I am Third

I read the book "I am Third" which was written by Gale Sayers. He was a famous running back for Kansas and then the Chicago Bears. I had thought about reading the book a long time and have just never done it. Well, I've done it now. He's mostly famous because he had 22 touchdowns his rookie year. Even with all the inflated records now, I think he still has the record for most touchdowns in a season.

The best chapter was the one about him and his friend Brian Piccalo. Gale was injured one year and Brian took his place. I can remember when that happened. Brian went from being not well known to being a big deal because they thought the injury would really hurt the Bears. Instead, Brian ran great and had several great games. He became one of my favorite players. The next season Brian died from cancer. That chapter in the book became the movie "Brian's Song". That season Sayers received an award for his comeback. During his acceptance speech he said he was giving the award to Brian. I remember that happening at the time and thought that didn't make any sense. How could you get an award and then give it away? At the time I didn't know the whole story or how sick Brian was.

Another sad thing about the book is that at the time it was written Sayers didn't know he would be injured again the following year and be out of football a couple of years later. "I am Third" came from a saying his college coach had. For him, God is first, others second, and he was third. I looked up how he is doing now. Seems like he's doing well and does a lot of charitable work. So, its an old book, but I'm glad I finally got around to reading it.