UW Great Ron Medved: 'Best Player and Athlete I Played Against was Gale Sayers'
Ron Medved just last week randomly posted something on social media about the great Gale Sayers, unaware the legendary running back's health was failing.
Medved, 76, did this not as a devoted fan, of which he certainly qualified, but more as a respectful pro football opponent of Sayers, simply musing about memorable days gone past.
As the last great two-way player for the University of Washington, Medved was a NFL safety for five seasons for the Philadelphia Eagles. He encountered Gale Sayers on the football field just once. It was enough to make a lasting impression.
"I was just thinking who was the best player I'd played against, and the best athlete, and it was Gale Sayers," he said, saddened to learn of the Chicago Bears standout's death on Thursday at 77. "Gale Sayers was a lot of people's favorite player."
Medved got the chance to face Sayers just once.
Under most unusual circumstances.
Under truly unfair conditions.
But it all made it fun to remember.
With the Eagles suffering a spate of injuries, Medved got moved up from starting safety to a first-unit linebacker for their game in Philadelphia on Oct. 20, 1968, a matchup that Sayers and the Bears won 29-16.
Medved stood on the outside corner defending his turf, carrying all of a 6-foot-1, 210-pound frame. Seeing this in the scouting report that covered the two previous games, the Bears naturally picked on him. They sent the best.
"I'm playing linebacker and here comes Gale Sayers around my end and he's got a big tackle in front of him pulling out to the corner and there I am having to make a decision," he recalled, smiling about it. "He would have been tough to tackle all by himself. He was a fantastic player. We all watched highlights of him because he was one of a kind."
Medved actually held up well that day. Sayers was limited to 77 yards rushing on 15 carries and didn't score. He and the Eagles got off far easier than the San Francisco 49ers, who were torched for an NFL-tying six touchdown runs by Sayers as an overly elusive rookie in 1965.
Sayers played just seven seasons, two more than Medved, after injuring both of his knees. He died suffering from dementia, which saddened the former UW player who now lives outside of Seattle.
The NFL has put a lot of its older players through testing to determine if there's long-term cognitive damage from playing a fierce game. Medved submitted to this a few years back and received positive news. Sayers wasn't so fortunate it appears.
"I was doubly saddened to hear that he passed away from dementia supposedly," Medved said. "There's another football player probably passing away before his time."
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