Fifty-eight years ago, on December 12, 1965, rookie Gale Sayers scored six touchdowns against the San Francisco 49ers: four rushing, one receiving, and one on a kick return. The six touchdowns in a game tied the NFL record held by Ernie Nevers and Dub Jones; Alvin Kamara tied the record in 2020, as well. Sayers went on to lead the NFL with 22 touchdowns and 132 points in 1965. He was voted NFL Rookie of the Year by both AP and UPI.
Sayers didn’t appear on a card in 1965–rookies typically didn’t get cards back then–but he did appear on a lot of them later. He is shown here on his 1969 Glendale stamp. For more on the Glendale stamps, see this article in my old blog. Wow, has it really been twelve years?