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Gale Sayers tore up his knee in 1968 as a Chicago Bear in the prime of his NFL football career. Bummed out and lost as to how to respond, his backup running back and new friend, Brian Piccolo, showed up a few days later at his home full of vigor.
Pic storms down to the basement and starts setting up work-out equipment that will help Sayers rehabilitate his crapped-up knee.
Sayers doesn’t understand. He asked what his guy “Pic” is doing. Pic says he’s going to help him get back to 100 percent. Sayers asks why. Why would the backup running back who would not get more playing time help the guy ahead of him get better?
Pic says he wants to beat out Sayers for the starting job and he wants to make sure he does so when Sayers is healthy. He doesn’t want the starting job given to him due to an injury to the guy who beat him out.
This — for me — is a key and memorable moment in the 1972 movie “Brian’s Song” about the unusual friendship that developed between Sayers, an African America, and Pic, who was white.
It was a powerful scene because it revealed something important about Pic’s character. He wanted to win and be the best, but he didn’t want to get there the cheap way. He wanted to get there by beating his competitor when in top shape. He wanted to fight for his place in the world, the earn his accomplishments through hard work and against the best.
We all fell in love with Brian Piccolo because of scenes like this one in the movie played masterfully by James Caan, who passed away Thursday at the age of 82.
And none of us who went to Wake Forest University will ever forget the scene when the Chicago Bears were having dinner one night. Proudly and poorly, Pic stood up and sang his college fight song. He had gone to a non-powerful Wake Forest the rest of the guys knew little about because they were from the bigger college programs.
Undeterred and uninhibited, Pic got up and sang his fight song. Soak up this scene one more time for posterity:
https://youtu.be/BHTv3V-HfNQ
When I saw this movie around the age of nine, I remember feeling emotions I never had before. The story starts out funny and entertaining but got damn serious. Pic got sick – gravely ill – with cancer.
As this tragedy was escalating, Gale Sayers attended a banquet to receive an award for his big year on the field a few years after his injury. In his acceptance speech, he didn’t talk about football. He spoke about his friend whom he knew wasn’t going to live much longer. “I love Brian Piccolo, and I want you to love him, too.” He cried.
I think most people who saw that scene cried. I did.
For many of us, I suspect, it was the first time we cried watching a movie. It felt like something was taken from us. The star, the funny guy, the lovable guy, the guy with grit and fight, was going to die. This is what happened to Pic in real life. He died at 26.
The movie will always be remembered by all of us as one that shattered our hearts. We didn’t want Pic to die. How could such a cool person die so young?
Since then in our own real lives, other people we have known have died young. My basketball and basement teammate in high school died in a car accident at age 16. Like Pic, this guy, who I had just started to become a close friend, was funny, tough to figure out sometimes, always messing with people and talking and competing his ass off.
Pic and this guy, my friend Sean, exuded charisma. Pic and Sean both died super young. Many of our other friends have passed on also. This isn’t a good part of life.
After his unforgettable performance in “Brian’s Song,” James Caan went on to lay down some strong acting performances. Who could forget his character in “The Godfather” as a hot-tempered, violent son? To this day that character creeps me out. What a maniac.
But Caan will forever be remembered most for the way he portrayed the life of Brian Piccolo. He was perfect for the role and made us love him as the actor and appreciate and love Brian Piccolo and his real-life story.
Has there ever been an actor who did a better job making us appreciate the life of a real person than James Caan playing Pic? I don’t think so.
For eternity this powerful actor can rest well for his performance in this movie alone. He made us laugh and cry and feel like we knew a man who was no longer alive. And he made us love that man.
Rest in peace, James Caan and Brian Piccolo.
For your grit and spirit and ability to make us laugh, we will always love you both.
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Sammy Sportface, a sports blogger, galvanizes, inspires, and amuses The Baby Boomer Brotherhood. And you can learn about his vision and join this group's Facebook page here:
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