IDF
13-01-2005, 01:54
It is sad that in today's world, athletes aren't people we can look up to. From steroid use, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, and others events we see most athletes aren't the role models they used to be.
What athletes did you look up to in your childhood? What athletes work hard every day and continue to give back to the community? Who were your sport's idols?
For me, it is easy. There is one man you can look up to and know that he always was a class act. It was Walter “Sweetness” Payton, good old number 34. Payton is the greatest running-back to ever put on pads in the NFL. He played 13 seasons missing only 1 game when he sprained his ankle falling down the stairs at his home to avoid stepping on his then infant son Jarrett Payton (who played RB at U of Miami from 1999-2003.)
Payton gave all he could every day in practice and on the field. He was a man you could look up to. He played from 1975-1987, bringing Chicago its only Super Bowl during those years and shattering Jim Brown's record in 1984 to become the National Football League's all time leading rusher. I never had the chance to see Payton play live as I was born in October of his final season. I wish I had that chance, but I can only see him on our vast collection of NFL Films. I envy my father who was at Soldier Field on October 7, 1984 when he saw Payton break Jim Brown's record. My only tie to that moment is watching the tapes and hearing Joe McConnel announce “Walter Payton has just become the NFL's leading rusher after passing Jim Brown. This is the equivilant of Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruth's homerun record.”
While Walter was the greatest on the field, he was also good off the field. He didn't build himself a massive mansion as other players have. He and his wife Connie donated a large sum of money to various charities and organized many charitable events. He wasn't the type of athlete who was rude to the fans. He was always there to sign an autograph or talk to people on the street.
Sadly, Walter developed a rare liver disease called primary sclerosing cholangitis. He was placed on the transplant list. He never really was on it. Payton also had a form of bile duct cancer which was 90% fatal within 12 months. He was inelligable for a transplant as the immune system repressors taken by transplant patients would cause the cancer to kill him before his liver disease would fatal. I remember in February when it was announced that Walter Payton would be making a special announcement. It is rare in a lifetime that you have to listen to your hero break down in public. But, he did just that as I listened to him announce his illness and see him start crying at the beginning of the speech. It was really sad to see that such a horrible illness was manifesting a good man who didn't deserve it. Tears came down my eyes as the same thing was happening with Payton's now yellow eyes.
When most athletes die young, it is due to drug overdoses. It wasn't the same for Payton. He never did the drugs and became the victim of a liver ailment that was in his genes and had also killed his father years before. The last time I saw Payton in public was when he threw out the first pitch at Wrigley on opening day. He was wearing sun glasses to disguise his yellow eyes.
I remember putting on ABC Chicago at 3:15 after coming home from school on November 1, 1999. 5 minutes later, the breaking news was out, Walter Payton had succombed to his cancer and liver ailment. My hero was dead.
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Payton wasn't the first Bear's running-back to die young and have a big heart. There was another one, Brian Picolo. Pic will forever be immortalized by the 1970 TV movie “Brian's Song,” which is ranked as one of the best made for TV movies ever.
Pic died of embrionic cell carcinoma, a rare form of cancer that was 98% fatal in 1970 when he died at the young age of 26. Pic was the type of player who wasn't the greatest on the field, but he worked the hardest every day and was probably the type of person that played injured frequently.
He and Bear's great Gale Sayers were the first black and white to room together. When Sayers went down with an ACL tear, Pic replaced him on the field. Pic spend his off season helping Sayers get healthy again. Pic lost his starting position as a result of this, but he and Pic became best friends.
In November 1969, Pic pulled himself out of a game against the Falcons. He was having a shortness of breath. He had had a bad cough for 3 weeks with no end in sight. A chest X-ray at Memorial Hospital in Chicago revealed he had a tumor. 8 months later, Pic was dead.
What athletes did you look up to in your childhood? What athletes work hard every day and continue to give back to the community? Who were your sport's idols?
For me, it is easy. There is one man you can look up to and know that he always was a class act. It was Walter “Sweetness” Payton, good old number 34. Payton is the greatest running-back to ever put on pads in the NFL. He played 13 seasons missing only 1 game when he sprained his ankle falling down the stairs at his home to avoid stepping on his then infant son Jarrett Payton (who played RB at U of Miami from 1999-2003.)
Payton gave all he could every day in practice and on the field. He was a man you could look up to. He played from 1975-1987, bringing Chicago its only Super Bowl during those years and shattering Jim Brown's record in 1984 to become the National Football League's all time leading rusher. I never had the chance to see Payton play live as I was born in October of his final season. I wish I had that chance, but I can only see him on our vast collection of NFL Films. I envy my father who was at Soldier Field on October 7, 1984 when he saw Payton break Jim Brown's record. My only tie to that moment is watching the tapes and hearing Joe McConnel announce “Walter Payton has just become the NFL's leading rusher after passing Jim Brown. This is the equivilant of Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruth's homerun record.”
While Walter was the greatest on the field, he was also good off the field. He didn't build himself a massive mansion as other players have. He and his wife Connie donated a large sum of money to various charities and organized many charitable events. He wasn't the type of athlete who was rude to the fans. He was always there to sign an autograph or talk to people on the street.
Sadly, Walter developed a rare liver disease called primary sclerosing cholangitis. He was placed on the transplant list. He never really was on it. Payton also had a form of bile duct cancer which was 90% fatal within 12 months. He was inelligable for a transplant as the immune system repressors taken by transplant patients would cause the cancer to kill him before his liver disease would fatal. I remember in February when it was announced that Walter Payton would be making a special announcement. It is rare in a lifetime that you have to listen to your hero break down in public. But, he did just that as I listened to him announce his illness and see him start crying at the beginning of the speech. It was really sad to see that such a horrible illness was manifesting a good man who didn't deserve it. Tears came down my eyes as the same thing was happening with Payton's now yellow eyes.
When most athletes die young, it is due to drug overdoses. It wasn't the same for Payton. He never did the drugs and became the victim of a liver ailment that was in his genes and had also killed his father years before. The last time I saw Payton in public was when he threw out the first pitch at Wrigley on opening day. He was wearing sun glasses to disguise his yellow eyes.
I remember putting on ABC Chicago at 3:15 after coming home from school on November 1, 1999. 5 minutes later, the breaking news was out, Walter Payton had succombed to his cancer and liver ailment. My hero was dead.
- - - - - - - - -- - - - -- - - -- - - -
Payton wasn't the first Bear's running-back to die young and have a big heart. There was another one, Brian Picolo. Pic will forever be immortalized by the 1970 TV movie “Brian's Song,” which is ranked as one of the best made for TV movies ever.
Pic died of embrionic cell carcinoma, a rare form of cancer that was 98% fatal in 1970 when he died at the young age of 26. Pic was the type of player who wasn't the greatest on the field, but he worked the hardest every day and was probably the type of person that played injured frequently.
He and Bear's great Gale Sayers were the first black and white to room together. When Sayers went down with an ACL tear, Pic replaced him on the field. Pic spend his off season helping Sayers get healthy again. Pic lost his starting position as a result of this, but he and Pic became best friends.
In November 1969, Pic pulled himself out of a game against the Falcons. He was having a shortness of breath. He had had a bad cough for 3 weeks with no end in sight. A chest X-ray at Memorial Hospital in Chicago revealed he had a tumor. 8 months later, Pic was dead.