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Walter Payton Essay

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It is a popular adage that there are only two certain things in life-death and taxes. But for the last decade or so in the National Football League, there has been another sure thing-as soon as he was eligible in 1993, Walter Payton was destined to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That is exactly what happened in January, 1993. All that remains was the exclamation point on his spectacular career-enshrinement day on July 31, 1993, when Payton and four other members of the Class of 1993 received pro football's highest honor.

In 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears from 1975 to 1987, Payton literally rewrote the NFL record book with his ball-carrying feats. He rushed 3,838 times for 16,726 yards and 110 touchdowns-all records. He …show more content…

"Walter takes pride in the little things, the blocking, the faking. Once against Cincinnati, he picked up a couple of linebackers and liked to have killed them," Payton's last Bears coach, Mike Ditka, remembers.

His teammate, Brian Baschnagel, insisted that Payton could play any position. Then he hesitated: "I guess at 5-10, 202 pounds, his size might limit him at defensive tackle. The most incredible thing I ever saw was the time he threw me a 50-yard touchdown pass. He was literally going down and he had to whip the ball that far sidearm."

Payton played football with the enthusiasm of a 10th grader trying to be the best tailback on the team," teammate Dan Hampton once said. He trained tirelessly by weightlifting and jogging during every off-season and always appeared at training camp in perfect physical condition.

He missed only one game in his rookie 1975 campaign in his first 12 seasons. " I could have played but my coach, Jack Pardee, wouldn't let me. I don't count that as a miss," Payton insisted.

Payton never tried to avoid contact. In fact, he relished it. His only possible flaw was his reluctance to run out of bounds. He would rather punish a tackler than let the tackler punish him.

More than one opponent accused him of going out of his way to run over them and Payton readily admitted that was

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