Walter Payton spent his entire professional career with the National Football League's Chicago Bears. November 1, 2009 marked the 10th anniversary of the death of Walter Payton and the Chicago Bears paid tribute to his life at half-time. Connie Payton, her son Jarrett and daughter Brittney were on the field at halftime during the Bears-Browns game.
Walter Payton is known as one of the most prolific running backs in the history of American football. Known in the NFL as "Sweetness", Payton once held the League’s record for most career rushing yards, touchdowns, carries, and many other categories. He was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.
Payton's motto was Never Die Easy, which is also the title of his autobiography, published after his death in 1999. In practice, this meant that Walter Payton refused to deliberately run out-of-bounds, and always delivered some punishment to his tacklers before being forced off the field or forced down.
In February 1999, Payton announced that he had a rare autoimmune liver disease. Payton spent the last months of his life as an advocate for organ transplants. Unfortunately,his illness was already too far advanced for transplantation to have been a viable option. On November 1, 1999, Payton died at age 45 of bile duct cancer, nine months after disclosing his illness.
On the 10th anniversary of Walter Payton's passing, the crowd attending the Bears-Browns game at Soldier Field gave a long salute during a video tribute of highlights of Payton's career. The video included comments from former Bears coach Mike Ditka, owner Virginia McCaskey and teammates Otis Wilson and Richard Dent.
Connie Payton, Walter's wife, stood before the crowd with her two children after the video tribute. "Wasn't that awesome?" she asked. "Thank you for a special day."
Walter Payton continues to give even after his death. Prior to his passing he started thethe Walter & Connie Payton Foundation. The foundation helps abused, neglected & underprivileged children in the
state of Illinois. Learn more at www.payton34.com.
See video Walter Payton Remembered here.
Cheryl Phillips
Exlusive to HULIQ.com
sources: Wikipedia, Chicago Times, NFL, Chicago Bears
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