Sayers stands up for retirees

_Each week, KUSports.com will get you caught up on Jayhawks both former and current getting some ink from outside of the area._Chicago Tribune: Ex-Bears speak up for retirees_Sitting next to Ditka was Gale Sayers, his former Bears teammate and a Hall of Fame running back who called on Congress to step into the dispute immediately. “I don’t ask you to play for our side, only to make the game fair,” Sayers said.__Sayers, like Ditka, isn’t disabled. He said he was speaking “for those who are not as lucky as I am.”__Plenty of players in the hearing room had more sober stories to tell. There was Conrad Dobler, once labeled the “dirtiest man in football,” now silver-haired and bespectacled, walking with the help of a cane. Mercury Morris. Troy Vincent. Daryl Johnston.__None of them, however, could match the emotional testimony of Brent Boyd, a former offensive lineman for the Minnesota Vikings, whose halting, erratic speech was, he said, the result of brain damage, of too many concussions. He said he has been denied full disability benefits from the players union for his injuries and that he has been homeless and unemployed._Local Take: For those of you who have not read the player tales in during this dispute, it is some sobering stuff. It’s good to see big-name NFL alums such as Sayers and Ditka standing up for their fellow retirees. The two sides seem so far apart that Congress’ involvement might be the only thing to put it on a level field.ticats.ca: Ticats add four_Hamilton, Ontario The Hamilton Tiger-Cats announced today that import quarterback Brett Elliott, import defensive end Charlton Keith, import linebacker David Lofton and non-import linebacker Steve Faoro have been added to the team’s development roster…. __Keith, a 6-5, 240-pound native of Akron, Ohio was a first-team all Big-12 selection with Kansas in 2005 after recording 61 tackles, nine quarterback sacks and school-record 23 tackles for losses. The 24-year-old spent most of the 2006 season on the Cleveland Brown’s practice roster and had a brief stint with the Oakland Raiders earlier this year._Local Take: From any account, Charlton Keith is a guy who is easy to pull for. His name was conjured up this week after John Larson’s late pick against Toledo last week, conjuring up Fort Worth Bowl memories from 2005.Boston Herald: Tough times for Belichick_Redskins Hall of Fame running back John Riggins played against Belichick’s defenses in the 1980s and recalled meeting the coach a few years back with the Jets.__”I complimented him on all the great defenses he used to throw at us, and he was like, ‘Yeah, uh huh,’ and that was about it,” Riggins said yesterday. “His personality is like he’s been hiding under a bushel basket for a long time, so there are probably just a handful of people who know him well and I’m not one of them.”_Local Take: Well, as Bill Mayer can tell you, Riggins was never one to hold his tongue. It’ll be interesting to see what he has to say and do when in town to be added to the Ring of Honor in Memorial Stadium on Oct. 13.