Walter+Payton

** Walter Payton Never Die Easy **  "**Sweetness"**  JPW http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=174


 * July 25, 1954** - Born in Columbia, Miss., to Peter and Alyne Payton.
 * 1968-72** - Walter was a long jumper in track, played football, basketball and baseball for Jefferson High and Columbia High. He also played drums in both schools' bands. He also went to Jackson State where he played football with his older brother Eddie.
 * 1974** - Walter became a two-time Little All-American after setting nine records scoring 66 touchdowns and rushed for 3,563 yards.
 * 1975** - Graduated from Jackson (Miss.) State with a BA in communications.
 * Jan. 28, 1975** - Drafted in the first round by the Chicago Bears he was the fourth pick overall.
 * July 7, 1976** - Walter married Connie Norwood.
 * 1977** - Won first of two league MVP awards.
 * Oct. 7, 1984** - **Nov. 17, 1985** Walter broke serveral records set by other famous running backs such as: Jim Brown and Broke Franco Harris
 * Dec 20, 1987** - Walter played his final regular season at Soldier Field and his jersey No. 34 is retired. In retirement Walter became a co-owner of an Indy-car team, part-owner of an Arena Football League team, and ran a resturant and serveral other buissness in the Chicago area.
 * July 31, 1993** - Walter was Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
 * Feb. 2, 1999** - Walter Announced at a news conference that he has an incurable liver disease, primary sclerosing cholangitis, and was looking for a transplant.
 * Nov. 1, 1999** - Walter Died of bile duct cancer at age 45.

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 * " Hard work and determination have always been the keys to my success " ||
 * Walter Payton was never handed anything in his life. He worked hard for everything he got. He had to work hard and not give up or quit to be where he is now. Walter learned to work hard as a kid. His mom was scared Walter and his siblings would get in trouble so she would have a man drop off topsil for the kids to spread throughout the yard. Walter and his siblings would work hard to move the soil throughout the yard. Walter also worked with his dad at a five acre farm. Walter was taught by his parents that if you work hard it will pay off in the long run. Walter would work as hard as could and as long as he could to achieve his goal. So Walter stuck with that for the rest of his life and that helped him become the great football player he is now remembered for. (29) ||


 * "Didn't Matter what color you were if I could light you up with a firecracker on the way to the practice field!" ||
 * While Walter was growing Whites and Blacks did not go to school with each other. The whites went to one school and the blacks went to another school. When Walter first heard about the Whites and Blacks going to the same school he could have cared less even though it was a big step to making all men equal. But one thing Walter and his classmates did care about was school spirit. They wanted to show their new Classmates that they were better at sports, instruments, everything. The first weeks of school Walter could sense the tension at school on and off the field. Walter has always been a practical joker so he would play harmless jokes on his teammates to try and lighten the mood. This quote is saying that Walter is going to play a joke on you and he does not care if you are white or black. He believed that all men were created equal and in God's image. (39) ||




 * "Look at them, it's all about showing off and stuff like that." ||
 * Walter Payton will be remembered by people not only as a great football player, but a player with class on and off the field. Walter learned to carry himself on the field from his college coach Bob Hill. Walter did not like football players that would show boat. For example, Walter did not like players who after they scored would do a dance in the end zone or after they made one tackle or a five yard gain and then celebrate. Walter had no respect for players like that. He felt disgusted after watching players do this in a game. He was right that is disgraceful and disrespectful to the game football. Players should play the game and have and not worry about show boating and showing off to the crowd. That is what this quote is talking about. Walter always had class on the field and this helped him earn his nickname "Sweetness" because he was the most graceful player on the gridiron. (53) ||


 * " I'll give it to them before they give it to me." ||
 * This was Walter's whole motto of playing football. He was going to punish you if you tried to tackle him and try to take the ball away from him. Walter also did not like running out of bounds. Walter said "I'd say, I'm not gonna run out of bounds before I hit somebody first. That has always been his style of football. Walter wanted to make others players feel him and he took great pride in that. Walter has never been scared of contact, he actually enjoys it and this quote was his system of playing football and it worked for him. Walter wanted to go 100 percent on every play and he says he would try to neutralize his attack by attacking him. He knew from physics that the runner was going to take most of the impact unless he exploded into his opponent. walter learned from his coach Bob Hill while he was at Jackson State to never die easy. His dad also taught him this. " Iit's okay to lose, to die, but don't die without trying, without giving it your best." Walter would hit his opponents as hard as he could so they would think twice about tackling him.He would make his opponents earn his death. Walter lived his life off of these mottos, this was his way of playing football and this is one reason he was a great running back he never died easy. (54) ||




 * "It's what you do with the ability that God has given you". ||
 * When Walter was still playing at Jackson State in his senior year he was a candidate for the Heisman Trophy. His biggest compettion was a guy who played for Ohio State and since Jackson state was much smaller every one knew Walter would get beat out even though Walter had better skill. Walter knew this, and was pretty disappointed when he had to watch other players get awards when he knew he was better then them. However, Walter realized that it does not matter if you go to a big college or a small college as long as you give all the glory to God and use the ability that he gave you all your rewards will be in heaven. That is why this quote is so important. Walter always played for God and gave all the glory he recieved to him and that was the only thing that mattered to Walter. (64) ||




 * "Fame is what you have taken, character is what you give" ||
 * I chose this quote becuase i think it could be one of the most important things Walter Payton has ever said. He was givien fame by the people who supported him. He tried to give back to his fans on the football field try and provide a outlet from the real world for a few hours on Sunday afternoon. Serveral Americans gave Walter hope when he was feeling down. So Walter wanted to give back to those people who supported him who were in need. Walter started the Walter Payton Foundation so he could give back to the community because they have given so much to him. Walter believed that God gave him his football skill so he could become famous and rich to then in turn help people in need. God wanted Walter to use his fame to rally people to help the needy. Walter Payton was truely a very Honorable man on and off the football field. (177) ||


 * I have really enjoyed reading this book. I knew that Walter Payton was one of the greatest running backs in the history of football, but I wanted to learn more about his life. This book has taught me about not only Walter Payton, but how hard it is to grow up in the 1960's as a African American. I learned that in the 1960's there was hardship for African Americans and even harder to play college and NFL football. I also learned that alot of the big state school's did not want a African American playing for them even if they were as good as Walter. However, smaller schools did accept African Americans and he set a great example for them. African Americans had problems with not only finding a school that would accept them but winning awards. Like Walter lost the Heisman Trophy to a White player who he was clearly better then and everyone knew it, but this White player also went to a bigger state school then Walter and had different skin color then Walter. In the book it talks about how there were no Black head coaches in the NFL even though some coaches had the same experience and same skill and maybe better skill then the White coaches.The book also discussed how Walter grew up in a small town where all the people worked in the same place so everyone had the same amount of money. No family was poorer or richer then the other family in the town. In this case everyone worked at a parachute company. I learned that jobs did not pay as good as they do now and most african americans had trouble finding jobs with good pay. People would turn them away just because of their skin color. Walter's dad would work serveral different jobs for different people just to get by. Walter said his dad would drive around town looking for any kind of jobs to do even if the pay was bad. In the book it also talks about Walter's mom working such long hours, but she somehow found time to take care of Walter and his siblings. There was still some racial issuses occuring, but it was overcome as you can see today. I am glad I read this book and would recommend it to anybody at any age. Walter Payton will be remembered as one of the greatest running backs in the history of football. God Bless Sweetness. ||

**Works Cited**     || || __ Walter-Payton-Photograph-C12886740.jpg__ __. 3 Dec 2008 <__ __http://homepages.ius.edu/LRKINZER/Walter-Payton-Photograph-C12886740.jpg__ __> || Walter-Payton-Running-with-ball-Posters.jpg __http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/PHO/AAFX028~Walter-Payton-Running-with-ball-Posters.jpg__ ||
 * __ 001302115.jpg __ 3 Dec 2008 . ||
 * __ 001310822.jpg __ 3 Dec 2008 http://i.cdn.turner.com/sivault/image/1984/11/11/001310822.jpg. ||
 * __51CBH8SYE4L._SL500_.jpg __. 3 Dec 2008 . ||
 * || __95591-004-36D62DDD.jpg __. 3 Dec 2008 . ||
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 35);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 23, 8);">__<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">payton8.jpg __. 3 Dec 2008 <http://i.tsn.com/archives/payton/i/payton8.jpg>.
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 23, 8);">Payton, Walter ., and Don Yaeger. __Never Die Easy__. New York : Random House, 2000. ||
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 23, 8);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 23, 8);">__Pro Football Hall of Fame__. NFL Official Sites. 3 Dec 2008 http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=174 WalterPayton.jpg . 3 Dec 2008 <http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v213/guantis/WalterPayton.jpg>. ||
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 23, 8);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 23, 8);"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">walter-payton-1-sized.jpg __. 3 Dec 2008 <http://www.nndb.com/people/556/000025481/walter-payton-1-sized.jpg>__
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 35);">
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 35);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 23, 8);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">walterpayton.JPG __. 3 Dec 2008 http://www.tauryx.com/walterpayton.JPG.__ ||
 * <span style="color: rgb(255, 23, 8);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">walter-sweetness-payton __. 3 Dec 2008 <http://www.da-chicago-bears.com/walter-sweetness-payton/>.__ ||

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 * tribute to Walter Payton__. Video. 3 December 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAeo4ZqHC2c.

<span style="font-size: 150%; color: rgb(255,157,0);">"**Sweetness"**