Football Great Payton Dies
Walter Payton, the NFL's greatest rusher whose aggressive style masked a playful temperament that earned him the nickname "Sweetness," died Monday at age 45.
Payton died of bile duct cancer that was discovered during his treatment earlier this year for primary sclerosing cholangitis, a rare liver disease.
Payton rushed for 16,726 yards in his 13-year career, one of sport's most awesome records. And Barry Sanders ensured it would be one of the most enduring, retiring in July despite being just 1,458 yards shy of breaking Payton's mark.
"I want to set the record so high that the next person who tries for it, it's going to bust his heart," Payton once said.
Payton was coached for six years by Mike Ditka, now coach of the New Orleans Saints, who called him "the best football player I've ever seen."
"And he led by example on the field. He was the complete player. He did everything.
Payton disclosed in February that he was suffering from primary sclerosing cholangitis and needed a liver transplant.
His physician, Dr. Greg Gores of the Mayo Clinic, said Payton was subsequently diagnosed with cancer of the bile duct, a vessel that carries digestive fluids from the liver to the small intestine.
Gores declined to say when the cancer was diagnosed.
"Walter was the kind of individual who refused to think, 'Why me, why now?' He just continued to look forward," said Mike Singletary, his teammate from 1981-87 and a close friend.
Even in his final days, Singletary said Payton never talked about dying.
"He had dealt with that, but he didn't want to talk about that," he said.
Payton was widely celebrated in Chicago, the city's highest-profile athlete in the years after Cubs' Hall of Famer Ernie Banks retired and before Bulls' superstar Michael Jordan emerged.
"Walter was a Chicago icon long before I arrived there," Jordan said in a statement issued after Payton's death. "He was a great man off the field, and his on-the-field accomplishments speak for themselves. I spent a lot of time with Walter, and truly feel that we have lost a great man."
A two-time Little All-American, Payton finished fourth in voting for the Heisman Trophy in 1974 and was picked fourth overall by the Bears in the 1975 NFL draft. He rushed for 679 yards and seven touchdowns in his rookie season and the next year had the first of what would be 10 1,000-yard seasons, rushing for 1,390 yards and 13 touchdowns.
In 1977, just his third year in the NFL, Payton won the first of two MVP awards with the most productive season of his career. He rushed for 1,852 yards and 14 touchdowns, both career highs. His 5.5 yards per carry also was the best of his career.
Against Minnesota, he ran for 275 yards, an NFL single-game record that still stands. And in 1984, he broke Jim Brown's longstanding rushing record of 12,312 yards.
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| No. 34 always seemed to find the holes. |
Chicago beat New England 46-10 in the Super Bowl, but Payton didn't score in the game.
When he disclosed his liver disease at an emotional news conference in February, the Hall of Famer looked gaunt and frail, a shadow of the man who gained more yards than any running back in the history of the NFL.
"Am I scared? Hell yeah, I'm scared. Wouldn't you be scared?" he asked. "But it's not in my hands anymore. It's in God's hands."
Payton made few public appearances after that and his son, Jarrett, who plays for the University of Miami, was called home Wednesday night.
"From the day in February when my dad told the world of his liver disease, the outpouring of love, support and prayers from around the world astounded even him," Jarrett Payton said, holding back tears as he read a statement at the Bears' headquarters in Lake Forest, Ill.
Born July 25, 1954, at Columbia, Miss., Payton played college football at Jackson State, where he set nine school records, scored 66 touchdowns and rushed for 3,563 yards. He once scored 46 points in one game.
He led the nation in scoring in 1973 with 160 points, and his 464 career points was an NCAA record.
Payton was somewhat undersized for a power running back, something Minnesota Vikings coach Dennis Green remembered Monday.
"He set a standard for going all out," Green sid. "He wasn't as big as some of your other backs that play the game, but he could outwork anybody and he always gave 100 percent. And that was 100 percent to his family, to his friends, to the game of football, and so is a guy that is really going to be missed."
Payton's nickname of "Sweetness" was a tribute to his personality more than his running style. He was an elusive runner but often took on tacklers with an aggressive, stiff-armed style that belied his size.
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| Even at Jackson State, Walter Payton showed signs of greatness. |
Even as he was dying, Payton continued to play pranks on his friends. Last week, he purposely sent former Bears running back Matt Suhey to wrong addresses on a trip to Singletary's house, and then had him hide a hamburger and a malt in Singletary's garage.
Payton retired after the 1987 season, and the Bears immediately retired No. 34.
Payton was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1993, his first year of eligibility.
"This is a great loss. Walter Payton was an inspiration to me by the way he carried himself on the field and off the field," said Dallas' Emmitt Smith, who with 13,174 yards is the NFL's active rushing leader and No. 4 on the list, 3,552 behind Payton.
NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue called Payton "one of the greatest players in the history of the sport."
"Walter was an inspiration in everything he did. The tremendous grace and dignity he displayed in his final months reminded us again why `Sweetness' was the perfect nickname for Walter Payton," Tagliabue said.
Following retirement, Payton tried his hand at auto racing and became co-owner of a CART team.
Payton also served on the Bears' board of directors and became part-owner of an Arena Football League team after unsuccessful efforts to buy an NFL franchise. He also ran a restaurant and other businesses in the Chicago area.
At the Hall of Fame ceremony, he chose son, who was then 12 years old, to present him for induction.
"Not only is he a great athlete, he's a role model he's my role model," Jarrett said.
Besides his son, Payton is survived by his wife, Connie, and daughter, Brittney.
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