Walter Payton: New Book Should Not Change Your Opinion on Chicago Bears' Great

Walter Payton was a human being just like you and I off the gridiron.

Payton was one of the greatest running backs to ever play in the National Football League. He easily evaded tacklers and looked Herculean running over them on his way to leading the league in career rushing yards, touchdowns, carries and many more at the time of his retirement.

It seemed like he was a man amongst boys and an unstoppable force when he stepped on the field every Sunday.

But Payton also dealt with problems involving addiction, depression, infidelity and other things that nearly everyone or someone they know closely must face at times in their life.

According to Dave Newbart and Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun-Times, the new biography, Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton, contains many details about the two-time NFL MVP’s personal life.

The author, Jeff Pearlman, apparently knew very little of Payton’s personal life before conducting 678 interviews over two-and-a-half years to put together this work.

Pearlman is probably best known for the book Boys Will Be Boys, about the 1990’s Dallas Cowboys dynasty. He has also done biographies on the 1986 New York Mets, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.

The author tries to delve into the personal life of the athlete by interviewing a large number of people who were either close or have pertinent information about his subject.

I believe it is fair to include details about Payton’s painkiller addiction, extramarital affairs and suicidal thoughts as long as it is subjective and does not force his readers to think a certain way about the man.

Life is a very complicated series of highs and lows, and for someone like "Sweetness," there are a lot of extremes along the way.

The man came from very humble beginnings as the son of a factory worker in Mississippi and received no SEC school invitations after being a standout in high school. He attended Jackson State and proved himself.

We all know how his career turned out, culminating with the 1985 Chicago Bears Super Bowl, but after, things turned dark for the man.

He was on top of the world for 12 years during his NFL tenure, and had to deal with fading from the spotlight and constant boredom. He had more money than he needed and too little responsibility. That is enough to drive many men insane.

I am not trying to defend the actions of Payton, but I also am not trying to condemn them whatsoever. I don’t know how hard it was on the Hall of Famer, but I am in no position to judge. I will always remember Payton as one of the greatest NFL running backs, no more, no less. 

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