[1] This occurred despite the exploits of Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers, who had torn the ligaments in his right knee in November 1968.
[2][3] After surgery, he went through a physical rehabilitation program with the help of teammate Brian Piccolo.
Undersized fullback Piccolo had scored a touchdown in each of his final three games (November 2, 9, 16),[4][5][6][7] but a persistent cough was diagnosed as cancer and he underwent chest surgery;[8][9] he succumbed to the disease seven months later at age 26.
Running backs (RB) Wide receivers (WR) Tight ends (TE) Defensive linemen (DL) Defensive backs (DB) Special teams On August 30, a crowd of 85,532 fans viewed a doubleheader at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium.
In the first contest, the Bears played the AFL's Buffalo Bills,[13] while the Cleveland Browns hosted the Green Bay Packers in the second match.