Gale Sayers is dealing with dementia, possibly caused by football
By John Buhler
Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Gale Sayers was diagnosed with dementia four years ago, but it has become public knowledge as his condition worsens.
Gale Sayers had a brief, but brilliant NFL career with the Chicago Bears from 1965 to 1971. The Kansas Comet was so fast first in the Big Eight for the Kansas Jayhawks and later for the Monsters of the Midway before retiring at age 28 in 1971.
Sayers was the youngest player ever inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame at age 34 in 1977. 40 years later at nearly 74 years old, Sayers’ battle with dementia has become public knowledge as it isn’t getting any better.
In Vahe Gregorian’s feature for the Kansas City Star, his time with the former Bears and Jayhawks great had less to do with what Sayers said, as he said very little, and more about his wife Ardythe’s experience in living with the Pro Football Hall of Famer.
Sayers never denied her husband’s health issues, but never made them this public before the Kansas City Star feature. She talks about how Sayers needs to be constantly monitored so he doesn’t use a carpet cleaner to cleanse his hands.
Mrs. Sayers believes that her husband can still be engaged mentally, but he often struggles to hold conversations or write his name. She thinks that working on puzzling or watching engaging documentaries can trigger some of the memories still trapped inside her husband’s mind.
While it was knee injuries that ultimately cut Sayers’ NFL career so terribly short, his wife thinks that football may be playing a part in Sayers’ battle with dementia. Though Sayers didn’t suffer the concussions of some of his contemporaries, he wasn’t exactly blessed with the best set of headgear when playing for the Jayhawks and the Bears.
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It’s sad to hear about Sayers’ worsen condition, but at least we all know that dementia is to blame for his lack of being in the public eye these last few years.