The Bears will honor Walter Payton on the 10th anniversary of his death with a special halftime tribute Sunday when they host the Cleveland Browns at Soldier Field. Walter Payton retired in 1987 as the NFL's all-time leading rusher with 16,726 yards. The Hall of Fame running back, who played 13 illustrious seasons with the Bears from 1975-87, died of bile duct cancer on Nov. 1, at the age of 45. “It just seems like yesterday, and he really does seem like he’s still here with us,” Connie Payton said during a recent visit to Halas Hall. Source: ChicagoBears.com
i know most of you are too young to have seen Payton run. For most of his career, the Bears had nothing on offense. He WAS their offense, especially in the early years. Teams would KNOW Payton was going to get the ball and they still had trouble stopping him from getting yards. The Bears didn't have very good O-lines but he had such skills and ran SO hard, he would still get yards. He had the moves but would also drag guys for an extra 3 yards. You could run Payton on any down. I enjoyed watching Barry Sanders play also, but you couldn't depend on Sanders to convert a 3rd and 2 every time. Payton would do it from sheer desire.
youre an old fart like me, eh? payton was the first awesome running back I watched on a regular basis. Jim Brown and O.J. were pretty much done by the time I was watching nfl games on a regular basis so I can't say much about them personally other than what i've seen on tape. It was Sweetness and Earl Campbell in my early years that were the best runners. Both fun to watch.
His legacy will live well past 10 years...he was one of the greatest. So happy I got to enjoy his runs...
Lucky to have grown up in Chicago & being brought up on Gale Sayers. Was heart broken when Sayers retired due to injuries but then Walter showed up shortly thereafter & helped ease the pain. Sayers was a better pure runner but Walter was the complete package. Captain's right on about the quality of the teams he played on. It was a given he was getting the ball most of the time & he'd punish defenders on every play. His stiff arm was legendary, blocking ferocious & he was a Helluva receiver also. Talking about iron men of the game, he only missed 1 game in his rookie season & that was a coach's decision about an ankle sprain. Pissed him off down the road cuz he said he wanted to & could've played. I know sometimes a player's legacy grows with time & is embellished as the stories are told but anyone not familiar with Sweetness aught to look up video when they get time & make up their own mind. I promise you won't be disappointed you did. Just a taste of Sweetness... [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBk9YaTBo10"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBk9YaTBo10[/ame]
