Gale Sayers, one of the most accomplished running backs in NFL history, will come to Lexington in June to receive the Blanton Collier Award for Integrity on and off the Field at the ninth annual Kentucky Chapter of the National Football League Hall of Fame ceremony at the Lexington Opera House.

Sayers also will be guest of honor at a gala reception to be held at The Lyric Theater.

The reception is Thursday, June 23. The Hall of Fame ceremony is Friday, June 24.

Proceeds from the June 23 event will benefit Sayers' after-school program in Chicago, The Lyric and the Blanton Collier Sportsmanship Group.

Sayers, who played his entire NFL career in the 1960s and '70s with the Chicago Bears, is a member of both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.

Sayers joins such luminaries as Jim Brown (2010) and Tony Dungy (2009) as recipients of the Blanton Collier Award, which was established by the Kentucky Chapter of the National Football League Hall of Fame to pay tribute to Blanton Collier, the Kentucky native and former University of Kentucky and Cleveland Browns coach.