It was appropriate that yesterday was the kickoff of 2014 Bears training camp. Yesterday would have also been the 60th birthday of a Chicago legend: Walter Payton.
Who ranks above Sweetness in Chicago? Michael Jordan can be the ONLY person ranked ahead of him in Chicago sports royalty. We can talk about many legends, but when it comes to the best of the best, it’s Jordan & Payton. You know it was Payton who had the first “flu game” on November 20, 1977 vs the Vikings… he only had 275 yards rushing.
Born the year after Payton was drafted, I can only watch highlights of his early career. One of the first Bears games that I remember watching was the 1984 NFC Championship game, the first championship game for the Bears since 1963. This game was in San Francisco, where we almost never play well. We got skunked 23-0. Everything happens for a reason, as this served as motivation, and was the precursor to the 1985 Super Bowl season. I remember Walter Payton lining up at QB at one point during the game. I learned not only could he run like hell, he could also catch passes, throw passes, deliver crushing blocks, AND jump over a pile of men; he could do it all.
Walter Payton missed 1 game in his 13 year career. Walter Payton missed 1 game in his 13 year career!!! Here is a running back touching the ball 25+ times a game, who AVERAGED 111.9 yds from scrimmage per game, that missed 1 regular season game out of 208. Are you kidding me? Who does that? Walter Payton did. 170 consecutive games started is a record that still stands today for running backs. At 5’10”, 200 lbs, that’s a lot of punishment to take, but if you ever watched Walter run, he dished out his fair share too. How about a running back who never ran out of bounds? He would always throw a stiff arm, or lower his head into the defender as he stutter stepped down the sideline, prior to being pushed out of bounds. He never just ran to the sideline to avoid a hit. He DELIVERED hits. I remember that about him…
Also, it doesn’t have many side devensec.com buy cialis effects, and if taken in correct dosage. They often prefer online training classes so that their teen can learn purchase viagra online buying here the classroom part easily at home and then go out for in-car training. Your doctor can help you by suggesting the right pill and in this case the right medication is viagra viagra buy . A penis vitamin cream that contains a prescription viagra prices Visit This Link variety of nutrients that can be applied directly to the penis on a day to day basis can save the sexual life of a lot of men. Something else that is a rarity, especially nowadays, is where the team ranked in comparison to the individual when it came to Walter. He was a part of 136 total TDs in his career: 112 rushing, 15 receiving, and 9 passing. What was his signature celebration move you ask? He flipped the ball back to the official. In today’s NFL that would be considered boring; I consider it classy. No need to jump up and down, and go nuts. Act like you’ve been there before. Realize that although you scored, it is truly a team game. That being said, I think that was the only thing that was NOT perfect about the 1985 Bears, besides the Miami game: the fact that he did NOT get in the end zone in the Super Bowl. Here’s a guy who was the franchise for 10 years prior to that year…
So the durability, the versatility, the class, the greatness… my personal memory of him that I’ve mentioned in a previous blog was actually meeting Walter. I couldn’t have been more than 7-8 years old, and was with my Dad either going to/coming from the Auto Show. My dad reached out and stopped him as he walked by. He gladly stopped, and with a big smile, reached down to shake my hand, winning another young fan for life. The stories of how he was off the field were just as impressive as those on. Although no person is perfect, here was a guy who was as friendly and giving as they came: pretty impressive from someone who is the greatest RB of all time. The NFL thought so too, since they named the Man of the Year award after him.
I actually met another great all time RB in a donut shop while out in Los Angeles. His name was Jim Brown. Although he seemed nice enough, I still was this close to actually telling him that I thought Walter was the best ever, and NOT him. I felt like I needed to say that to represent Walter, but I didn’t. I didn’t need to tell anybody for confirmation, and I don’t need anybody to tell me for validation. I know who the best RB ever was, and that’s #34.
God broke the mold when he made Walter: a rarity in all that he did, all that he was. We continue to treasure him as one of our own here in Chicago. Even years after his passing, he is still remembered. He is firmly positioned on that Mount Rushmore of Chicago sports; that will never change. He never craved for that individual attention, but he got it; he deserves all of it. We miss you Walter; there’ll never be another.
Matt Suhey
Walter Payton. Sweetness. #34
The myth, the man, the legend. There will never be another. Over 4,500 yards receiving. 8 passing tds, a record for non-qbd. And of course, 16,726 rushing yards…none were ever gained without taking a hit or delivering one. I would know. I opened quite a few holes for Walter in my days. And if I didn’t open a hole, he made one himself by ramming into defenders or tried to clear them by jumping over defenders. He would rather drop his shoulder and punish a defender than going out of bounds. Or he would deliver a straight arm to gain extra yards and let the defenders know they were going to get as much as giving it. Every time he got tackled in the field of play, he would always stretch out his arm with the ball and lay it on the ground a yard or two further than he was tackled…no idea how many extra yards he may have gotten when the ref would come to spot it. He celebrated tds after the game, only if we won. He had been there before and would be there again…act like you’ve been there clowns. My personal favorite moments playing with and watching Walter were when he did his patented stutter step. He was never the fastest guy but this move helped him make the defenders think about what he was going to do. By the time they realized, he was gone or picking up extra yards. I would have much rathered Walter score the SB td than me. He really deserved it for all he had done for the Bears. But all in all, Walter carried himself with nothing but class on and off the field. He was the jokester that kept things light in the locker room. He locked me and others out of the locker room in the cold many times while he took long, hot showers. His motto in life was “never die easy.” I think he lived that on the football field and off of it in life. There will never be another Walter…my brother from another mother! GO BEARS
bullwinkle
And what prepared him for the riggers of each season was his off-season work ethic. He didn’t go on tv shows, or vacation in the islands somewhere, or look for the press, he continued to work-out. He had a work-out regimen that I’m not sure how many current and since then running backs could handle. Yet he did it each and every day. Sometimes twice a day! That’s why he was there every game, taking hits, giving hits, and all the time, giving his usual 110%.
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