Hurts you guys to know a Cowboy broke the record, Payton respected Emmitt and vice-versa.
Doesn't hurt at all, though thinking back on Walter's career, and his untimely death still has the full mixture of respect and hurt to this day for me.
Smith is very much in the Walter Payton mold as a player and person both on and off the field. He is a great running back and a great football player. But if you really want to look at statistics, then Jim Brown is clearly the best -- lineman-sized with running back speed to roll over the defenders. Too bad Hollywood was more important to him than football or both Payton and Smith would have had a couple of extra seasons to even be talking about a record. Sanders might have been a contender too, if he had really wanted it that badly. As MT and Funked pointed out, Sayers was perhaps the most gifted natural, agile runner to play the game. He could run 40 yards to get 10. Too bad, like another Bear of the period Dick Butkus, injuries cut short his greatness.
My pick of Payton is in the overall Football Player category. A running back who enjoyed the chance to hit somebody with a block every bit as much as he enjoyed running into the end zone.
Then there was the time Payton ran, caught and threw for a touchdown in a 30-27 loss to Minnesota on Oct. 21, 1979, a feat not matched until 2001.
I'll say it again, as a long-suffering Bear's fan who doesn't have much interest in today's professional sports scene -- you had to be there to see what Walter accomplished with the supporting cast he had on hand in the first half of his career.
As a Bears fan, I would have killed to see a team that was as good as the worst 1990s Dallas team duing the entire first half of Walter's career. Offensive line? Average at best. Backfield? Roland Harper and eventually Matt Suhey provided yeoman’s service, but posed no real threat of their own. Quarterback? WTF is one of those? Receivers? See the QB entry.
I have a vivid memory of those seasons that sums it up. Bears' quarterback "Slo Mo" Bob Avellini (his official sports radio nickname BTW - he was always about a second behind the flow of the game, with an anemic arm) as usual found himself befuddled in the pocket. From the rear camera angle you could see a free path into the end zone, 20 yards away. Dammit Bob! Run! But he doesn't see it until Bears' guard Noah "Budda" Jackson, having completed his assignment, starts waving his hand rapidly (I'm sure he was also saying Dammit Bob!, Run!). Avellini sees the open field finally and runs in to get the TD. The Bears could be painful to watch, but then there was Walter and moments like these for humor
In the mid to late 1970s, Walter Payton was the Chicago Bears. Take his single game rushing effort in 1977.
The 1977 season also contained his most impressive individual game effort. On November 20, two days after Payton was bed-ridden with the flu, he ran for 77 first quarter yards against the Minnesota Vikings. By halftime, the total was up to 144. After three quarters, he had 192. In the forth quarter he broke off a 58-yard run to finish the game with 275 yards, two more than OJ Simpson’s already existing record of 273. He finished the game with an incredible 40 carries. (Avellini threw 7 passes)
All of that for a 10-7 game in a typical 500 season. 40 carries was incredible, but then he averaged probably 25 per game anyway. The Bears relied on him so much that he led the league in carries 1976-1979.
Few players seem to want to be the best they can be today. There are always distractions, and theres always the ME factor. Emmitt Smith is a great players and class act for sure, and that was the source of the mutual respect between Smith and Payton. Smith is also a great running back, and for both statistical and non-statistical reasons. But in the eras I have watched, Payton is still at the top of the list IMO where the sheer desire to play football and be the best that one can be while doing it are concerned. His numbers aren't too shabby either.
Charon
