Walter Payton Bio
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Walter Payton's Hall of Fame-worthy career set an example for every NFL player to come after him. Even though Payton passed nearly a decade ago, Bears fans remember him to this day as if he had only retired last week. Sportscasters still measure new players against Payton, an intimidating standard to be sure.
Payton was born in Columbia, MS in 1954 and came to the game relatively late in life for an NFL player. It was not until high school that he discovered his talent for and love of the game. He continued to play in college at Jackson State in Mississippi.
Payton was fourth in contention for the Heisman Trophy in 1975, the year that saw him becoming Chicago's fourth draft pick. Walter Payton got off to a slow start his first season, with a mere 7 touchdowns and 679 yards, but gave the world a taste of what would come later in his final game of the season. This game saw the Bears facing off against the New Orleans Saints; Payton made a 134 yard run, something which had not been seen in Chicago since the Gale Sayers era.
In his second season with the Bears, Walter reached 1,000 yards with 13 touchdowns and was named the NFL's most valuable player in 1977. In 1977, the Bears made the playoffs where Walter ran for 274 yards in one game, a record that wasn't broken until the year 2000.
Known affectionately as "sweetness" Payton was a favorite with fans and teammates alike for his personality and his impressive record n the gridiron. IN his 13 year NFL career, Payton racked up an astounding 16,726 yards, 110 touchdowns and 77 100-yard rushing games.
Payton made it look easy, with 1,000 yards dashed in each season between 1976 and 1981. Payton played in every Pro Bowl from 1979 until his retirement. His rushing record has been broken since, but is record may still stand today were it not for NFL strikes which cut short the 1975 and 197 seasons.
Things got even better for Chicago once Coach Mike Ditka came on board. Ditka aggressively recruited new players to support Payton. In 1984, the Bears led their division and Payton broke Jim Brown's running record. The day he broke the record, he dedicated his feat to those athletes whose careers were tragically cut short by injuries and illnesses.
And of course, 1986 was the year of the "Super Bowl Shuffle", still commonly heard coming from the jukeboxes in Chicago taverns. The Bears had made it to the Super Bowl for the first time and they were victorious over the Patriots in the matchup, with a jaw-dropping 46-10 score.
The following year, Payton's retirement was marked with a huge send off at the Bears home field, Soldier Field in Chicago. After his retirement from the game, he stayed active, sitting on the team's board of directors, beginning a CART racing team and even opening a restaurant. He was name dot the NFL Hall of Fame in 1996, a fitting cap on an extraordinary career.
Payton went public with the announcement that he had been diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis. He was placed on a waiting list for a new liver; sadly, he passed away on November 1st of that year.
Any Bears fan will instantly associate the number 34 with Payton. He is remembered for his career on the field and still celebrated for his raising awareness of the importance of organ donation, spurring many of the people of Illinois to become organ donors. To this day, Chicago sports fans may get a little misty eyed as they raise a glass of Old Style to their "sweetness".
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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