Brian Piccolo - Always an Underdog and Always a Fighter

So said the Chicago Bears running back as he accepted the George S. Halas award for Most Courageous Player in the NFL at an awards dinner in May of 1970. Sayers went on to say that they had chosen the wrong person for the award and that it should have gone to his teammate Brian Piccolo. "Pic," as he was best known, was suffering from cancer. Piccolo's courageous life and tragic death was documented in Sayers' autobiography I Am Third and, most famously, in the 1971 television movie "Brian's Song" starring a still relatively unknown James Caan as Piccolo and Billy Dee Williams as Sayers. The film was remade less successfully in 2001 though it did expose a new generation to Piccolo's story.

Louis Brian Piccolo was born on October 31, 1943 in Pittsfield, MA, the youngest of three boys. At the age of three, Brian's family uprooted to Fort Lauderdale, FL, to expose older brother Don to a constant warmer climate due to his own health issues.

Like his older brothers, Piccolo took an interest in sports though his primary interest was baseball. He joined the football team his freshman year and became an offensive tackle. In his senior year he switched to tailback and, despite his lack of a true tailback's speed, received two scholarship offers from Wichita State and Wake Forest. Piccolo chose Wake Forest.

As a freshman in 1961, Piccolo averaged 4.2 yards per carry and scored five touchdowns. He led his team in rushing the next two seasons though the numbers (324 and 367 yards) were not particularly impressive, possibly due to the fact that the team lost 18 games in a row over those two seasons.

Piccolo became a star in his senior season gaining 1,044 yards on 252 carries for an average of 4.1 yards per carry, while scoring 17 touchdowns. For his efforts, Piccolo led the nation in rushing and scoring and was chosen as the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year.

Despite the stellar numbers his senior year, the NFL did not draft Piccolo in 1965 even though there were 20 rounds and only 14 teams. Piccolo, at 5'11, 190 pounds, was deemed too small and too slow to succeed at the highest level. Brian Piccolo was an underdog.

"Four hundred and forty draftees, and none of 'em me," Piccolo later said. "I was disappointed and embarrassed. Really embarrassed."

Piccolo had three free agent tryouts with the Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Colts. Three days after marrying his high school sweetheart, Joy, he signed with the Bears simply because owner George Halas offered him the most money. Unfortunately for Piccolo, he happened to sign the same year the Bears drafted Gale Sayers.

Known for his sense of humor, Piccolo would later say, "You have to be in the right place at the right time. In my case, I happened to be a running back and they happened to draft Gale Sayers the same year. That's not exactly the best way to bust into the league. That's not exactly what you'd call being in the right place at the right time."

Before Piccolo even got to his first training camp he pulled a hamstring. Ineffective during practice, Piccolo was relegated to the practice squad and never suited up for a game in the 65 season. Gale Sayers was the rookie of the year.

For the 1966 season Piccolo came to camp with the determination to becoming the team's starting fullback in the same backfield as Sayers. Unfortunately Halas placed Piccolo on special teams, where he saw most of his action. He did see the bright side of things as he actually got to suit up for all 14 games, though he only rushed the ball three times for twelve yards.

In 1967 team executive Ed McCaskey suggested that Piccolo and Sayers become roommates, which both eagerly accepted. History, of sorts, was made as they became the first interracial sports roommates. Sayers took Piccolo under his wing and the two became fast friends despite Piccolo's stubborn determination to take Sayer's job. That season was Piccolo's most productive to date as he rushed for 317 yards at an average of 4.1 yards per carry.

Piccolo would get his chance to shine in the 1968 season at the cost of a season ending knee injury to Sayers in the ninth game against the San Francisco 49ers. Piccolo had been eager to prove the NFL wrong for not drafting him in 1965 but getting his opportunity this way was the last thing he had hoped for.

In the final five games of the 1968 season Piccolo stepped up and gained 450 yards rushing and 281 pass receiving yards while scoring the first two touchdowns of his NFL career. He had his only 100-yard rushing game (21 rushes, 112 yards) in a 23-17 win over New Orleans. He also sprained his ankle in late November but played through it with shots of cortisone and Novocain dulling the pain. He had spent his career as a backup and wasn't about to let an injury remove him from the starting spot he had so coveted.

During the off-season Piccolo assisted Sayers in his rehabilitation both physically and mentally. Sayers was determined to come back from a massive knee injury and gain 1,000 yards rushing while Piccolo was determined to beat out Sayers for the top position with both of them at 100%. Sayers did come back to full strength and did gain 1,000 yards his first season back. Piccolo was relegated back to second-string halfback but did move up when starting fullback Ronnie Bull was injured in the sixth game of the season. For the first time both Piccolo and Sayers were starting together in the same backfield. Sadly, Piccolo was feeling under the weather and didn't perform at this best.

On November 16, 1969, during a game in Atlanta against the Falcons, Piccolo removed himself from the game suffering from persistent coughing spells and becoming easily winded. Coach Jim Dooley immediately knew there was a problem as Piccolo was always too proud and resolute to ever willingly take himself out of a game. Piccolo was ordered to see a doctor immediately.

Two days later X-rays determined Piccolo had a tumor in his lung and he decided to fly to New York to have it removed. Once again Brian Piccolo would face a challenge in which he was the underdog.

On November 23rd, Sayers broke the bad news to the team before the Bears game against the Baltimore Colts. The players unanimously decided to dedicate the game to Piccolo. The Bears lost the game 24-21 to which Piccolo would jokingly deride his teammates later.

On November 28th, Piccolo underwent a four and a half hour procedure to remove the tumor. Doctors were optimistic the surgery was a success despite the fact that Piccolo's cancer was rare: Embryonal Cell Carcinoma. Piccolo went through a period of chemotherapy and soon after announced his intention to return to the Bears for the 1970 season.

In February 1970, while playing with Chicago Cubs great Ernie Banks at a celebrity golf outing, Piccolo discovered a lemon-sized bump on his chest. He returned to New York and, after a month of aggressive chemotherapy that failed, had a mastectomy on March 24th that also included the removal of lymph nodes in his left side of the chest. Weeks later the doctors informed him the left lung would have to be removed totally. Despite remaining upbeat and encouraging in Piccolo's presence, doctors privately informed Joy, Sayers and McCaskey that Piccolo's chances for survival were slim.

It was at this time that Piccolo finally acknowledged what he never truly believed until that moment - He was never going to play football again.

On April 9th Piccolo's left lung was removed. He spent the next month in aggressive radiation therapy and returned to his Chicago home on May 23rd. By June 4th Piccolo, weak and battered from the radiation, was back in a New York hospital. Doctors found the cancer had spread to his liver and informed Joy that his death was imminent.

Brian Piccolo never lost his sense of humor, even at the darkest hours of his life. When Ed McCaskey visited him, he couldn't help but break down before he could leave the room. "Don't worry big Ed," Brian said, "I'm not afraid of anything - except Ray (Green Bay Packer linebacker) Nitchke."

On June 16, 1970, Brian Piccolo died at the age of 26. He left behind a wife and three daughters. Despite the depiction in the movie to the contrary, Sayers later admitted he wasn't even in New York at the time of Piccolo's death. Sayers took his George S. Halas award for courage, taped Piccolo's name over his and placed it in Piccolo's coffin.

In honor of his memory, Wake Forest University established the Brian Piccolo Cancer Fund Drive in 1980. In addition, the Brian Piccolo Student Volunteer Program was established to provide undergraduates with the opportunity to work at the Comprehensive Cancer Center, located on the Wake Forest campus, as volunteers. Embryonal Cell Carcinoma was nearly 100% fatal when Brian Piccolo was diagnosed. Today, with early detection and treatment, the disease is nearly 100% curable thanks, in part, to the millions of dollars donated in Piccolo's name.

The Chicago Bears honor his memory each year with the Brian Piccolo Award, presented to the rookie and veteran who best display the courage, determination, loyalty, teamwork, dedication and sense of humor displayed on a daily basis by Piccolo.

Is there a better way to remember the courageous fighter that was Brian Piccolo?