretty much the black-white dividing line in KC Moe. Chicago seemed more receptive to minorities; the living conditions Gale and then-wife Linda could get there topped what they saw in Kansas City.

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2006/fe...ulda_kc/?print

[BossChief]

His username slips my mind, but there is a poster at the ChiefsCoalition that was a teammate of Sayers at KU and probably can give you the full skinny of how it went down.

[CoMoChief]

Had Sayers been w/ KC in SB1....think KC would have beaten GB?

[cdcox]

Originally Posted by CoMoChief

Had Sayers been w/ KC in SB1....think KC would have beaten GB?

No. Those Packers teams were loaded, and the Chiefs weren't quite the team they became a few years later.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by BossChief

His username slips my mind, but there is a poster at the ChiefsCoalition that was a teammate of Sayers at KU and probably can give you the full skinny of how it went down.

Whoa, that's cool.

[DanT]

Gale Sayers ancestors were Exodusters who settled in Kansas. Here's a brief and very interesting story from another descendant of Exodusters who becamse a US District Court Judge. This story appeared in the Topeka Capital- Journal last year. You can find other interesting links about Exodusters on the Web:

http://cjonline.com/news/2011-10-08/...y-baker-family

[chiefqueen]

Gale in kc = NO Brian's Song IMO

[Hammock Parties]

Obama.