Brian Piccolo was one of two main characters in the movie Brian’s Song. The movie Brian’s Song is about two friends, one white and one African American, who are the first to room together on a professional football team. Throughout the movie, the friendship deepened until they are almost inseparable. Then tragedy strikes when Piccolo becomes severely ill with lung cancer. However, through all of the bad times, he never lost hope. Certain traits that best describe Piccolo are that he was a fun-loving, adventurous man who towards the end becomes depressed.

Brian Piccolo was extremely fun-loving. He showed this throughout the entire movie, starting with the beginning where he told Gale Sayers to stand on the right side of the coach at all times because Piccolo told Sayers that the coach had a bad ear. There were a lot of jokes in this movie which only best friends would understand. I think that some of the best scenes were when Brian was trying to get Gale to talk more. He gave some humorous responses to what you’re supposed to say when someone says thank you. Another great example is that Brian Piccolo loved to laugh. You could tell by some of the jokes he said or the pranks he played.

I believe that Brian Piccolo was an adventurous man. One of the best examples of this is that he was willing to room with an African American, which had never been done before. Of course, it wasn’t like he had much of a choice. Another example was that he did all the surgeries. I think that this was adventurous because you never know if you’re going to make it through or not. However, I guess I would take the surgery and try to get better over nothing and realizing that there is no hope, though I hope that time never comes. I think that helping Sayers after is injury can show this. Maybe in someone else’s eyes it wasn’t adventurous, but I bet it wasn’t an easy feat either because Sayers kind of comes off as stubborn. I think that rooming with Sayers was probably the most adventurous. I can’t imagine what it might have been like. I’m sure it wasn’t taken lightly by some people. But what are you going to do about it?

Even though Brian Piccolo had an amazing attitude throughout most of the movie, he was somewhat depressed when he found out about his sickness, which is understandable. I think that the depression started for Piccolo when the coach basically told him go to the doctor or quit football, which the coach kept him off the field anyway. Once he found out that he couldn’t play football is when it started growing. Football was his livelihood. It would be like if you shoved a dog in a suit and told him to go to work. The dog would be completely lost because his livelihood is to chase his tail and dig holes. Then, after Piccolo found out that he had cancer, that depression deepened even more. It really showed when he refused to sign the papers for the surgery. I think that Piccolo thought that if he signed the papers, it would be like he was already quitting, which he wasn’t ready for.

In conclusion, Brian Piccolo was not only a football player for the Chicago Bears; he was a man of many, many traits. He was always hopeful and optimistic, but he was also a fun-loving, adventurous, and toward the end, depressed man. He was probably a great guy. And I truly believe that if Gale Sayers had not been part of his life, it would have ended completely different. Yes, he could have said, “I got to be out on the field more,” but Gale Sayers probably helped him more than anyone will ever know. I’m sure Sayers feels the same way to this day. I guess that the minimum I can say for Brian Piccolo is what an amazing life.