In 1975, a lot of Chicago Bear fans probably wondered why their team picked little-known Walter Payton with the #4 pick. They didn’t wonder for long, because Payton became one of the greatest players in NFL history.
Born in 1953 in Columbia, Mississippi, Payton first played in the high school band before his coach persuaded him to give football a shot. He agreed – as long as he didn’t have to quit band.
He was a freshman in 1971, just when integration was really taking hold in the south and was not
recruited by SEC teams, so he ultimately chose Jackson State. Their loss, because Payton was brilliant in college.
In the NFL, his first year wasn’t that great but he took off in his second and never looked back. He was a smallish back but strong, and strong-willed. He also worked unbelievably hard. Like his fellow Missippian Jerry Rice, Payton set a standard for hard work that very few athletes can match. He was obviously talented, but he maximized every ounce of talent that he had, as you’ll see in this video.
Payton retired in 1987 as the all-time leading rusher NFL history. Tragically, a few years later he developed primary sclerosing cholangitis which was followed by bile duct cancer.
The man they called Sweetness died on November 1, 1999. He was just 46 years old.
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