Gale Sayers is a Hall of Fame running back whose career earned a solid career value score of 67 in the Knox value model. Sayers's enshrinement reflects a career that consistently placed him among the elite of his generation.
Season honors and record seasons
A top 20% all-time running back who consistently made an impact across multiple seasons.
Worth 84 points of value above a freely-available replacement running back — top 31% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 5 of 5 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +16.8 on average.See board →
Seasons above replacement
5 seasons × ~16.8 surplus ≈ VORP 84
The full season-by-season grids, joined on one timeline. Every selected stat family stays visible at once—no tab hopping.
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Rushing | Receiving | Passing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Att | Yds | TD | Y/A | TD% | 1D | 1D% | Fmb | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Ctch% | Y/R | Y/Tgt | AirYd/T | 1D | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | TD% | Int% | Y/A | AdjY/A | TD:INT | Rate | Sk | |||||
| 1965 | — | CHI | 12 | — | 166 | 867 | 14 | 5.2 | 8.4 | — | — | — | — | 29 | 507 | 6 | — | 17.5 | — | — | — | 2 | 3 | 66.7% | 53 | 1 | 1 | 33.3 | 33.3 | 17.7 | 9.3 | 1.0 | 109.7 | — |
| 1966 | — | CHI | 13 | — | 229 | 1,231 | 8 | 5.4 | 3.5 | — | — | — | — | 34 | 447 | 2 | — | 13.1 | — | — | — | 2 | 6 | 33.3% | 58 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 16.7 | 9.7 | 2.2 | 0.0 | 30.6 | — |
| 1967 | — | CHI | 13 | — | 186 | 880 | 7 | 4.7 | 3.8 | — | — | — | — | 16 | 126 | 1 | — | 7.9 | — | — | — | 0 | 5 | 0.0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 39.6 | — |
| 1968 | — | CHI | 9 | — | 138 | 856 | 2 | 6.2 | 1.4 | — | — | — | — | 15 | 117 | 0 | — | 7.8 | — | — | — | 0 | 2 | 0.0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 39.6 | — |
| 1969 | — | CHI | 14 | — | 236 | 1,032 | 8 | 4.4 | 3.4 | — | — | — | — | 17 | 116 | 0 | — | 6.8 | — | — | — | 0 | 2 | 0.0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 39.6 | — |
| 1970 | — | CHI | 2 | — | 23 | 52 | 0 | 2.3 | 0.0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | -6 | 0 | — | -6.0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1971 | — | CHI | 2 | — | 13 | 38 | 0 | 2.9 | 0.0 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0.0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career | — | 65 | — | 991 | 4,956 | 39 | 5.0 | 3.9 | — | — | — | 0 | 112 | 1,307 | 9 | — | 11.7 | — | — | — | 4 | 18 | 22.2% | 111 | 1 | 2 | 5.6 | 11.1 | 6.2 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 31.7 | 0 | |
| Season | Age | Team | G | GS | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | TD% | Int% | Y/A | AdjY/A | TD:INT | Rate | Sk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 22 | CHI | 12 | — | 2 | 3 | 66.7% | 53 | 1 | 1 | 33.3 | 33.3 | 17.7 | 9.3 | 1.0 | 109.7 | — |
| 1966 | 23 | CHI | 13 | — | 2 | 6 | 33.3% | 58 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 16.7 | 9.7 | 2.2 | 0.0 | 30.6 | — |
| 1967 | 24 | CHI | 13 | — | 0 | 5 | 0.0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 39.6 | — |
| 1968 | 25 | CHI | 9 | — | 0 | 2 | 0.0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 39.6 | — |
| 1969 | 26 | CHI | 14 | — | 0 | 2 | 0.0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 39.6 | — |
| 1970 | 27 | CHI | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1971 | 28 | CHI | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career | 65 | 4 | 18 | 22.2% | 111 | 1 | 2 | 5.6 | 11.1 | 6.2 | — | — | 31.7 | 0 |
A strong starter career by KV-H: a remarkably steady profile that scores 67 of 100, era-normalized against rush yds/g peers across 5 scored seasons.
Blend 67 × longevity 1 = KV-H 67· confidence 100%
Season-by-season quality (era-relative rush yds/g)
Reached 27% of the all-time Rushing Yards leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.
A 0–100 scale where 100 = matched the all-time leaderat this position. Built only from visible encyclopedia data — career production vs. the all-time leader, plus efficiency (EPA) and comparable-player confidence — so it's a transparent context score, not a subjective rating. Tiers: Elite ≥ 85 · Strong ≥ 65 · Solid ≥ 45 · Depth < 45. Comparable-player confidence: 94%.
Amber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average RBs aging curve. Group peak age: 21. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).
College stats are not imported for this profile yet.
StatVault has the verified college attribution (Kansas), but no parsed college box-score table is present in this profile artifact. The section stays here so every profile has a consistent college-stats landing point without fabricating unavailable rows.
Career teammates and draft class, derived from year-by-year rosters — every name is linked.
Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0–100%).
Last recorded season with CHI
Entered the NFL with CHI
StatVault's proprietary player intelligence, informed by full career data. How Knox works →
Era-normalized career quality — z-scored against 5-season peers. See all →
Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 7 seasons.
Rush Yds translated to the 2025NFL — each season's standing among its own-era peers, projected onto 2025's scoring environment. Modern-era (1999+) coverage.
| Season | Actual Rush Yds | Rush Yds/G | → 2025 Rush Yds | → 2025 /G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 867 | 72.3 | 784-83 | 46.1 |
| 1966 | 1,231 | 94.7 | 1,054-177 | 62 |
| 1967 | 880 | 67.7 | 682-198 | 40.1 |
| 1968 | 856 | 95.1 | 1,292+436 | 76 |
| 1969 | 1,032 | 73.7 | 894-138 | 52.6 |
Data: wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), wikipedia:pfhof-inductee-list · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 7/10/2026
Career Value · VORP
84 career value over replacement — #1373 all-time of 4,642. 16.8/season above a replacement-level RB.
Fan Rating
Rate Gale Sayers — All-Time
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Composite score across availability, IR frequency, and injury severity. See all →
Enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. See all →
What carries the case
Monitor score 19.6 · components sum to the score (All-Pro ×12 · Pro Bowl ×3 · League Lead ×4 · ranks/era/longevity weighted).
Career Fingerprint
Statistical profile across 5 dimensions
Jonathan Taylor
RB
93% match
Gave the Chicago Bears an entire corpus-attributed career — 7 seasons (1965–1971), one crest. The rarest loyalty in the sport.