This past week we lost two giants in their respective worlds, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Chicago Bears Hall of Famer, Gayle Sayers. Imagine if they met in heaven.
Chief Justice John Roberts, in a powerful eulogy, described his longtime colleague, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as “tough, brave, a fighter, a winner, but also thoughtful, careful, compassionate, and honest. When it came to opera, insightful, passionate. When it came to sports, clueless.” Gayle may kindle her connection to sports. Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Gayle Sayers have much in common.
Exceptional Talent
The Kansas Comet meet the Notorious RBG. In 1966, when Sayers transformed the position of running back from “bruiser” to “poetry in motion,” with an effortless combination of speed and guile, Ginsburg was blazing a trail as one of 19 female law professors in the country, after struggling to find work – despite graduating #1 from her Columbia Law School class.
Unlikely Friendships
Sayers and Brian Piccolo, a taxi squad running back, were one of the first interracial roommates in the NFL. While they possessed opposite personalities – Sayers, soft spoken, except on matters of social justice, and Piccolo, a carefree, garrulous jokester, they forged an unlikely, but deep friendship – immortalized in the heart-wrenching movie “Brian’s Song”, based on Sayers book, I Am Third.
Justice Ginsburg’s renowned friendship with the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was equally as unlikely. Ideological opposites, they disagreed on everything from same-sex marriage to gun rights, Ginsburg was soft-spoken and thoughtful, interpreting the Constitution as a “living” document, while Scalia was brash and burly, believing in a narrow, strict interpretation. Away from the bench however, they bonded over wine, opera, and travel, as evidenced in this iconic photo in Rajasthan, India from 1994.
Moral Activism
While Ginsburg’s legacy is expansive, especially as it relates to the quotidian aspects of women’s lives, Sayers used his football acclaim to start and fund Chicago-based youth initiatives. They both shared a deep faith, hers Judaism, and his Christianity.
If Chief Justice Roberts were to eulogize Gayle Sayers, the exact words he chose for Justice Ginsburg would resonate for #40, “tough, brave, a fighter, a winner, but also thoughtful, careful, compassionate, and honest.”
During his playing days, Gayle Sayers famously said, “give me 18” of daylight – that is all I need,” He will only need 10” of light to spot a diminutive angel wearing a lace jabot, and perhaps humming Nora Jones’ American Anthem, which RBG friend and opera star, Denyce Graves, sang today as her casket historically lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda.
What shall be our legacy?
What will our children say?
Let them say of me
I was one who believed
In sharing the blessings
I received
Let me know in my heart
When my days are through
America
America
I gave my best to you