Gale Sayers set an NFL record for most all-purpose touchdowns in his rookie season, scoring six in one game. The NFL Hall of Famer remembered for his blazing speed died on Wednesday at age 77. Sayers played for the Chicago Bears from 1965 to 1971. His 1970 autobiography, I Am Third, recounted his struggles and achievements. “The Lord is first, my friends are second, and I am third,” Sayers wrote.

Of the five NCAA athletic conferences that make the most money, four have committed to putting players on the gridiron this fall. The last holdout, the Pac-12, looks like it is headed for a fall football return, as well.

“We feel we’ve got a responsibility to our student-athletes and our programs to explore that possibility,” Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said. “So that’s what we’re doing.”

Just a month after voting to postpone the fall season until the spring, the Midwestern athletic conference reversed course. After COVID-19 testing with day-of results became available, the Big Ten decided Wednesday on an eight-week football schedule beginning Oct. 23 with a championship game on Dec. 19. “Great News: BIG TEN FOOTBALL IS BACK,” tweeted President Donald Trump, who had pushed colleges to restart games.

Amid raging national upheaval over racial injustice this summer, college football players from across the Pac-12 Conference started a protest of their own.

Lou Brock, the St. Louis Cardinals’ signature leadoff hitter and base-stealer who helped the team win two World Series in the 1960s, has died. He was 81. Along with starting pitcher Bob Gibson and center fielder Curt Flood, Brock helped build the Cardinals into a powerhouse of speed, defense, and pitching during the ’60s. Opposing managers warned their players not to let Brock get on base: He had 938 steals in his career—so many he had a base-stealing award named after him while still an active player.

Winds of cultural change blew across the Midwest plains last month, right into Missouri’s Arrowhead Stadium. The NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs announced an immediate ban on fans wearing headdresses or Native American–style face paint at games. Previously, the team only discouraged it.

John Thompson Jr., the first African American to coach an NCAA men’s basketball championship team, died Monday at age 78. He coached at Georgetown University for 27 years, leading the Hoyas to the 1984 title with the help of star center Patrick Ewing. He mentored future NBA stars such as Alonzo Mourning, Allen Iverson, and Dikembe Mutombo. The U.S. men’s national team won the bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics with Thompson as coach.