Payton's training regimen, which included running those Mississippi delta hills, was legendary. Payton was known for avoiding running out of bounds. Instead, he would punish the defender for trying to tackle him. This means of intimidation worked wonders for him throughout his career as tacklers grew weary of the punishment they faced by attempting to tackle him. Simply put: Walter Payton was the most balanced running back in the history of the NFL in terms of his approach to beating his opponent on the football field.
He was equal parts power, speed and elusiveness. I rank him as the second-best running back in NFL history. For No.
Enjoy our content? On fourth and goal, the Bears passed up a field goal and Avellini fumbled away the snap from center. Pardee responded to the pressure by continuing to run Payton. Gillman was so offended by the one-dimensional plan he quit the team after the season. Avellini ended up throwing only 7 passes, completing 4 for 33 yards.
When the Bears got the ball on their own yard line with 5 minutes 38 seconds left in the game, Payton had yards in 36 carries and his team was clinging to its 3-point lead. Avellini would throw no more.
On his 38th carry, he gained 58 yards to the 9-yard line. It was his longest run of the day, the third-longest of his career, and demonstrated that only the defense was getting tired.
On second and goal from the 8, Payton gained 3 yards. Now, he had yards. Avellini was tackled for a loss of one yard on a broken play, no doubt a handoff to Payton, setting up fourth and goal from the 6. So the ball went to Payton one more time. From the 6, he carried for 4 yards and the Vikings took over at their 2 with to play.
They got to their 45 and died. I did have to suck it up a little at times. Much later than three or four years, Payton had a different recollection than Pardee of his final carry. The Bears won the rest of their games and finished in a tie with the Vikings at The great running back held a slew of NFL records upon his retirement in , including the career rushing record of 16, yards.
After retiring, Payton explored business opportunities in several fields, including real estate, restaurants and race cars. Living up to his nickname, he spent much of his time working to make life better for other people, primarily through the efforts of the Walter Payton Foundation. In early , Payton revealed he had primary sclerosing cholangitis, a condition in which the bile ducts are blocked.
He died on November 1 of that year of cholangiocarcinoma bile duct cancer , but not before helping to raise awareness of the rare disease. The football great was survived by his wife, Connie, and two children, Jarrett and Brittney. His charitable organization became the Walter and Connie Payton Foundation, with his wife taking over the foundation's mission of helping children and veterans. We strive for accuracy and fairness.
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