The two grew close in 1968, when Piccolo unselfishly supported Sayers’ attempt to come back from the first of several knee injuries that eventually shortened his career. Hall of Famer Gale Sayers, who made his mark as one of the NFL’s best all-purpose running backs and was later celebrated for his enduring friendship with Chicago Bears teammate Brian Piccolo, has died. But Joy Piccolo O’Connell, who has remarried, thinks the biggest obstacle to the friendship between Piccolo and Sayers had to more to do with personality than color. “It was 50 years ago.". :-) This year for my birthday I flew a plane over Clearwater Beach, I was in the clouds and it reminded me of our skydiving adventure except I didn't jump from a perfectly good plane! Brian Piccolo walked over to the University of Maryland team bench, put his arm around Hill and walked with him before the Wake Forest student section. From that rocky beginning, Sayers and Piccolo forged a bond strong enough to weather injury and illness and push back against the lazy assumption that men of different colors, from different backgrounds, couldn’t care about — and for — each other like brothers. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Winds light and variable.
When Piccolo received a diagnosis of late-stage testicular cancer the following year, Sayers unfailingly remained by his side.
It is mine tonight, it is Brian Piccolo’s tomorrow. Brian was an MMA fighter, living in Southport, Fla., and trained out of Ultimate Boxing /MMA in Panama City, Fla. Back in February of this year he was diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer, given then only nine months to live. “It just amazes me,” Joy Piccolo O’Connell said in an interview from her Wisconsin home. In 1967, hotel-room assignments were generally done by position and running back was the only slot on the Bears team where players of different colors would be thrown together. Chicago Bears teammates of Brian Piccolo carry his coffin into Christ the King Church for funeral services in Chicago.
Then he threw an arm across Hill’s shoulders, silencing the crowd. “It was 50 years ago.". Discuss this article and others on RedEye's Facebook page. It rarely resonated more than it did Wednesday, following the announcement of Sayers’ death at age 77. Piccolo and his brothers were athletes, and he was a star running back on his high school football team although he considered baseball his primary sport. Sayers, 24 at the time, was already an established star, a soft-spoken Black man who generally raised his voice only when matters of social justice were discussed. All rights reserved. Slight chance of a rain shower. But the enduring friendship that formed between the two became the subject of “Brian’s Song,” a 1971 made-for-TV movie that remains one of the most popular sports movies of all time. “Brian loved being with people, loved to talk and couldn’t do enough public speaking,” she said, “and Gale was so extremely quiet.”, Indeed, Sayers said in a 2001 interview that Piccolo’s constant joking put him off at first. From that rocky beginning, Sayers and Piccolo forged a bond strong enough to weather injury and illness and push back against the lazy assumption that men of different colors, from different backgrounds, couldn’t care about — and for — each other like brothers. :-). Affordable Funeral Care is entrusted with arrangements. Piccolo lost his battle with the disease in 1970, less than a month after Sayers received the league’s George S. Halas Courage Award and gave the speech that became the centerpiece of the film: “He has the heart of a giant and that rare form of courage that allows him to kid himself and his opponent — cancer,” Sayers said at the awards dinner, a scene reprised in the ABC movie by actor Billy Dee Williams. Here are some snapshots of the Monsters of the Midway through the years. I am an employee of Genentech and was so inspired by your story and that of our team in partnership with the Dream Foundation. Hall of Famer Gale Sayers, who made his mark as one of the NFL’s best all-purpose running backs and was later celebrated for his enduring friendship with a Chicago Bears teammate with cancer, has died. :-) You'll always be my Champ and I'll always be your Tinkerbell but we will never be Girlpants, that title belongs to Craig!
He was great at everything. When Piccolo received a diagnosis of late-stage testicular cancer the following year, Sayers unfailingly remained by his side. I am fortunate to participate as a member of the hematology team to support the fulfillment of your dream for your family. FILE - In this June 2, 2004, file photo, Gale Sayers addresses a luncheon sponsored by the College Football Hall of Fall in South Bend, Ind.
Brian's life is chronicled in the book "Brian Piccolo: A Short Season" by Jeannie Morris. AP Writer Don Babwin in Chicago contributed to this report. Sayers, Piccolo friendship lives on in 'Brian's Song'. Brian took the news and did something great with it, he lived! Graduations, games or events, order prints of your favorites photos from The Herald Bulletin. The unruly, inconsiderate crowd immediately quieted down. It rarely resonated more than it did Wednesday, following the announcement of Sayers’ death at age 77. Piccolo, likewise, told biographer Jeannie Morris that he thought Sayers was “arrogant … I didn’t see him speak to a soul the whole week we were together.”.