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Best NFL Players of All Time: Walter Payton

Because of his disposition, they dubbed him “Sweetness.” However, compared to other football players of his period, Walter Payton was more of a throwback due to his output. The Chicago Bears selected Payton in the first round of the 1975 draft, before the league had begun to specialize. Payton attended Jackson State.

There were no third-down pass rushers or first-down run stuffers. Alternatively, there were defensive linemen who were required to play each and every play. Stopping the run and covering passes were the duties of defensive backs. Maybe the team added a defensive back to the mix in the fourth quarter in an attempt to stop a huge pass play.

However, you have to finish the game. Payton gave a flawless performance.

match. He was a fearsome runner, a formidable blocker, a wideout when it came to receiving passes, and he could throw the ball far and accurately when the coaching staff desired him to.

In the 1984 season, he overtook Jim Brown as the all-time leading rusher in the history of the game. With 13, seasons and 16,726 yards at the end of his career. While he was barely 200 pounds when he played in the NFL, he was a 5-foot-10 player who punished tacklers. During his debut season, he missed just one game and never missed another. Payton was the best all-around player on the 1985 Bears, a squad that many believe had the best single season in football history.

Mike Ditka, the Bears’ head coach and the team’s symbol since George Halas’s passing in 1983, referred to Payton as the best football player he had ever seen. Walter Payton was a player that Ditka remarked “I never saw a player who gave more of himself on every play he was out there.” There was nothing that he couldn’t do with dominance. He was the greatest receiver, blocker, and runner there was. He would go above and above to support his team in winning, and he could toss the ball when called upon. What more is there to ask for?

Payton would never allow himself to go through a slump or be satisfied in a league where many of the best players struggle to maintain performances from year to year. That explains why he ran for more than 100 yards in 77 games, including a career-high 275 yards against the Minnesota Vikings. Nine times was he selected to the Pro Bowl, and he set an NFL record at the time of his retirement with ten seasons with more than 1,000 yards gained through rushes.

With 492 passes caught, no Bears player has ever caught more than Payton. To be honest, nobody even came close. With such vigor, Payton blocked more passes than any other Hall of Fame running back. He would regularly take linebackers and defensive linemen out at the knees before they could get close to his quarterback, putting them on their backs.

In order to return to the line of scrimmage, Payton broke hundreds of tackles while playing for some subpar teams in the middle of the 1970s and early 1980s. Defenses focused their game plan on stopping Payton because they knew that other than him, none of those Bears teams posed a threat.

Eight of the 11 passes he completed on the Halas option play were for touchdowns, in part because of this. The other reason is that, compared to many of the quarterbacks he played with throughout the years, the second-most prolific ground gainer in NFL history had a stronger arm.

Payton briefly filled in at quarterback for Chicago when injuries destroyed the position. If needed, he could have also taken care of the punting and kicking tasks. At Jackson State, he performed, kicking

They scored 54 extra points, 12 field goals, and averaged 39 yards per punt.

Ditka remarked, “Watching him block someone gave me just as much joy as watching him run for a touchdown.” Or observing him kick the ball, pass the ball, or catch a pass. He was capable of everything. He performed it as well as most individuals in practice. All he was was a gifted man. He was also the most diligent worker we knew. He was the last person to depart and the first person there.

“He did it all by himself, and he arrived at camp in the finest shape of anyone I’ve ever seen. He lifted weights, climbed up hills, and ran up and down all the time. He was an automaton.

The secret to Payton’s steady output may have been his offseason workout regimen. Payton would run hills to be ready for training camp, which was an easy feat for him once he arrived. Others used training camp as a means of improving their physical condition. Payton began running up to twenty times a day up a 92-foot hill in Arlington Heights, Illinois. During his training routine, he developed his legs and endurance to an extent that surprised his teammates.

“It was unbelievable what I witnessed him doing,” stated Matt Suhey, a former fullback for the Bears. “He never complained, even though it was the most agonizing and taxing thing I have ever seen.” Walter was the only one who could do it and keep doing it. His desire to excel was what motivated him.

The 1985 season saw Payton at his peak efficiency, running for 1,551 yards at an average of 4.8 yards per carry—the second-highest total of his career. (In 1977, he ran for a career-high 1,852 yards, the third-highest total ever in a 14-game season, averaging 5.5 yards per carry.) The 1985 Bears defeated the New York Giants, Los Angeles Rams, and New England Patriots on route to a 15–1 record and the franchise’s lone Super Bowl.

Throughout the season, Payton’s versatility and professionalism were evident, but they were never more so than in the Week 3 victory against Minnesota, 33–24. Jim McMahon came off the bench to start the passing game as the Bears trailed the Vikings late in the game. Payton’s crushing block on the blitz allowed McMahon to fire a touchdown pass to Willie Gault as he raced deep.

Payton was instrumental in getting the Bears back on track against the Indianapolis Colts the next week with a 111-yard rushing performance. The Bears had lost their season opener to the Miami Dolphins and had lost all motivation for an unbeaten campaign.

Throughout his career, Payton was the epitome of health and vitality, which made his terrible death from liver illness in 1999 all the more tragic. Emmitt Smith has since surpassed Payton’s career running record, but his legacy as a fully realized player will never be surpassed.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Walter Payton Stats

Regular Season

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/A	Y/G	A/G	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD	Lng	R/G	Y/G	Touch	Y/Tch	YScm	RRTD	Fmb	AV
1975	22	CHI	RB	34	13	7	196	679	7	54	3.5	52.2	15.1	33	213	6.5	0	40	2.5	16.4	229	3.9	892	7	9	6
1976	23	CHI	RB	34	14	14	311	1390	13	60	4.5	99.3	22.2	15	149	9.9	0	34	1.1	10.6	326	4.7	1539	13	10	14
197	24	CHI	RB	34	14	14	339	1852	14	73	5.5	132.3	24.2	27	269	10	2	75	1.9	19.2	366	5.8	2121	16	11	20
1978	25	CHI	RB	34	16	16	333	1395	11	76	4.2	87.2	20.8	50	480	9.6	0	61	3.1	30	383	4.9	1875	11	5	15
1979	26	CHI	RB	34	16	16	369	1610	14	43	4.4	100.6	23.1	31	313	10.1	2	65	1.9	19.6	400	4.8	1923	16	7	15
1980	27	CHI	RB	34	16	16	317	1460	6	69	4.6	91.3	19.8	46	367	8	1	54	2.9	22.9	363	5	1827	7	5	15
1981	28	CHI	RB	34	16	16	339	1222	6	39	3.6	76.4	21.2	41	379	9.2	2	30	2.6	23.7	380	4.2	1601	8	9	8
1982	29	CHI	RB	34	9	9	148	596	1	26	4	66.2	16.4	32	311	9.7	0	40	3.6	34.6	180	5	907	1	3	10
1983	30	CHI	RB	34	16	16	314	1421	6	49	4.5	88.8	19.6	53	607	11.5	2	74	3.3	37.9	367	5.5	2028	8	5	13
1984	31	CHI	RB	34	16	16	381	1684	11	72	4.4	105.3	23.8	45	368	8.2	0	31	2.8	23	426	4.8	2052	11	5	16
1985	32	CHI	RB	34	16	16	324	1551	9	40	4.8	96.9	20.3	49	483	9.9	2	65	3.1	30.2	373	5.5	2034	11	6	18
1986	33	CHI	RB	34	16	16	321	1333	8	41	4.2	83.3	20.1	37	382	10.3	3	57	2.3	23.9	358	4.8	1715	11	6	11
1987	34	CHI	RB	34	12	12	146	533	4	17	3.7	44.4	12.2	33	217	6.6	1	16	2.8	18.1	179	4.2	750	5	5	6
Career					190	184	3838	16726	110	76	4.4	88	20.2	492	4538	9.2	15	75	2.6	23.9	4330	4.9	21264	125	86	167

Playoffs

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/A	Y/G	A/G	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD	Lng	R/G	Y/G	Touch	Y/Tch	YScm	RRTD	Fmb
1977	24	CHI	RB	1	1	19	60	0	11	3.2	60	19	3	33	11	0	20	3	33	22	4.2	93	0	1
1979	26	CHI	RB	1	1	16	67	2	12	4.2	67	16	3	52	17.3	0	31	3	52	19	6.3	119	2	0
1984	31	CHI	RB	2	2	46	196	0	20	4.3	98	23	4	23	5.8	0	12	2	11.5	50	4.4	219	0	0
1985	32	CHI	RB	3	3	67	186	0	12	2.8	62	22.3	8	52	6.5	0	19	2.7	17.3	75	3.2	238	0	2
1986	33	CHI	RB	1	1	14	38	0	9	2.7	38	14	1	-2	-2	0	-2	1	-2	15	2.4	36	0	1
1987	34	CHI	RB	1	1	18	85	0	16	4.7	85	18	3	20	6.7	0	9	3	20	21	5	105	0	0
Career				9	9	180	632	2	20	3.5	70.2	20	22	178	8.1	0	31	2.4	19.8	202	4	810	2

 

 

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