Athletes - Walter Payton

Home > Listing Index > Athletes > Walter Payton

	Athletes - Walter Payton

Walter Jerry Payton (July 25, 1954 - November 1, 1999) was an American football running back and is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. He is acclaimed as one of the best running backs of all time, and was named by Football Digest as the greatest player ever upon his retirement.

Career

Walter Payton spent his entire 13-year career (1975-1987) with the Chicago Bears. The Bears drafted him in the first round (fourth overall) of the 1975 draft out of Jackson State University, where he was fourth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy (which was won that year by Ohio State University running back Archie Griffin, who would win it again the following year). Nicknamed "Sweetness," Payton was quiet, humble, and generous off the field, but a relentless, hard-nosed competitor on it. He earned numerous accomplishments, including his crowning achievement: breaking Jim Brown's NFL career rushing record against the New Orleans Saints at Soldier Field in Chicago on October 7, 1984. He also broke another Jim Brown record in this game with his 59th career 100-yard performance. His career rushing record would stand for 18 years until surpassed by Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith in 2002.

Against the Minnesota Vikings on November 20, 1977, Walter Payton rushed for 275 yards on 40 carries while fighting a severe case of influenza. The 275 yards was an NFL single-game record until it was broken by Corey Dillon of the Cincinnati Bengals in 2001. He was the NFL's Player of the Year and its Most Valuable Player in 1977.

Payton also scored 125 career touchdowns, seventh on the all-time scoring list. In addition to being a Hall of Fame-caliber running back, Payton was assigned many plays as a receiver and blocker, and, later in his career, was also an emergency quarterback and punter. In one game against the Vikings on October 21, 1979, he ran for, passed for, and caught a touchdown, a feat that has only been done by six other players, most recently LaDainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers.

Known as a figure of resilience, Payton only missed one game in his 13 year career with the Bears which took place during the 1975-76 season, Payton's rookie season, because the Bears trainer wouldn't allow Payton to play. Walter insisted that he could have played. But perhaps more important to Walter than missing that game was the fact that he wanted to serve as an example to younger football players, and that he never took a play off and went all out every play. This consistency and toughness Walter exhibited was later chronicled in his autobiography, Never Die Easy.

1985

Although Walter Payton was a legitimate superstar and an icon in the city of Chicago, he played on some awful Bears teams. That changed in 1985. Former Bears tight end Mike Ditka had returned to the team in 1982 as its head coach and began rebuilding it. In 1985, the Bears had an incredible season, going 15-1 in the regular season (with their only blemish being an embarrassing loss to the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football in the 13th week). The Bears bounced back and finished strongly, then, augmented by a song Bears members recorded called The Super Bowl Shuffle, steamrolled through the NFC playoffs, shutting out both the New York Giants and the Los Angeles Rams, and finally defeating the New England Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX where they limited the Patriots to 7 yards rushing, a Super Bowl record.

However sweet the victory was for the Chicago Bears and their fans, it turned out to be anything but sweet for Walter Payton, who rushed for only 61 yards in the game. Some Bears fans believed that Mike Ditka insulted Payton by putting rookie phenomenon William "The Refrigerator" Perry, normally a defensive tackle, in at running back on a goal line play and giving him the ball. Payton was visibly upset on the sideline about not being allowed to contribute more.

While Payton only began playing football in his junior year of high school, he retired with 16,726 yards, a total surpassed by the Dallas Cowboys' Emmitt Smith in 2002. On July 31, 1993, Payton was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His son Jarrett Payton, now a running back with the Tennessee Titans, gave his induction speech. Coincidentally, Walter Payton's former teammate, Jeff Fisher, is the Titans' head coach.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Walter Payton ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Walter Payton; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Athletes - Walter Payton

Career

1985

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay