Walter Jerry Payton was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League for 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears. Nicknamed Sweetness, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time.
What made Walter Payton so great?
Walter was a phenomenal runner who ran for more than 1,000 yards in 10 of his 13 seasons. In 1977, he had his best season, running for 1,852 yards, which was the third-best in history at the time. Payton’s exceptional combined net yardage totals were made possible by his 492 pass receptions for 4,538 yards and 15 touchdowns over his entire career.
Payton set a SWAC single-game scoring record on September 23, 1972, when Jackson State defeated Lane College, 72–0, by rushing for seven touchdowns (on runs of 6, 8, 2, 3, 1, 2, and 31 yards) and two 2-point conversions for 46 points. He likewise set a school standard with 279 surging yards in the game.
How many Mvps did Walter Payton win?
The Bears employed Walter Payton for thirteen seasons. He had 3,838 conveys for 16,726 yards, 492 gets for 4,538 yards, and scored 125 scores. He was invited to nine Pro Bowl games. He won 1 Hostile Player of the Year grant, 1 MVP grant, the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year grant, and 1 title. In 1993, he was elected to the Hall of Fame.
The Walter and Connie Payton Foundation is a charitable organization that continues Payton’s legacy. Most people say that his appeals and his foundation, which he established after his death, raised awareness of the need for organ donations. After his requests, gifts in Illinois soared, and the local organ bank of Illinois was overpowered with calls.
In response, the City of Chicago inserted organ donation requests into city-vehicle-registration mailings in early 2000, and, by August 2000, 13,000 people had signed on to the program. The foundation continues to run a program that Payton organized to donate toys to underprivileged children across the Chicago area each Christmas. The family established the Walter Payton Cancer Fund in 2002.
