JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Almost 2,000 people gathered before a casket draped with an Olympic flag Wednesday to remember "Bullet" Bob Hayes as a champion, a pioneer and a good man.

"It's homegoing down here, but it's homecoming up there," the Rev. Rudolph McKissick said as the funeral for legendary sports figure began. "It's not a funeral, it's a celebration."

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The Jacksonville native died last week of kidney failure.

Family, friends, fellow athletes, politicians and admirers from around the nation saw a video clip of Hayes giving testimony about his health challenges to a previous gathering at Bethel Baptist Institutional Church earlier this year.

Former Dallas teammate Calvin Hill told the mourners of a private moment he shared with Hayes in Dallas last year, just after Hayes was inducted into the Cowboys Ring of Honor.

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"Here was a guy that had knocked on death's door -- he said he was on borrowed time. When he got up and talked about his faith, and that he was not standing on his gold medal; he was not standing on his Super Bowl ring; he was standing on the rock of Jesus Christ," Hill said. "At that point, Bob had done something bigger than scoring a touchdown ... he'd overcome that fear."

Hill, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Bethel's pastor McKissick received standing ovations when calling for Hayes' memory to be honored by his inclusion into the NFL Hall of Fame.

"If indiscretion is the reason for keeping people out, you should shut it down -- shut it down -- shut it down," McKissick said.

Hayes grew up in a segregated state. When he reached college age, he couldn't be recruited by the state's two biggest schools, Florida and Florida State.

It was their loss, Jackson insisted. The reverend said Hayes' emergence as a great athlete of his generation taught America a lesson about more than just sports.

"Only God can give you speed -- it can't be taught," the Jackson said. "In 1964, about the time Dr. King was giving his 'I Have A Dream" speech, Bob was legally a second-class citizen. His victory in Tokyo changed the appetite for southern recruiting. Bob was not just a champion, he was a hero."

Tuesday evening, many of the same mourners gathered at Bethel for a memorial service, hearing tributes from family members and fellow Cowboys teammates, including Pettis Norman.

Norman ran against Hayes in college.

"When the gun went off, I watched him finish the race and I became a fan of his from that point on," Norman said.

But history will record that college track was just the beginning for Hayes.

He earned the title "world's fastest human" after setting a new Olympic 100 meter record at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Olympic teammate Mel Pender remembered that day.

"I got hurt. I pulled my muscle in my rib cage. Bob said 'Shorty, don't worry about it. You're gonna be second anyway, cause your not gonna beat me.'"

Hayes won gold, then went onto to win a Super Bowl ring with the Dallas Cowboys.

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Fellow Athletes, Eulogize "Bullet Bob"

"He, in my mind, put the Dallas Cowboys franchise on the map," team owner Jerry Jones said. "That's why I wanted to see him first hand -- to see the worlds fastest human."

Last fall, Jones enshrined Hayes into the Cowboys' Ring of Honor.

Former teammate Drew Pearson called Hayes a mentor.

'He taught me the ropes and what to expect in Dallas and the NFL," Pearson said. "He never outgrew himself. Regardless of where we would see him, he was the same Bob Hayes."

"God sparked his feet, put a flame in his soul, and gave him a voice to speak to the work," Hayes' sister-in-law Johnnie Stallings told the mourners. "In him, the elements of the world fused greatness and weakness; strength and folly. He opened doors for his nation, and brought many nations together."

In addition to many former NFL players attending services, all the members of Hayes' gold-medal winning Olympic relay team attended the funeral.

"One last time, he called us all together," Olympic teammate Ralph Boston told Channel 4's Joyce Morgan after the service. "As sad as it is, it's still a great day.