1968: Sayers Runs for 205 Yards & Bears Defeat Packers on Free Kick

The Green Bay Packers had won three straight NFL Championships but were struggling at 3-3-1 as they hosted their biggest rivals, the Chicago Bears, on November 3, 1968. Vince Lombardi had stepped down as head coach in favor of long-time defensive assistant Phil Bengtson, and age and injuries were catching up to the once-great club. To be sure, QB Bart Starr was still formidable at age 34, if also more prone to injury, and flanker Carroll Dale a dependable receiver. The defense remained tough and contained familiar names like MLB Ray Nitschke, CB Herb Adderley, and FS Willie Wood. But there were holes inadequately filled and the lack of a dependable placekicker to succeed the retired Don Chandler was one of them.

The Bears had a new head coach as well in Jim Dooley, with George Halas having finally retired from sideline duty (he remained the owner). They had gotten off to a poor start but were winners of their last two games and had a 3-4 record coming into Green Bay. Young and mobile QB Virgil Carter was performing well since taking over the starting role initially vacated by the injured Jack Concannon, but the key to the offense was outstanding HB Gale Sayers (pictured above).

There were 50,861 fans in attendance at Lambeau Field. In the first quarter, the Packers had the first shot as Bart Starr threw to HB Donny Anderson, who gained 26 yards before being tripped up by SS Richie Petitbon. But they came up empty when, four plays later, Errol Mann missed a 44-yard field goal attempt. Green Bay missed another opportunity midway through the second quarter as Mann again failed on a field goal attempt, this time from 29 yards.

The Bears were not getting near scoring territory until, late in the second quarter, Gale Sayers broke away as he ran wide to the right and then cut against the grain for a 63-yard carry to the Green Bay 17. That set up a 10-yard Mac Percival field goal for the first points of the game and gave the Bears a 3-0 lead at halftime.

Sayers returned the second half kickoff 46 yards to give Chicago favorable starting field position at the Green Bay 44. Eleven plays later, Virgil Carter bootlegged the last two yards for a touchdown, taking advantage of the defense keying on Sayers. Percival added the extra point and the visitors were ahead by 10-0.

Down by ten points, the Packers put together an 81-yard drive in seven plays, culminating in Starr throwing long to Carroll Dale, who beat FS Roosevelt Taylor for a 50-yard TD. Chuck Mercein, normally a fullback but relieving the injured and ineffective Errol Mann, added the point after and the score was narrowed to 10-7. The Packers got a break when Chicago next had to punt and Jon Kilgore’s shanked 17-yard kick gave them the ball at their 41. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Mercein tied the score with a 19-yard field goal.

On the ensuing kickoff, WR Dick Gordon muffed the ball and had to scramble into the end zone to recover it. But while two officials initially signaled a safety, the play was ruled a touchback and the Bears started out at the 20. The Packers regained possession when CB Bob Jeter intercepted a Carter pass at midfield, but on the series that followed Anderson fumbled when hit by LB Dick Butkus and LB Jim Purnell recovered at the Chicago 42.

The Bears had the next opportunity when a 21-yard Sayers run moved them into scoring territory, but LB Lee Roy Caffey blocked Percival’s field goal attempt from 29 yards. Green Bay received a further break when, on the next possession by the Bears, Sayers fumbled at the Chicago 39 and Herb Adderley recovered and returned it to the 14. Anderson ran the ball three times and Mercein tried for a field goal from the 22, but it missed wide.

There was an exchange of punts before a Donny Anderson kick into the wind from deep in his own territory traveled only 28 yards. WR Cecil Turner of the Bears called a free catch at the Green Bay 43 and, with 26 seconds left on the clock, Chicago chose to attempt a rare free kick from the point of the catch. Percival came through with a 43-yard field goal and the Bears won by a final score of 13-10.

Chicago had the edge in total yards (328 to 242) and first downs (18 to 12). While completing only five passes, the Bears gained 291 yards on the ground. However, they also turned the ball over three times, to one by Green Bay, and were flagged for 10 penalties as opposed to two called on the Packers. Green Bay was also hurt by a combined three missed field goals in four attempts by Errol Mann and Chuck Mercein.

Gale Sayers had a big performance, rushing for 205 yards on 24 carries, with 118 on 10 attempts in the first half alone, although he also fumbled three times. Virgil Carter completed 5 of 14 passes for 51 yards and gave up two interceptions, but ran the ball 11 times for 56 yards and a touchdown. HB Brian Piccolo, who gained a modest seven yards on five rushing attempts, was Chicago’s leading pass receiver with a mere two catches for 19 yards.

For the Packers, Bart Starr was successful on 10 of 18 throws for 154 yards and a TD with no interceptions. HB Elijah Pitts ran for 43 yards on 10 attempts in addition to catching four passes for 33 yards. Carroll Dale gained a team-leading 74 yards on three pass receptions that included a touchdown.

“He’s fantastic,” said Green Bay’s Coach Bengtson of Gale Sayers. “I’ve seen him have good days, but this has to be the best.”

Sayers extended his NFL rushing total to 824 yards with his career-high performance against the Packers, but disaster struck the following week against the 49ers when he went down with a season-ending knee injury. The Bears faltered but remained in the Central Division race until suffering a one-point loss to Green Bay in the season finale that left them in second place with a 7-7 record. That was still better than the Packers, who suffered their first losing season in ten years, ending up at 6-7-1.

1967: Late Chandler FG Allows Mistake-Prone Packers to Edge Bears

The Green Bay Packers had won back-to-back NFL Championships in 1965 and ’66, but were facing problems as they hosted the Chicago Bears on September 24, 1967. Age and injuries were catching up to many of the key players who had helped to produce four NFL titles since the arrival of Vince Lombardi as head coach and GM in 1959. For instance, gone was the great backfield combination of HB Paul Hornung and FB Jim Taylor, and QB Bart Starr, the league’s MVP in ’66, was playing hurt. But there were still plenty of savvy veterans on the roster combined with some promising younger talent. Nevertheless, the Packers had been shaky in a season-opening game against Detroit the previous week, rallying to salvage a 17-17 tie and with time running out before they could attempt a long field goal. Starr had tossed more interceptions in that one game (4) than he had given up in all of 1966 (3).

The Bears, coached by 72-year-old owner George Halas, “the Papa Bear”, were coming off a 5-7-2 record and had lost badly to the Steelers the week before coming to Green Bay. Key players on the team were all-purpose HB Gale Sayers on offense and MLB Dick Butkus on the defensive side, but there were many question marks elsewhere, notably at quarterback where Larry Rakestraw was to start but it was hoped that Jack Concannon, obtained in an offseason trade from Philadelphia for discontented star TE Mike Ditka, would ultimately step in.  

There were 50,861 fans in attendance on a sunny afternoon at Lambeau Field and they saw Green Bay’s first two possessions end with interceptions. Going for a quick throw to TE Marv Fleming, Bart Starr’s first pass of the game was intercepted by SS Richie Petitbon. On the next series, LB Doug Buffone tipped a Starr pass into the air and pulled it in for another Chicago pickoff. However, the Bears were unable to take advantage of either turnover, giving the ball up once themselves with an interception, and the first quarter was scoreless.

In the second quarter, Green Bay came through with a big play when HB Donny Anderson, back to punt, instead took off on a 40-yard run to the Chicago 10. Two plays later, FB Jim Grabowski (pictured at left) plowed for two yards off tackle to score a touchdown. Don Chandler (pictured at top) converted to make it a 7-0 contest.

Late in the second quarter, the Packers put together another scoring drive, moving from their 30 to the Chicago 13 and being helped by a pass interference penalty on CB Curtis Gentry that enraged George Halas. However, Grabowski came up a yard short on a third down carry and Chandler kicked a 20-yard field goal.

A short kickoff gave the Bears possession at their 32 and QB Larry Rakestraw made a big gain with a 20-yard run to the Green Bay 42, taking advantage of the Packers dropping back into pass coverage on defense rather than mounting a rush. The first half ended with Mac Percival attempting a 49-yard field goal that fell short and the score remained 10-0 in favor of Green Bay.

The third quarter started off with another Petitbon interception of a Starr pass, and he returned it 35 yards to the Green Bay 16. Sayers ran for five yards, but FB Andy Livingston was held to no gain and Jack Concannon, replacing Rakestraw at quarterback, was sacked by LB Lee Roy Caffey for a four-yard loss. Chicago settled for a 22-yard field goal by Percival that cut the home team’s lead to 10-3.

Two more interceptions and a pair of fumbles stymied the Packers, but the defense continued to keep Chicago in check. Late in the third quarter, and with the ball at the Green Bay 31, the Bears tried to convert a fourth-and-one situation but Sayers was stopped short.

On the second play of the fourth quarter, the Packers were inside the Chicago ten and looking to take control of the game, but Grabowski fumbled the ball away at the five. Their inability to build on the lead came back to haunt them when Dick Butkus recovered another fumble, this time at the Green Bay 36. Following two nine-yard scrambles by Concannon, the Bears scored when Sayers ran around left end for a 13-yard touchdown. Percival added the extra point to tie the score with 3:30 remaining in the contest.

The climactic drive started for the Packers at their 39. A short pass from Starr to HB Elijah Pitts picked up 15 yards to get into Chicago territory and then Grabowski ran for nine yards. Kicking into the wind, Chandler’s 46-yard field goal attempt was successful with 1:03 left on the clock. Green Bay came away with a hard-earned 13-10 win.

Belying the closeness of the score, the Packers dominated Chicago in total yards (365 to 159) and first downs (24 to 6). A further contrast was that Green Bay rushed for 233 yards while the Bears netted just 19 yards through the air. The Packers never punted during the course of the game, with the fake by Anderson wiping out the only occasion in which they lined up to do so. However, Green Bay also turned the ball over a staggering eight times, to just one suffered by the visitors.

Bart Starr had another rough performance as he completed 10 of 19 passes for 113 yards and no touchdowns while being intercepted five times. Jim Grabowski ran for 111 yards on 32 carries that included a TD, and while the attempts set a then-club record and it was his first 100-yard rushing game in the NFL (he had one other), he also fumbled three times. Thanks to the long run out of punt formation, Donny Anderson gained 68 yards on 7 attempts. WR Carroll Dale led the Green Bay receivers with four catches for 58 yards.

For the Bears, Gale Sayers rushed for 63 yards on 15 carries that included a TD and also was the team’s top receiver with just two receptions for 12 yards. Larry Rakestraw managed to complete three of his seven passes for 16 yards and had one intercepted. Jack Concannon, who finished the game in relief, went two-of-five for a mere seven yards but ran for 22 yards on five carries. Richie Petitbon (pictured at right) starred on defense with three interceptions that he returned for 41 yards.

“We’re having a hell of a time, apparently,” said Coach Lombardi after a second tough game. “But it’s more tribute that they can still come back.”

Green Bay recovered from the slow start to win eight of its next ten contests and topped the Central Division of the newly realigned NFL at 9-4-1. The Packers went on to win the NFL Championship and a second Super Bowl with a victory over the Oakland Raiders, champions of the AFL. The Bears continued to have trouble scoring points and were 2-5 before catching fire in the second half of the season and ending up second in the division with a 7-6-1 record, losing the rematch with the Packers in Chicago.

Bart Starr gave up nine interceptions in the first two games of the ’67 season and ended up throwing 17 in all, but while he had lesser statistics than in past seasons, in the end he was named Super Bowl MVP for the second consecutive year.

Jim Grabowski went down with a season-ending knee injury in the ninth week but still led the Packers in rushing with 466 yards. The player who was drafted to replace the great Jim Taylor returned to rush for 518 yards in 1968, but injuries ultimately shortened his career.

Don Chandler went on to tie his career best with 19 field goals out of 29 attempts (65.5 %) and added another four in the Super Bowl victory. He was named to the Pro Bowl for the only time in what was his last season.

Rookie of the Year: Gale Sayers, 1965

Halfback, Chicago Bears

Age: 22

College: Kansas

Height: 6’0”   Weight: 198

Prelude:

A consensus All-American in 1963 and ’64, the “Kansas Comet” rushed for 2675 yards and had 3917 all-purpose yards in college. He was chosen by the Bears in the first round (fourth overall) of the 1965 NFL draft (he was also a first-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFL draft). There were questions about his blocking ability, but not his speed and running instincts, and Sayers moved into the lineup.

1965 Season Summary

Appeared in all 14 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Rushing

Attempts – 166 [7]

Most attempts, game - 17 (for 80 yds.) at Green Bay 10/3

Yards – 867 [2]

Most yards, game – 118 yards (on 16 carries) at Baltimore 12/5

Average gain – 5.2 [3]

TDs – 14 [2]

100-yard rushing games – 3

Pass Receiving

Receptions – 29      

Most receptions, game – 5 (for 104 yds.) at Green Bay 10/3

Yards – 507

Most yards, game - 104 (on 5 catches) at Green Bay 10/3

Average gain – 17.5

TDs – 6 [13, tied with Homer Jones & Bobby Mitchell]

100-yard receiving games – 1

Kickoff Returns

Returns – 21 [10, tied with Ernie Koy & Mel Renfro]

Yards – 660 [6]

Most yards, game – 170 (on 4 ret.) at Minnesota 10/17

Average per return – 31.4 [2]

TDs – 1

Longest return – 96 yards

Punt Returns

Returns – 16 [10, tied with Jim Stiger]

Yards – 238 [5]

Most yards, game – 134 (on 5 ret.) vs. San Francisco 12/12

Average per return – 14.9 [2]

TDs – 1

Longest return – 85 yards

All-Purpose yards – 2272 [1]

Passing

Attempts – 3

Completions – 2

Yards – 53

TDs – 1

INT – 1

Scoring

TDs – 22 [1]

Points – 132 [1]

The 22 touchdowns set a NFL record and included a record-tying 6 in a single game.

Awards & Honors:

NFL Rookie of the Year: UPI, NEA, Sporting News

1^st-team All-NFL: AP, NEA, UPI, NY Daily News

1^st-team All-Western Conference: Sporting News

Pro Bowl

Bears went 9-5 to finish third in the NFL Western Conference while leading the league in touchdowns (54).

Aftermath:

Sayers followed his sensational rookie season by leading the NFL with 1231 rushing yards and setting an all-purpose yardage record with 2440 in 1966. He led the league in total yards for the third straight year with 1689 in ’67. Sayers received consensus first-team All-NFL honors and gained selection to the Pro Bowl after both years. He was on his way to another great year in 1968 when he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the ninth game that required surgery. Still, he rushed for 856 yards, had 1463 all-purpose yards, and again received consensus first-team All-NFL honors. Sayers made a successful return with a woeful Bears team in 1969, leading the NFL in rushing for a second time with 1032 yards. But further injuries in 1970 and ’71 ended his career. Overall, Sayers rushed for 4956 yards on 991 carries (5.0 avg.), caught 112 passes for 1307 yards (11.7 avg.), averaged 14.5 yards on 27 punt returns and a NFL-record 30.6 yards on 91 kickoff returns, totaling 9435 total yards and scoring 56 touchdowns. His career may have been brief, but he made an impression, as he was a consensus first-team All-NFL selection five times and was selected to the Pro Bowl on four occasions. The Bears retired his #40 and Sayers was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Class of 1977.

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Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were named Rookie of the Year in the NFL, AFL (1960-69), or USFL (1983-85) by a recognized organization (Associated Press – Offense or Defense, Newspaper Enterprise Association, United Press International, The Sporting News, or the league itself – Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year). 

1965: Rookie Gale Sayers Scores 6 Touchdowns vs. 49ers

In the 1965 college player draft, the Chicago Bears held three choices in the first round thanks to trades with Pittsburgh and Washington. With the third and fourth overall choices, they went with linebacker Dick Butkus from Illinois and Kansas halfback Gale Sayers. Two picks later they drafted Steve DeLong, a tackle from Tennessee who signed with the AFL’s San Diego Chargers instead.

Butkus and Sayers displayed their quality right away as rookies. The 6’3”, 255-pound Butkus took over for Hall of Famer Bill George at middle linebacker and was considered among the elite at the position by the end of the season due to his aggressiveness and ability to cover plenty of ground. Sayers, at 6’0” and 198 pounds, proved equally adept at the halfback position, displaying not only great speed but uncanny running instincts and the ability to effortlessly change direction in the open field.

Through 12 games, Sayers put his all-around skills to good use, rushing for 672 yards on 143 attempts for a 4.7-yard average with 9 touchdowns. He had caught 27 passes for 418 yards, a tidy 15.5 average out of the backfield, with another 5 TDs. In addition, he returned a kickoff for a score, giving him a total of 15 touchdowns thus far on the year. He had gone over the hundred yard mark rushing in the previous two games without carrying the ball more than 16 times in either.

On December 12, playing on muddy turf at Wrigley Field against the visiting San Francisco 49ers, Sayers had one of the greatest all-around games in pro football history. His coach, “Papa Bear” George Halas, who had seen a lot of great days by many outstanding players over the course of a career that dated back to the founding of the league, later called this the best single-game performance that he ever witnessed.

San Francisco had crushed the Bears at Kezar Stadium in the season opening game and the Bears were determined go on the attack by overloading to the left side against the 49ers defense. They did so in their second possession of the first quarter, with QB Rudy Bukich tossing a screen pass to Sayers on second and ten on their own 20 yard line. Getting good blocks, the speedy halfback threaded his way for an 80-yard touchdown.

The Bears were up 13-0 after the first quarter (the extra point attempt after the Sayers TD was missed and Bukich later hit TE Mike Ditka for a 29-yard TD). San Francisco came back to score on a nine-yard pass from QB John Brodie to split end Dave Parks to cut the Chicago lead to 13-7 with five minutes left in the half. Sayers scored on a 21-yard run, leaping over CB Jimmy Johnson at the three to make it 20-7. Back came the 49ers on a 15-yard Brodie pass to HB John David Crow, and in the last minute Sayers caught a 9-yard pass that set up his third touchdown of the game on a seven-yard sweep. Chicago led 27-13 at the half.


Sayers scored his fourth touchdown early in the third quarter on a 50-yard run, sprung by blocks thrown by TE Ditka, flanker Johnny Morris, and G Bob Wetoska. On the next Bears possession, Sayers made it five TDs on a dive from a yard out (pictured; the PAT attempt failed).

It was 47-20 in favor of the Bears after HB Dave Kopay scored for the 49ers and Chicago responded with an 8-yard TD pass from Bukich to split end Jim Jones. Sayers had one more big play to add to the day, however; the 49ers punted and he gathered in the ball at the Chicago 15 yard line. Taking off up the middle, Sayers cut to his left and then back against the flow, blazing into the clear and ending up with an 85-yard return for his record-tying sixth touchdown of the game (tied with Ernie Nevers of the Cardinals and Dub Jones of the Browns).

That was it for Sayers, in spite of the chants from the crowd; when the Bears drove down close once more, it was HB Jon Arnett scoring from two yards out to cap the 61-20 win. As Halas said afterward, “I’d never have forgiven myself if I allowed him to stay in and he was seriously injured.”

For the day, Sayers ran the ball for 113 yards and four touchdowns on just 9 carries. He caught two passes for 89 yards and another TD. With yet another 134 yards on five punt returns, including the touchdown, he had accounted for 336 total yards. Adding the six touchdowns to his season total, he broke the single-season record of 20 set just the previous year by Baltimore’s Lenny Moore.

The Bears lost the season finale, but ended up with a 9-5 record, good enough for third place in the Western Conference. Having dipped to 5-9 in 1964 after winning the ’63 NFL championship, they had gone 9-2 after losing the first three games of the year and were widely considered to be playing better than any other team in the league during the second half of the season. Much of the reason for the turnaround was attributed to the two impact rookies, Sayers and Butkus. As for the 49ers, they ended up in fourth place in the West, with a 7-6-1 tally.

When it was all over, Gale Sayers ended up with a league-leading 2272 total yards, with 867 by rushing (on just 166 attempts for a 5.2 average gain), 507 on 29 pass receptions (a 17.5 average), 660 on 21 kickoff returns (31.4 yards per return), and 238 on 16 punt returns (14.9). With one last TD in the final game, he ended up with a new NFL record of 22 (Cleveland’s Jim Brown, in his last season, was right behind at 21). While the season record has long since been broken, it still stands as the record for a rookie.