Monday, March 3, 2008
Fans of all ages came to the Kansas Union to meet Kansas football legend and National Football League Hall-of-Famer Gale Sayers on Saturday afternoon. Sayers signed his new book “Sayers: My Life and Times” at Oread Books.
“The line was constant for about three hours,” said Lisa Eitner, general book buyer for Oread Books, on Level 2 of the Union. “KU fans are always like this with KU sports figures. They’re very excited to meet them and get a photo with them.”
Gale Sayers, former KU football player and NFL hall of famer, signs copies of his new book at Oread Books in the Kansas Union on Saturday, March 1. Sayers' book sales will help fund the Gale Sayers Center, which will open this Fall. The Center is an after-school activity facility for 8-to-12-year-olds.
Sayers, the two-time All-American running back, played at Kansas before joining the Chicago Bears. He went on to become the youngest inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He also served as an associate athletics director at Kansas before serving as athletics director for Southern Illinois University.
Carlene Schipfmann, a Kansas alumna from Lenexa, said that it was a wonderful experience to meet the “Kansas Comet.”
“It was great that he was so personal. I’ve been through book signings before where they don’t even look up at you, but he’s a very personable guy,” said Schipfmann, who like a few other fans, wore a replica of Sayers’ number 40 Chicago Bears jersey to the event.
Several University students from the Chicago area came to meet Sayers. James Buddig, Hinsdale, Ill., sophomore said meeting Sayers was awesome and unforgettable.
“I’m a big fan because he went to KU and played for the Bears,” Buddig said. “My dad had met him once before, and my friend met Mike Ditka before for a signing like this, so I had to one-up them.”
Eitner said that the store sold more than 350 copies of Sayers’ new book that day. The store will donate a portion of its sales from Saturday to the Gale Sayers Center, an educational center for children ages 8 to 12 in Mount Prospect, Ill., that will open in the fall. Sayers is also donating all of his royalties from the book to the center.
Schipfmann said that she admired Sayers’ commitment to community and that she wasn’t surprised he would donate his royalties from the book.
Some of the older fans in attendance relived memories of watching Sayers’ playing days. Steve Kovinski, Schipfmann’s father, recalled the day he watched Sayers return a 96-yard kickoff for a touchdown in Wrigley Field in Chicago in 1966.
“He always seemed open in interviews that I’ve seen and read,” Kovinski said. “If there was an example to follow, I’d say he would be it.”
Fans who missed the event may have another chance to meet Sayers in the fall.
“He offered to come back again, so we’re thinking about possibly doing another book signing around the start of football season,” Eitner said.
— Edited by Jessica Sain-Baird
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