Category profile
- Dominance
- 88
- Peak
- 98
- Longevity
- 62
- Honours
- 84
- Statistics
- 90
Career timeline · Touchdowns per season
| Season | Touchdowns per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 60 | |
| 1966 | 99 | |
| 1967 | 84 | |
| 1968 | 69 | |
| 1969 | 55 | |
| 1970 | 40 | |
| 1971 | 25 |
Data sources
- Pro Football Hall of Fame
- Pro Football Reference
- NFL official records
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Gale Sayers ranks #267 in American Football
Gale Sayers ranks 267th among American Football athletes on GOAT Rank and 2523rd of 4013 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 84.3 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 88, Peak 98, Longevity 62, Honours 84, Statistics 90. Those categories are normalised against the full American Football reference universe of 340 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1965–1971 with 7 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1966, which sets the Peak component at 98. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 98 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes rushing titles 2, touchdowns in one game 6, rookie-season touchdowns 22, all-purpose yards 9435.
Immediately ahead sits Keenan McCardell on 84.3, a gap of 0.0 points. Directly behind is Robert Brazile on 84.3. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
Gale Sayers GOAT Score explained
- Dominance88/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Sayers stood above the field while competing. Scored 88/100 against the full American Football cohort.
- Peak98/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1966. Scored 98/100.
- Longevity62/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 6 years of competition and 7 recorded seasons. Scored 62/100.
- Honours84/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 84/100.
- Statistics90/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 90/100.
Top Sayers comparisons
Gale Sayers — frequently asked
- Is Gale Sayers the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Gale Sayers ranks 267th in American Football with a GOAT Score of 84.3, behind Tom Brady on 97.2.
- What is Gale Sayers's GOAT Score?
- 84.3 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 88 (25%), Peak 98 (20%), Longevity 62 (20%), Honours 84 (20%), Statistics 90 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Gale Sayers rank all time?
- 2523rd of 4013 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 267th within American Football.
- Gale Sayers vs Keenan McCardell: who ranks higher?
- Gale Sayers, on 84.3 against Keenan McCardell's 84.3 — a margin of 0.0 points.