When Pro Football Hall of Famer James Lofton was a little boy, his father would speak reverently of Bears running back Gale Sayers, only he wouldn’t call him by his name; he would call him by his nickname, “The Kansas Comet.”
Sayers died Wednesday after a battle with dementia. He was 77.
“He was a wonderful player and great man,” Lofton said, “and just somebody that I knew of from a very early age and had the opportunity to get to know a little bit as a fellow Hall of Famer.”
Sayers played for Chicago from 1965-71. He was NFL Rookie of the Year, a five-time first-team All-Pro, and twice led the league in rushing yards.
Would he have been productive in today’s NFL?
“No, he would have been dominant,” Lofton said, laughing. “Think about him in the open space. Think about him in a Sean Payton offense. Think about him running some of the things that running backs are allowed to do now. And the fact that you can’t lead with the helmet, you can’t clothesline him as he’s coming through the line of scrimmage – yeah, the Kansas Comet would have been pretty good in 2020.”