He was named to the all-conference team two years in a row. Payton's statistics proved that was no exaggeration: he scored in every game during his junior and senior years. Tommy Davis, Columbia's football coach, claimed that he could always count on Payton when the team needed to score. His performance helped ease the local tensions surrounding desegregation. He then earned statewide honors as a member of Mississippi's all-state team, leading Columbia to an unexpected 8–2 season. Boston, had become an assistant and Payton boycotted some of the spring practices in protest, but returned during the fall season. Jefferson High School was integrated with neighboring Columbia High School that year Payton and his teammates were upset that their head coach, Charles L. At 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m), he was not especially large, but his speed and strength made him one of the team's featured players. Once he began to play football, as a junior, he achieved instant success as a running back, running 65 yards for a touchdown on his first high-school carry. After Eddie graduated, the football coach asked Payton to try out for the team, and he agreed on the condition that he be allowed to continue playing in the band. ![]() His brother Eddie was on the football team, but Payton did not play-partly to avoid competing with him. Outside of school, he played drums in jazz-rock groups. ![]() Jefferson High School, Payton played drums in the marching band, participated in the track team and sang in the school choir. Payton was an active member of the Boy Scouts, Little League, and his local church. His father was a factory worker who had played semi-professional baseball he died in jail 1978 just a couple of hours after being wrongfully accused of driving under the influence due to a stroke that presented similar symptoms to alcohol intoxication. However, other sources have stated he was born in 1953. Payton's year of birth is disputed most sources at the time of his death stated he was born in 1954. Payton was one of three children born to Peter and Alyne Payton in Columbia, Mississippi. His legacy includes being the namesake of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, Walter Payton Award, and a heightened awareness of the need for organ donations. He retired from football at the end of the 1987 season having rushed for at least 1,200 yards in 10 of his 13 seasons in the NFL (with two of those thirteen being lockout-shortened seasons).Īfter struggling with the rare liver disease primary sclerosing cholangitis for several months, Payton died on November 1, 1999, from cholangiocarcinoma at the age of 46. Payton proceeded to win the 1977 AP NFL Most Valuable Player Award and won Super Bowl XX with the 1985 Chicago Bears. He started his professional career with the Chicago Bears in 1975, who selected him with the 1975 Draft's fourth overall pick. Payton began his football career in Mississippi and went on to have an outstanding college football career at Jackson State University playing for the Tigers, where he was named Little All-American twice. Hall of Fame NFL player and coach Mike Ditka described Payton as the greatest football player he had ever seen-but even greater as a human being. He was named to the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1994 and the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team in 2019. He was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993, the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame that same year, and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996. Payton also retired with the most receptions by a non-receiver, and he had eight career touchdown passes. A nine-time Pro Bowl selection, Payton is remembered as a prolific rusher, once holding records for career rushing yards, touchdowns, carries, yards from scrimmage, all-purpose yards, and many other categories. Nicknamed " Sweetness", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time. Walter Jerry Payton (J – November 1, 1999) was an American professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears. Most consecutive starts by a running back: 170. ![]()
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