The New York Giants will play the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field this Sunday, and the Bears will be wearing their uniforms from the 1960s for the game.
The Bears’ helmet back then was a solid navy blue with a simple white “C” on the sides. They added the orange in 1973.
For many who can remember those Bears teams from that decade, Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus’ name and legacy comes up first, but over time there is one story that has prevailed: the friendship between running backs Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo.
The friendship was depicted in the 1971 television film “Brian’s Song” starring Billy Dee Williams as Sayers and James Caan as Piccolo.
The film resonates to this day. Sayers went on to become a Pro Football Hall of Famer. Piccolo died cancer in 1970 at age 26. The legacy of the film lives on; it was remade, again as a TV movie, in 2001.
Some quick side notes …
Williams’ delivery of the line: “I love Brian Piccolo, and I’d like all of you to love him, too. Tonight, when you hit your knees to pray, please ask God to love him, too,” while accepting a courageous player award during the film is heart-wrenching. I know of no one who has watched this film and not welled up over that line.
Piccolo has had many parks, foundations and schools named in his memory, including a middle school here in Far Rockaway, N.J., in 1972.
The film was based on Sayers’ book, “I Am Third,” which became suggested reading for young adults in many schools across the nation. Sayers’ credo, “The Lord is first, my friends are second, and I am third,” is the where the title of the book derives from.
While Sayers was a first-round pick of the Bears in 1965, Piccolo was an undrafted free agent out of Wake Forest. He spent his first season on the Bears’ taxi squad before breaking the team’s roster in 1966. By 1969, he and Sayers, who was returning from a serious knee injury he suffered the previous season, were the Bears’ starting backfield. Piccolo, who had filled for the injured Sayers, was an integral part in Sayers’ rehabilitation, enabling him to return to form the next season.
In the film, George Halas, portrayed by veteran character actor Jack Warden, is the Bears’ head coach throughout. In reality, Halas left the sideline after 1967 season and inserted Jim Dooley as head coach in ’68.
As for where the Giants fit in here, they actually don’t. In 1965, the Giants had the No. 1 overall selection in the NFL Draft and chose running back Tucker Frederickson. San Francisco picked second, taking fullback Ken Willard. The next two selections belonged to the Bears. The chose Illinois linebacker Dick Butkus and Sayers out of Kansas, in that order.
During the span the film takes place, the Giants and Bears met four times with Chicago winning three, but neither team was much of a factor in the NFL standings after meeting in the 1963 NFL championship game. The Bears would not qualify for the postseason again until 1977, the Giants not until 1981.
In the 1980s the two teams finally got their due. The Bears won Super Bowl XX after the 1985 season, and the Giants captured their first Super Bowl the following year.
[lawrence-related id=633093,633069,633049]