Recreational Holidays

Payton

Walter Payton, who passed away on November 1, 1999, was the essence of what an NFL player should be. His Hall of Fame career with the Chicago Bears still rings in the ears of Bear’s fans and to this day, sports announcers, still compare rookies to Payton’s running style.

Born in 1954 in Columbia, MS, Payton began to play football in high school, continuing to play for Jackson State in college. It was here that he developed his already remarkable natural talent for the game.

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.

Payton’s second season was more uniformly impressive, with 1,000 yards and the NFL MVP title. This year saw the Bears headed to the playoffs, where Walter Payton ran 274 yards in just one game - this record shattering achievement was not broken until 2000!

Walter Payton was known fondly as “sweetness” to fans and teammates, a nickname which belied his incredible 13 year career record of 16,726 total career-rushing yards, 110 touchdowns and no less than 77 100-yard rushing games.

He made it look easy rushing for 1,000 yards every season between 1976 and 1981 and his first Pro-Bowl came in 1979-he was voted to every Pro-Bowl after that year until his retirement. Although his rushing yard record has been broken, that was mainly due to two strikes during his career in the NFL, which cut the seasons short, and between 1975 and 1977, the NFL season was only 14 games, unlike the 16 games it is today.

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.

The Bears hurrah came in 1984 where they finished the season 10-6, the first time they made the post-season since 1963. It was then in 1986, that the Bears beat New England in the Super bowl with an ending score of 46-10-a game to be remembered, even if New England stopped Walter’s running or scoring attempts-he now had a Super bowl ring and started what is still called “The Super bowl Shuffle.”

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.

The number 34; Payton’s is one which instantly brings a smile to the face of any Bears fan. The foundation started by Payton’s wife Connie is yet another of his legacies, urging the people of Illinois to become organ donors. To this day, people in Chicago feel that they lost something truly special when they lost this remarkable man.