The Life of Walter Payton. Biography Essay Sample

The Life of Walter Payton. Biography Essay Sample 

Hall of Famer Walter Payton was arguably the greatest running back in NFL History. He has a variety of reasons to back that case up. First, he holds numerous all-time rushing records. Another reason is that he’s contributed to a super bowl victory. He is also a kind-hearted person, having the Man of The Year Award Named after him. “Sweetness; his iconic nickname, was due to his great personality, and his on-the-field greatness.

Walter Payton was born on July 25, 1954, in Columbia, Mississippi in a family of five. Walter was a good student growing up, and he was in the school band but was never known as an outgoing or athletic kid. In high school, he lived in the shadow of his older brother Eddie. Eddie was a star football player in high school, making Walter not have the urge to play football. After his brother graduated, it was Walter’s time to shine.  Entering his Junior year of high school, the football coach encouraged Walter to play. Walter tried football and never looked back, as his first time running the ball, he had a 65 yard run! That same season he would continue getting touchdowns and be the leading rusher for his team. During his junior and senior year, he was racking up offers to play college football, which nobody ever expected him to do. Walter and his brother were the best high school players in Mississippi at the time, both of them were All-State running backs. Walter Payton stated that he didn’t regret not being a late starter to sports. He said that “If you could go back and change things, you may not be the person you are now.” 

Following his multitudinous college offers, Walter chose Jackson State University, a smaller college close to home. He decided to play in the same backfield as his older brother. As a college running back, he didn’t disappoint, breaking numerous records he could only imagine as a kid. Walter Payton ended his historic college career with a whopping 3600 yards and led the entire country in touchdowns three times. He was a three-time Black College All-American, a two time FCS All-American, and the 1975 Black College Player of The Year. Walter had a college record from 1975 when he rushed for seven touchdowns, in one game! In addition to his running back duties at Jacksonville State, he punted, kicked, returned kicks, and threw for four passing touchdowns. Walter and his brother Eddie were both NFL-caliber players. In Walter’s four years as a collegiate athlete, his success made him a collegiate Hall of Famer. His brother Eddie also became an NFL player, as he played for the Minnesota Vikings for five years. Two brothers making the NFL is extremely rare. Walter Payton remains a college football legend to this day. 

After college, he declared for the 1975 NFL Draft. Due to his outstanding college resumé, he was selected fourth overall by the Chicago Bears. The Bears had endured several losing seasons after the retirement of team legend Gale Sayers. Walter Payton’s outstanding NFL career didn’t begin as the Bear’s organization expected. His first game was not particularly successful, having just eight carries for zero yards. He ended his rookie season with only 679 yards and 7 touchdowns. 

Following his rookie season, his career started to take off after winning five straight NFC rushing titles. In 1977, he had arguably the best year of his career. He had an stupendous season, winning MVP and Offensive Player of the Year, and also led the league in points. In the 1970’s, Walter Payton was the real deal being a top rusher throughout the last part of the decade. Heading into the 1980’s, Walter Payton was the NFL’s most significant rising star. Even though Walter was known for being the NFL's best running back, his team wasn’t a Superbowl contender, and they were widely considered to be a fairly mediocre team. 

In 1982, Chicago Bears fans were expecting their team to be a championship contender after Hall of Fame Coach Mike Ditka was hired. Everyone in the Bears organization had high expectations, and the team did not disappoint. When Mike Ditka became the head coach for the Chicago Bears, Walter Payton went from being the best player on a losing team to the best contributor on a winning team. During the Ditka era, Walter Payton not only became the leader of a contending team, but he also broke the NFL’s career rushing record which was his biggest individual achievement as a professional player. On October 7, 1984, Walter Payton broke the all-time rushing record, previously held by NFL legend Jim Brown. Surgery on both of his knees in 1983 didn’t stop him from achieving an NFL record. That same year, the Chicago Bears had a great season and finally got Walter the supporting cast he needed. Ditka added some offensive players to help Walter Payton with an already superior defense. The new supporting cast the Bears had would help Walter clinch the 1985 Super Bowl! 

The Chicago Bears finally won a Super Bowl with their very well-rounded team. However, they weren’t just your ordinary super bowl team. Nevertheless, they were one of the most historic NFL teams of all time. Walter did not disappoint in their championship season, rushing for over 1500 yards, being their key contributor to winning the Super Bowl. In the Super Bowl win, the Bears had the second-best offense, and their defense was arguably the best of all-time. Their Super Bowl run was quite easy, having a cakewalk through the playoffs, and crushing the New England Patriots 46-10 in the Super Bowl. Although the Bears won the Super Bowl, Walter Payton was heartbroken. At the 1-yard line, he was livid because Ditka took him out, and gave the ball to NFL sensation William “The Refrigerator” Perry. After the game teammates stated that, before his press conference, he was having a meltdown in the locker room, but the Bears manager told him to not say anything at his press conference, even though he felt betrayed. Although Walter didn’t score, that team would be unforgettable .

The season after Walter Payton and the Chicago Bears' historic playoff run, Walter may have cemented himself as the greatest running back of all time. Even though he was now known as an all-time great, his career started to decline. Everyone knew what move Walter Payton would do, but it was his effective stutter-step that was nearly impossible to stop. His physical, rough playstyle took a toll on his knees, as he had to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery in 1983, which contributed to his decline. Even though he declined, he had an all-time career, with arguably the best stats a running back has ever had. Walter’s last game was in 1988, the Bears took a loss to the Washington Redskins in the divisional. Walter finished his Hall of Fame career with 190 games played, 3,838 times running the ball, 16,726 rushing yards, 4,538 receiving yards, 110 rushing touchdowns, and 15 receiving touchdowns. He also had the previous rushing record with 275 yards. The Payton family had a few standouts: Walter, his brother Eddie and his son Jarett were known as exceptional football players, as all 3 played professional football. Walter Payton wasn’t just a football player. He has also written a couple of books and has a documentary on his life. Walter Payton’s book was called Never Die Easy. That was arguably his famous quote. “Never die easy. Why run out of bounds and die easy? Make that linebacker pay. It carries into all facets of your life. It's okay to lose, to die, but don't die without trying, without giving it your best.” That quote clarified the boisterous play style that made him great. Another reason he was one of the greats is many teammates and coaches said they’ve never seen a harder worker who wanted it more than Walter Payton.

In 1993, 6 years after he retired, he was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. He was unanimously chosen as a first-ballot Hall of Famer due to his once-in-a-generation player. In early 1999, Walter came down with a life-threatening disease called PSC (Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis), a condition that may lead to cancer of the bile ducts in the liver. Once he found out, he announced to the Chicago media the bad news of his disease; everyone was shocked. After all of his quotes in his early career such as "Never Die Easy", and "Tomorrow is promised to no one,” started to apply to Walter himself. On November 1, 1999, he died due to the complications of his illness. The Sunday of the week he died, the NFL held remarkable ceremonies to honor the greatness of Walter Payton. In addition to that, the Bears wore #34 patches on their jerseys to honor Payton and retire his legendary jersey. 

Walter Payton had the dream career anyone would wish for. In his playing days, he was unanimously the best running back in the NFL. Including his on the field success, he created the infamous “Man of The Year Award” that is still in the NFL to this day.