Payton, Walter J.
Football
b. July 25, 1954, Columbia, MS
d. Nov. 1, 1999
Probably the greatest all-around running back in football history, Payton retired with NFL career records for most rushing yards, most passes caught by a running back, and most all-purpose yards. During his 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears, he was also the team's emergency punter, emergency place-kicker, and emergency quarterback.
Payton was named to the Division II All-American team at Jackson State in 1974. In four years as a starter, he set a division record by scoring 464 points on 66 touchdowns, five field goals and 53 extra points.
Payton was a first-round draft choice of the Bears in 1975. The solid, 5-foot-10, 203-pounder was used sparingly as a rookie, rushing for only 679 yards.
In 1976, Payton became a full-time starter and he proceeded to lead the National Football Conference in rushing five years in a row, gaining 1,390 yards in 1976, 1,852 in 1977, 1,395 in 1978, 1,610 in 1978, and 1,460 in 1979.
Called "Sweetness" by his teammates because of his disposition, Payton was consensus player of the year in 1977 and The Sporting News National Football Conference player of the year in 1976. He won the Bert Bell Trophy as the league's most valuable player in 1985, when the Bears were NFC champions.
Many football fans were looking forward to seeing Payton score a touchdown in the Super Bowl to climax his career, but they were disappointed. The Bears beat the New England Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX, with Payton gaining only 61 yards on 22 carries. Twice Chicago was at New England's 1-yard line, but Payton wasn't given the ball either time, stirring speculation that there was a rift between him and coach Mike Ditka. Both denied it.
Payton retired after the 1987 season. He gained 16,726 yards on 3,838 carries, a 4.4 average, and scored 110 rushing touchdowns. He added 4,537 yards on 492 receptions, a 9.2 average, with 15 touchdown catches. At the time of his retirement, Payton held NFL records for most rushing touchdowns, most games rushing for 100 or more yards (77), most seasons with more than 1,000 rushing yards (10), and most rushing yards in a game (275).
During his long career, he missed just one game, with a thigh injury as a rookie. He started 186 consecutive games after that.
In retirement, Payton was involved in a number of businesses, including the Payton Power Equipment Company, which provides heavy equipment to industrial and construction businesses. He also created the Walter Payton Foundation, devoted to helping needy children throughout the country.
In February of 1999, announced that he had been diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis, a rare disease of the bile ducts. During treatment, doctors discovered that he had bile duct cancer. He died in November.