It is a popular adage that there are only two certain things in life-death and taxes. But for the last decade or so in the National Football League, there has been another sure thing-as soon as he was eligible in 1993, Walter Payton was destined to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That is exactly what happened in January, 1993. All that remains was the exclamation point on his spectacular career-enshrinement day on July 31, 1993, when Payton and four other members of the Class of 1993 received pro football's highest honor.
In 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears from 1975 to 1987, Payton literally rewrote the NFL record book with his ball-carrying feats. He rushed 3,838 times for 16,726 yards and 110 touchdowns-all records. He
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"Walter takes pride in the little things, the blocking, the faking. Once against Cincinnati, he picked up a couple of linebackers and liked to have killed them," Payton's last Bears coach, Mike Ditka, remembers.
His teammate, Brian Baschnagel, insisted that Payton could play any position. Then he hesitated: "I guess at 5-10, 202 pounds, his size might limit him at defensive tackle. The most incredible thing I ever saw was the time he threw me a 50-yard touchdown pass. He was literally going down and he had to whip the ball that far sidearm."
Payton played football with the enthusiasm of a 10th grader trying to be the best tailback on the team," teammate Dan Hampton once said. He trained tirelessly by weightlifting and jogging during every off-season and always appeared at training camp in perfect physical condition.
He missed only one game in his rookie 1975 campaign in his first 12 seasons. " I could have played but my coach, Jack Pardee, wouldn't let me. I don't count that as a miss," Payton insisted.
Payton never tried to avoid contact. In fact, he relished it. His only possible flaw was his reluctance to run out of bounds. He would rather punish a tackler than let the tackler punish him.
More than one opponent accused him of going out of his way to run over them and Payton readily admitted that was
Even though his head coach Bear Bryant acknowledged Namath 's greatness, Bryant was no coddler, frequently drawing Namath from games after bad performances. Coach Bryant told all of his players that no starting spots were given based on reputation. Bryant had a gaze that was challenging to meet, the penetrating intensity that made a man terrified to look into his eyes directly because it might be defined as a challenge, and afraid to look away because it might be considered as a lack of resolve. There was nothing about Coach Bryant that showed a sign of softness or suggested he couldn 't kick the ass of any man within hollering range. Bear was in a foul state of mind and had been for quite a while.
This article shows the results of a compilation of top ten lists from ESPN NFL experts. The experts made lists of who they thought were the top ten players of all time. The article goes on to give a brief description of each of the players and what made them great.
American football has been around since the early 1900's. The players tackle each other until one is on the ground. Football has always been a full-contact sport. Throughout the years injuries have stayed part of the game and the NFL has taken their time to increase player safety. The NFL should increase player safety because of the injuries have occurred. Some of the injuries may be lifetime injuries. Serious brain injuries have been linked to football as, well as heart issues and other permanent heath problems.
Jordan sought a new challenge to play professional baseball. He signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox. He was assigned to the Birmingham Barons, and played an outfielder position. His presence in the minors grew large numbers in attendance, but Jordan's batting was uncharacteristic of his athletic skills. In his first summer with the Barons, he batted .202 with 114 strikeouts in 127 games.
In the biggest game of his college football career, Jackson was faced with 4th down on the 1-yard line where he did what no one has seen before by going over the top of the defensive line and scoring to win the game. Today, that play is not seen as a rarity because of what Jackson started. During the 1989 All-Star game, at leadoff, Jackson hit a moonshot that set the tone for the game and later awarding him the MVP. He did not back down in the face of adversity, but rather excelled like a true epic hero.
Walter Payton, running back for the dominant 1985 Chicago Bears team that went 15-1 and won the Superbowl, is one of the best running backs in NFL history. Walter Payton was also known for his philanthropy off the field, earning him the nickname “Sweetness”. There is now an award given out every year called the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, which recognizes players for their charitable contributions off the field as well as their excellence on the field. The last recipient of this award was Thomas Davis, a Carolina Panthers linebacker. Walter “Sweetness” Payton died in 1999 of cancer. He was one of the most influential athletes in history, not just due to his ability on the field, but also because of his persona. Stats, influence on the game, and persona off the field are how a player’s influence should be measured. The three most influential quarterbacks of the last twenty five years of the twentieth century are Warren Moon, Joe Montana, and Jim Kelly.
In a Very short-lived career, Barry sanders changed the game of football forever. Standing only five feet, eight inches tall, Barry didn’t let his size keep him from doing what he loved. With Sanders being that little it made him and even more lethal opponent to the defense.
He even has awards named after him. When Payton was enrolled at Jackson State he won multiple awards like Black College Player of the year award two times. He was also selected to the All-American team his freshman year. His senior season he finished 3rd in the heisman voting (best college football player in division 1). Payton has other significant accomplishments like in 1977 when he won MVP of the NFL. Payton was also inducted to the pro football Hall of Fame in 1993. “The Walter Payton Award, established in 1987 is annually presented to the most helpful person in their community and one who helps make the biggest changes in the world only for NFL players”-(Britannica). Walter Payton is also credited for awakening national interest in organ donations. Payton has done a lot of things before he passed from fighting segregation to helping the fight against liver disease. Walter Payton has always tried to make a change in the world and he did. Payton held rallies for segregation, he put on events to help raise donations for organ donations. Even though he is gone now his family is still trying to make a difference by putting on donations and events as
Football: America’s greatest pastime and favorite all-American sport hides one of our nation’s biggest health concerns; concussions. On average, boys can begin playing tackle football at the age of five and weighing a minimum of 35 pounds, and from that point on they are taught the values of strategy, tackling, running, and teamwork. (Warner, 2016) Some of those children will later become the Professional Football players or college level players.
The NFL has established a strong set of rules through the years focused on player safety, designed to promote fair competition while attempting to minimize risk of harm to the player. While many of these rules have focused on reducing contact to the
He was drafted on St.patrick's day April 16th he was drafted over to the patriots which bill says was one of the greatest days for the patriots. He helped the team win Super bowl XXXVI against the rams. He was one of the best players that game that’s why he was announced MVP. He received the game's MVP award in super bowl XXXVI against the Rams. He done great that game he was happy. Two years later he led his team to another super bowl win at super bowl XXXVIII . He also received the MVP award again for Super bowl XXXVIII. Again he won another MVP award walking off the field with a smile on his face. He came back from a knee injury and led the team to the super bowl XLII which they lost a close game to their rivals. Tom brady led them to five super bowl wins with the last one saying that he will not retire till he can’t throw a
“Brett Favre is one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of professional football. You are judged by winning, and he’s won more games than any other quarterback who has ever played. But I will remember him just as well for being such a fierce competitor and outstanding leader. He was the face of the Packers and a great credit to our game. It was an honor to coach against him.”(Mike Shanahan, Denver Broncos Head Coach) Brett’s passion for the game, and winning history, together earned him the respect of the entire football nation. I am going to give you a summary of this incredible athlete’s life, covering both the ups and downs of his bumpy road to success. I am using factual
Playing football is not like playing other sports. Athletes in all kinds of sports risk injuring themselves, but in football, a lot of the risk comes from other athletes. While there are many ways to be injured playing football, one of the worst is head-to-head targeting. This has been a problem in football since the beginning of the game, especially, when equipment was not very protective. Over the past eight years, the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) has implemented rules and penalties specifically designed to protect players and to hopefully reduce the number of bad head injuries (Marshall). The NCAA is doing the right thing by protecting players from severe injury by calling and enforcing targeting penalties.
He learned to focus his efforts at this particular moment, and not to waste any time that was not necessary. After coaching at West Point, Lombardi moved on to be the offensive coordinator for the New York Giants. There, was Lombardi’s greatest success. Brought in as a rookie to the NFL, Lombardi learned the ropes of the pro game. After being rejected early on by the veterans, he was finally accepted and tinkered with his coaching style to fit the pro game.
His Freshmen year of City College, he averaged 10 yards when he received the ball. By Sophomore year, he was given recognition by 50 colleges. in the Spring of 1967, he enrolled at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles as a Junior and soon became college football's leading rusher. His Senior year, he ended with carrying the ball thirty-five times and gained