Скачать или смотреть The Grave of Chicago Bears Brian Piccolo

Louis Brian Piccolo (10-31-43 - 6-16-1970) was a halfback for the Chicago Bears. He was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The family relocated to Fort Lauderdale, Florida when Brian was three. He was a running back at Central Catholic High School and graduated from there in 1961.

Piccolo attended college at Wake Forest University and in 1964 he led the nation in rushing with Atlantic Coast Conference record with 1,044 yards and had seventeen touchdowns with nine extra points. He was named the ACC player of the year and finished 10th in Heisman Trophy voting, ahead of Joe Namath and future teammate Gale Sayers.

Piccolo was not selected in the 1965 draft but was signed by Bears owner George "Papa Bear" Halas as a free agent. He spent his first year on the practice squad and saw little action in 1966. Piccolo saw more playing time in 1967 backing up future Hall of Famer Gale Sayers. They also became the first interracial NFL roommates on the road

Late in the season in 1968, in a game against the San Francisco 49yrs, Sayers suffered a season ending injury and was replaced by Piccolo who ran for 450 yards, caught 281 yards, and scored two touchdowns.

In 1969, a healthy Sayers returned to the lineup, and Piccolo returned to his second-string halfback position. He made it back to starting fullback when Ronnie Bull was injured in a game against Los Angeles Rams

Later in the season, in a game against the Atlanta Falcons, Piccolo took himself out of the game because he had trouble breathing. An x-ray revealed shadows that were not present at a physical taken before the start of the season.

Testing revealed that Piccolo had embryonal cell carcinoma. He underwent a surgery to remove a tumor from his chest that was the size of a grapefruit. Several months later he found a lump on his chest and received unsuccessful chemotherapy. Piccolo had a mastectomy performed and also had lymph nodes removed. In a follow-up surgery, he had his left lung removed. Piccolo was readmitted to the hospital in June where the doctors diagnosed that the cancer had spread to other parts of his body. He passed away on the 16th of June at the age of 26. He is buried in Saint Mary Catholic Cemetery in Evergreen Park, Illinois.

A film, about his life, Brain's Song was released in 1971 as the ABC Movie of The week. Starring James Caan in the lead role, it also co-starred Billy Dee Williams as Gale Sayers. Several Bears including Dick Butkus appeared as themselves in the movie. It was remade in 2001 featuring Sean Maher as Piccolo and Mekhi Phifer as Sayers.


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