By Sam Coombs

On October 7th the Chicago Bears were facing the New Orleans Saints in a contest that was bound for history making. Walter Payton was the running back and he only needed 66 yards to break the great Jim Brown’s record of most rushing yards in an NFL career. Walter Payton was a player who was always about the team over himself. He wanted to do anything he could to help prevail his team.

During the game against the Saints, it was pretty evident that he was going to break the record and Bears management really wanted to have a small ceremony for him. Walter Payton didn’t want anything ceremony that would make the game halt for even the briefest moment. He thought the momentum of the team was far more important than his breaking of the record. To him breaking Jim Brown’s record meant that he did his job to the best of his abilities, while helping the team.

Walter Payton broke the record on the first play of the second half, after catching a toss to the outside gaining four yards and breaking the record. He was greeted with some handshakes, and hugs from his teammates, and they held the game ball aside for Payton. If this record was broken in 2014, the flash and frill would be way more than in 1984, but the way the situation went down really reflected the character of Walter Payton.
Walter Payton was a pioneer for the sport and reinvented the position of running back. Payton was a hard-nosed player who used and developed moves like the stutter-step and stiff-arm. He could always squeeze out a couple extra yards on a run that most could not by using his speed and strength. To this day, 30 years after breaking this record, he still remains as high as second on the all-time career rushing list, only behind Emmitt Smith. At the end of Payton’s career, he held the all-time leading rushing record, most rushing touchdowns, carries yards from scrimmage and all-purpose yards. Although some of those records have been broken it still shows the kind of player he was. He also holds the record for most touchdowns thrown (8), by a non-quarterback.

October 7th was a great day for Walter Payton, the Chicago Bears and his legacy as a player. He will forever go down as one of the best players to ever play the game and someone who changed the way the game is played. Walter Payton died from cancer in 1999 at the age of 45, and since then the NFL Man of the Year award has been renamed the Walter Payton Man of the Year award in his honor of his humanitarianism. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and widely respected wthin the NFL.