Walter Payton Biography

Payton, Walter (25 July 1954-1 Nov. 1999), NFL Hall of Fame football player, was born in Columbia, Mississippi, the son of Peter Payton, a factory worker, and Alyne Payton. Walter, or "Spider Man" as he called himself as a boy, was active in Boy Scouts, the church choir, camping with friends, and playing drums in the band before he finally turned to football his junior year in high school at the all-black Jefferson High School. Already bigger and stronger than most of his teammates, Walter was an instant starter.
Halfway through his junior year at Jefferson, the all-white Columbia High School was ordered to integrate, and Payton and several of his teammates transferred there. They were upset, however, when a white coach, Tommy Davis, was hired for the Columbia job instead of their Jefferson coach, Charles Boston. Already socially conscious at the age of sixteen, Payton boycotted spring practice that year to express his dissatisfaction, but, recognizing that the decision would not change, he joined the team for the start of his senior season.
Payton led his Columbia team to an 8-2 record that year and was named All State. But with just one year at the school and two years of high school football, he was not heavily recruited. He attended nearby Jackson State University, where he joined a team that featured a number of other future NFL players and Pro Bowlers, including Jerome Barkham, Vernon Perry, Ricky Young, Robert Brazille, and fellow Hall of Famer Jackie Slater. At Jackson State Payton rushed for 3,563 yards, achieved a 6.1 average, and became the NCAA's all-time leading rusher with 65 touchdowns. He majored in communications and graduated in 1975.
In the spring of 1975, the Chicago Bears made Payton the fourth player chosen on the first round of the NFL college draft. While it may have seemed strange at the time for the young man from rural Mississippi to leave the small city of Columbia for the second largest city in the country, the shift proved ideal. Payton spent his entire thirteen-year professional football career in Chicago, becoming one of the greatest players in the history of the game. And he did it as arguably the toughest and hardest-working player the game had ever seen, giving meaning and hope to the citizens of the "City of Big Shoulders" who flocked to Bears games to watch Payton carry his mediocre team week after week.
Payton played all but one game his rookie year. Over the player's strenuous objections, Rookie coach Jack Pardee forced his prize pupil with a sprained ankle to sit out the fifth week of the season. This game, with the Pittsburgh Steelers, was the only game Payton missed in his thirteen-year career, a record that perhaps more than any of his others raised number 34 to legendary stature.
Walter Payton married Connie Norwood in 1976; they would have a son, Jarrett, and a daughter, Brittney.
Over the next twelve seasons Payton averaged 1,337 yards rushing per season. He went to his first Pro Bowl in 1976 and then eight more in '78, '79, '80, '81, '84, '85, '86 and '87. In 1977, playing with a bad case of flu, Payton set an NFL record rushing for 275 yards in a game against the Minnesota Vikings. On 7 October 1984, he rushed for 154 yards against the New Orleans Saints, shattering what was believed to be Jim Brown's unassailable record of 12,312 yards. Payton finished his career with 10 NFL records including 3,838 rushes, 16,726 yards, most 1,000-yard seasons (10), and most 100-yard rushing games (77). He also set 28 Chicago Bears records and was the team's backup punter and place kicker. He even played quarterback in a game in 1984. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame on 31 July 1993, the first player in the history of the Hall to be presented by his son. His wife and daughter were also in attendance.
Payton was, however, far more than just a great football player. Mike Ditka, Payton's coach for the last five years of his career and during his only championship season in 1985, said of Payton, "I mean no disrespect to any player, because there've been a lot of great ones. I'll just say I believe he was the best I ever saw and probably the greatest ever." To millions of fans in Chicago and around the world he was known affectionately as "Sweetness," the name he earned for the way he both played on the field and carried himself off it. Payton was successful in business as well as sports; he had interests in restaurants, real estate, banking, construction, and, particularly, auto racing. One of his great disappointments was failing to become an NFL owner because of a failed bid to gain an expansion team in St. Louis when the clubs were awarded to Jacksonville and Carolina and the Rams then moved to St. Louis.
Late in 1998 it became obvious that something was wrong with the always robust Payton when he began losing weight and the whites of his eyes began to yellow. In February 1999 he went public with the news that he had primary sclerosing cholangitis, a rare disease of the liver. Fans everywhere expected to hear that the unstoppable Payton would be receiving a liver transplant, but when a trip to the Mayo Clinic in May revealed a tumor in his liver, all hope was lost. His last months were spent as a crusader for organ donorship and transplants. He died at home in South Barrington, Illinois.