NFL Greatest Players

Walter Payton: Sweetness was an illusion nurtured by Chicago Bears fans who watched Walter Payton perform for 13 NFL seasons.

Blurred by the 16,726 yards he piled up as the most prolific runner in football history were the thousands of bruises, headaches and battered egos he left on his record-setting trail of tears.

There was nothing sweet about Paytons running style, which reflected hard work, hustle, enthusiasm and total effort.

Every Payton run started with the trademark first-step burst that carried him into the hole, where he could accelerate to daylight or explode into a tackler with aggressive, punishing force.

Every Payton run ended with the 5-10, 200-pounder grinding, scrapping, fighting, battling for one more yard.

No one in history ran harder, play after play, and nobody did more with modest speed than the blue-collar star former Bears coach Mike Ditka called "the most complete football player I ever saw."

Superbly conditioned, Payton also was an outstanding receiver and a threat to break open a game with the halfback pass, which he threw eight times for touchdowns.

Need a block? Payton could deliver with the fierce drive of a fullback, a role he relished even more than his ball-carrying exploits.

His powerful legs and sledgehammer arms were feared weapons, as was the delight he took in clearing a hole or protecting his quarterback.

A playful, fidgety clubhouse prankster, Payton became a yardage machine when he pulled on his No. 34 jersey.

Among his 77 100-yard performances was a record 275-yard effort in 1977 against the Vikings and his 21,264 combined rushing/receiving yards accounted for 125 touchdowns, 110 on the ground.

Payton, a nine-time Pro Bowl choice who missed only one game in a career that ended in 1987, earned his only championship ring when the 1985 Bears defeated New England in Super Bowl XX.