I am third

Gale Sayers tells his own story in this memoir, tracing the path from his childhood and family life to a career as one of football's standout runners. The account centers on a serious knee injury that threatened to end that career before it reached its peak. Sayers also writes about his brief but deeply meaningful friendship with Brian Piccolo, his teammate on the Chicago Bears, whose life and bond with Sayers later inspired the film Brian's Song.

Rather than presenting a polished image, the book looks candidly at the pressure of chasing greatness and the fear of losing everything in a single moment. It moves between the personal and the professional, showing how family, faith in himself, and loyalty to a friend shaped the years that followed.

The memoir will appeal to sports fans, particularly those interested in professional football in the 1960s, and to readers drawn to honest personal accounts of athletic ambition, injury, and recovery.