Quick look: Kansas All-America ... Exceptional break-away runner ... Scored rookie record 22 TDs, 132 points, 1965 ... Led NFL rushers, 1966, 1969 ... Named all-time NFL halfback, 1969 ... All-NFL five straight years ... Player of Game in three Pro Bowls ... Career totals: 9,435 combined net yards, 4,956 yards rushing, 336 points ... NFL lifetime kickoff return leader ... Born May 30, 1943, in Wichita, Kansas.

Full bio: Out of all the stars in the collegiate and professional football galaxies, one of the brightest was Gale Sayers, known as the "Kansas Comet."

Sayers streaked through his career at KU with 2,675 yards rushing and 3,917 all-purpose yards.

Picked as an All-American twice, Sayers topped the Jayhawks' charts in touchdowns, rushing and kickoff returns during his three seasons.

As a junior and a senior, he also led his team in receiving and punt returns. His most memorable? It was probably when he became the first NCAA Div. I player to make a 99-yard run, which he did in 1963 against Nebraska in Lincoln.

Sayers also had a 96-yard kickoff return against Oklahoma, helping KU win 15-14 in an upset during his senior year.

Sayers burst upon the pro football scene in 1965 with the kind of an impact that the sport had not felt in many years. It is difficult to imagine a more dynamic debut than the one he enjoyed as a rookie. In his first heavy pre-season action, he raced 77 yards on a punt return, 93 yards on a kickoff return, and then startled everyone with a 25-yard scoring pass against the Los Angeles Rams.

In regular season, he scored four touchdowns, including a 96-yard game breaking kickoff return, against the Minnesota Vikings. And, in the next-to-last game, playing on a muddy field that would have stalled most runners, Gale scored a record-tying six touchdowns against the San Francisco 49ers. Included in his sensational spree were an 80-yard pass-run play, a 50-yard rush and a 65-yard punt return. For the entire season, Gale scored 22 touchdowns and 132 points, both then-rookie records.

Quiet, unassuming, and always ready to compliment a teammate for a key block, Sayers continued to sizzle in 1967 and well into the 1968 season. Then, in the ninth game, Sayers suffered a knee injury that required immediate surgery.

After a tortuous rehabilitation program, Gale came back in 1969 in a most spectacular manner, winding up with his second 1,000-yard rushing season and universal Comeback of the Year honors. But injuries continued to take their toll and, just before the 1972 season, Gale finally had to call it quits.

In his relatively short career, he compiled a record that can never be forgotten. His totals show 9,435 combined net yards, 4,956 yards rushing, and 336 points scored. At the time of his retirement he was the NFL's all-time leader in kickoff returns. He won All-NFL honors five straight years and was named Offensive Player of the Game in three of the four Pro Bowls in which he played.

Sayers was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of fame in 1977. He was an assistant athletics director at KU from 1972-76.

Additional stats: Passing: 4 of 18 for 111 yards, 1 TD, 2 Int; Punt Returns: 27 for 391 yards, 2 TD.