Walter Payton

Walter Jerry Payton (Sweetness)

Position: RB
Height: 5-10 Weight: 200 lbs.

Born: July 25, 1954 in Columbia, MS
Died: November 1, 1999 in South Barrington, IL
College: Jackson St. (school history)
Drafted by the Chicago Bears in the 1st round (4th overall) of the 1975 NFL Draft.

Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 128 (27th overall since 1950)

Relatives: Father of Jarrett Payton
9-time Pro Bowler & 5-time First-Team All-Pro (fine print)
Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1993

Hall of Fame

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Fine Details · Last updated May 19, 2013 3:25AM

All-Time Rank: #6. Jerry Rice… #7. Marshall Faulk… #8. Paul Krause… #9. WALTER PAYTON… #10. James Lofton… #11. Gino Marchetti… #12. Alan Page…

All-Time Rank: #6. Jerry Rice… #7. Marshall Faulk… #8. Paul Krause… #9. WALTER PAYTON… #10. James Lofton… #11. Gino Marchetti… #12. Alan Page…

Rushing & Receiving

							Rushing							Receiving
Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/A	Y/G	A/G	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD	Lng	R/G	Y/G	YScm	RRTD	Fmb	AV
1975	21	CHI	RB	34	13	7	196	679	7	54	3.5	52.2	15.1	33	213	6.5	0	40	2.5	16.4	892	7	9	6
1976*+	22	CHI	RB	34	14	14	311	1390	13	60	4.5	99.3	22.2	15	149	9.9	0	34	1.1	10.6	1539	13	10	14
1977*+	23	CHI	RB	34	14	14	339	1852	14	73	5.5	132.3	24.2	27	269	10.0	2	75	1.9	19.2	2121	16	11	20
1978*	24	CHI	RB	34	16	16	333	1395	11	76	4.2	87.2	20.8	50	480	9.6	0	61	3.1	30.0	1875	11	5	15
1979*	25	CHI	RB	34	16	16	369	1610	14	43	4.4	100.6	23.1	31	313	10.1	2	65	1.9	19.6	1923	16	7	15
1980*+	26	CHI	RB	34	16	16	317	1460	6	69	4.6	91.3	19.8	46	367	8.0	1	54	2.9	22.9	1827	7	5	15
1981	27	CHI	RB	34	16	16	339	1222	6	39	3.6	76.4	21.2	41	379	9.2	2	30	2.6	23.7	1601	8	9	8
1982	28	CHI	RB	34	9	9	148	596	1	26	4.0	66.2	16.4	32	311	9.7	0	40	3.6	34.6	907	1	3	10
1983*	29	CHI	RB	34	16	16	314	1421	6	49	4.5	88.8	19.6	53	607	11.5	2	74	3.3	37.9	2028	8	5	13
1984*+	30	CHI	RB	34	16	16	381	1684	11	72	4.4	105.3	23.8	45	368	8.2	0	31	2.8	23.0	2052	11	5	16
1985*+	31	CHI	RB	34	16	16	324	1551	9	40	4.8	96.9	20.3	49	483	9.9	2	65	3.1	30.2	2034	11	6	18
1986*	32	CHI	RB	34	16	16	321	1333	8	41	4.2	83.3	20.1	37	382	10.3	3	57	2.3	23.9	1715	11	6	12
1987	33	CHI	RB	34	12	12	146	533	4	17	3.7	44.4	12.2	33	217	6.6	1	16	2.8	18.1	750	5	5	6
Career					190	184	3838	16726	110	76	4.4	88.0	20.2	492	4538	9.2	15	75	2.6	23.9	21264	125	86	168

Passing

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	NY/A	ANY/A
1975	21	CHI	RB	34	13	7	0	1	0.0	0	0	0.0	1	100.0	0	0.0	-45.0		0.0	0.0	0.00	-45.00
1979*	25	CHI	RB	34	16	16	1	1	100.0	54	1	100.0	0	0.0	54	54.0	74.0	54.0	3.4	158.3	54.00	74.00
1980*+	26	CHI	RB	34	16	16	0	3	0.0	0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0.0		0.0	39.6	0.00	0.00
1981	27	CHI	RB	34	16	16	0	2	0.0	0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0.0		0.0	39.6	0.00	0.00
1982	28	CHI	RB	34	9	9	1	3	33.3	39	1	33.3	0	0.0	39	13.0	19.7	39.0	4.3	121.5	13.00	19.67
1983*	29	CHI	RB	34	16	16	3	6	50.0	95	3	50.0	2	33.3	56	15.8	10.8	31.7	5.9	95.8	15.83	10.83
1984*+	30	CHI	RB	34	16	16	3	8	37.5	47	2	25.0	1	12.5	42	5.9	5.3	15.7	2.9	57.8	5.88	5.25
1985*+	31	CHI	RB	34	16	16	3	5	60.0	96	1	20.0	0	0.0	50	19.2	23.2	32.0	6.0	143.7	19.20	23.20
1986*	32	CHI	RB	34	16	16	0	4	0.0	0	0	0.0	1	25.0	0	0.0	-11.3		0.0	0.0	0.00	-11.25
1987	33	CHI	RB	34	12	12	0	1	0.0	0	0	0.0	1	100.0	0	0.0	-45.0		0.0	0.0	0.00	-45.00
Career					190	184	11	34	32.4	331	8	23.5	6	17.6	56	9.7	6.5	30.1	1.7	69.6	9.74	6.50

Comeback and game-winning drive numbers are based on research by Scott Kacsmar, as described in parts I, II, and III on the blog.

Kick & Punt Returns

							Punt Returns					Kick Returns
Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	Ret	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/R	Rt	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/Rt	APYd
1975	21	CHI	RB	34	13	7						14	444	0	70	31.7	1336
1976*+	22	CHI	RB	34	14	14						1	0	0	0	0.0	1539
1977*+	23	CHI	RB	34	14	14						2	95	0	68	47.5	2216
Career					190	184						17	539	0	70	31.7	21803

Defense & Fumbles

								Def Interceptions					Fumbles					Tackles
Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	Sk	Int	Yds	TD	Lng	PD	FF	Fmb	FR	Yds	TD	Tkl	Ast	Sfty
1975	21	CHI	RB	34	13	7							0	9	1	0	0
1976*+	22	CHI	RB	34	14	14							0	10	0	0	0
1977*+	23	CHI	RB	34	14	14							0	11	5	0	0
1978*	24	CHI	RB	34	16	16							0	5	2	0	0
1979*	25	CHI	RB	34	16	16							0	7	2	0	0
1980*+	26	CHI	RB	34	16	16							0	5	3	0	0
1981	27	CHI	RB	34	16	16							0	9	3	0	0
1982	28	CHI	RB	34	9	9							0	3	1	0	0
1983*	29	CHI	RB	34	16	16							0	5	2	0	0
1984*+	30	CHI	RB	34	16	16							0	5	1	0	0
1985*+	31	CHI	RB	34	16	16							0	6	1	0	0
1986*	32	CHI	RB	34	16	16							0	6	0	0	0
1987	33	CHI	RB	34	12	12							0	5	0	0	0
Career					190	184							0	86	21	0	0

Kicking & Punting

							0-19		20-29		30-39		40-49		50+		Tot			PAT			Punting
Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	FGA	FGM	FGA	FGM	FGA	FGM	FGA	FGM	FGA	FGM	FGA	FGM	FG%	XPA	XPM	XP%	Pnt	Yds	Lng	Blck	Y/P
1975	21	CHI	RB	34	13	7																	1	39	39	0	39.0
Career					190	184																	1	39	39	0	39.0

Scoring Summary

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	RshTD	RecTD	AllTD	Pts
1975	21	CHI	RB	34	13	7	7		7	42
1976*+	22	CHI	RB	34	14	14	13		13	78
1977*+	23	CHI	RB	34	14	14	14	2	16	96
1978*	24	CHI	RB	34	16	16	11		11	66
1979*	25	CHI	RB	34	16	16	14	2	16	96
1980*+	26	CHI	RB	34	16	16	6	1	7	42
1981	27	CHI	RB	34	16	16	6	2	8	48
1982	28	CHI	RB	34	9	9	1		1	6
1983*	29	CHI	RB	34	16	16	6	2	8	48
1984*+	30	CHI	RB	34	16	16	11		11	66
1985*+	31	CHI	RB	34	16	16	9	2	11	66
1986*	32	CHI	RB	34	16	16	8	3	11	66
1987	33	CHI	RB	34	12	12	4	1	5	30
Career					190	184	110	15	125	750

Similar Players

What does "similar" mean?

NumYrs	Players whose career was of similar quality and shape
3	Thurman Thomas, Emmitt Smith, LaDainian Tomlinson, Joseph Addai, Wilbert Montgomery, John L. Williams, Steven Jackson, Eric Dickerson, Clinton Portis, Marshall Faulk
4	Hugh McElhenny, Ricky Watters, Eric Dickerson, Ricky Williams, Clinton Portis, LaDainian Tomlinson, Thurman Thomas, William Andrews, Billy Sims, Emmitt Smith
5	Marcus Allen, Billy Sims, Ricky Watters, William Andrews, Marshall Faulk, Chuck Foreman, Hugh McElhenny, LaDainian Tomlinson, Barry Sanders, Lawrence McCutcheon
6	Chuck Foreman, Ricky Watters, Barry Sanders, Jim Brown, Eric Dickerson, Marcus Allen, Hugh McElhenny, Thurman Thomas, Lawrence McCutcheon, Lenny Moore*
7	Chuck Foreman, Ricky Watters, Marcus Allen, Eric Dickerson, Lenny Moore, Roger Craig, Barry Sanders, Hugh McElhenny, Jim Brown, Clinton Portis
8	Eric Dickerson, Roger Craig, Ricky Watters, Thurman Thomas, Barry Sanders, Jim Brown, Eddie George, John L. Williams, Hugh McElhenny, Lenny Moore
9	Ricky Watters, Lenny Moore, Roger Craig, Jim Brown, Thurman Thomas, Eric Dickerson, Tony Dorsett, Franco Harris, Curtis Martin*, Tiki Barber
10	Ricky Watters, Jim Brown, Tony Dorsett, Barry Sanders, Curtis Martin, Emmitt Smith, Tiki Barber, Roger Craig, Thurman Thomas, Franco Harris*
11	Barry Sanders, Jim Brown, Tony Dorsett, Ricky Watters, Emmitt Smith, Thurman Thomas, Curtis Martin, LaDainian Tomlinson, Franco Harris*, Tiki Barber
12	Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith, Tony Dorsett, Jim Brown, Ricky Watters, Curtis Martin, Franco Harris, Thurman Thomas, Marshall Faulk, LaDainian Tomlinson
13	Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith, Tony Dorsett, Jim Brown, Ricky Watters, Curtis Martin, Franco Harris, Thurman Thomas, Marshall Faulk, LaDainian Tomlinson
Career	Barry Sanders, Tony Dorsett, Jim Brown, Emmitt Smith, Ricky Watters, Curtis Martin, Franco Harris, Thurman Thomas, Marshall Faulk, LaDainian Tomlinson

Appearances on Leader Boards, Awards, and Honors

Stats are Year Lg Value (Rank/All-Time)

Awards 1977 NFL AP MVP 1977 NFL PFWA MVP 1977 NFL Newspaper Ent. Assoc. MVP 1977 NFL AP Offensive Player of the Year 1977 NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year 1985 NFL Newspaper Ent. Assoc. MVP 1985 NFL Bert Bell Award (Player of the Year)	Pro Bowls 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1983 1984 1985 1986	First-Team All-Pro 1976 1977 1980 1984 1985	Approximate Value 1977 NFL 20 (2/77) 1979 NFL 15 (6) 1980 NFL 15 (9) 1985 NFL 18 (4) Career 168 (31)
Approximate Value (Weighted) Career 128 (27)	Rushing Att 1976 NFL 311 (1) 1977 NFL 339 (1/78) 1978 NFL 333 (1/97) 1979 NFL 369 (1/29) 1980 NFL 317 (2) 1981 NFL 339 (4/78) 1982 NFL 148 (10) 1983 NFL 314 (6) 1984 NFL 381 (2/15) 1985 NFL 324 (4) 1986 NFL 321 (4) Career 3838 (2)	Rushing Yds 1976 NFL 1390 (2) 1977 NFL 1852 (1/15) 1978 NFL 1395 (2) 1979 NFL 1610 (2/49) 1980 NFL 1460 (2) 1981 NFL 1222 (8) 1982 NFL 596 (10) 1983 NFL 1421 (4) 1984 NFL 1684 (2/36) 1985 NFL 1551 (3/61) 1986 NFL 1333 (5) Career 16726 (2)	Rushing TD 1976 NFL 13 (2/90) 1977 NFL 14 (1/56) 1978 NFL 11 (3) 1979 NFL 14 (2/56) 1984 NFL 11 (7) 1985 NFL 9 (8) 1986 NFL 8 (10) Career 110 (4)
Long Rush 1975 NFL 54 (8) 1976 NFL 60 (8) 1977 NFL 73 (6) 1978 NFL 76 (2) 1980 NFL 69 (3) 1984 NFL 72 (4)	Yds/Rushing Att 1976 NFL 4.5 (10) 1977 NFL 5.5 (1/80) 1980 NFL 4.6 (7) 1984 NFL 4.4 (10) 1985 NFL 4.8 (8) Career 4.4 (102)	Rushing Yds/Game 1976 NFL 99.3 (2/79) 1977 NFL 132.3 (1/3) 1978 NFL 87.2 (2) 1979 NFL 100.6 (2/70) 1980 NFL 91.3 (2) 1981 NFL 76.4 (8) 1983 NFL 88.8 (6) 1984 NFL 105.3 (2/48) 1985 NFL 96.9 (3/95) 1986 NFL 83.3 (5) Career 88.0 (7)	Receptions Career 492 (125)
Touchdowns 1976 NFL 13 (3) 1977 NFL 16 (1/73) 1978 NFL 11 (5) 1979 NFL 16 (2/73) 1984 NFL 11 (10) 1985 NFL 11 (9) 1986 NFL 11 (9) Career 125 (11)	Points Scored 1977 NFL 96 (2) 1979 NFL 96 (10) Career 750 (91)	Rushing/Receiving TD 1976 NFL 13 (3) 1977 NFL 16 (1/72) 1978 NFL 11 (5) 1979 NFL 16 (2/72) 1984 NFL 11 (10) 1985 NFL 11 (9) 1986 NFL 11 (9) Career 125 (11)	Yds From Scrimmage 1976 NFL 1539 (4) 1977 NFL 2121 (1/36) 1978 NFL 1875 (1/89) 1979 NFL 1923 (2/77) 1980 NFL 1827 (3) 1981 NFL 1601 (9) 1982 NFL 907 (9) 1983 NFL 2028 (3/57) 1984 NFL 2052 (3/46) 1985 NFL 2034 (3/54) 1986 NFL 1715 (5) Career 21264 (3)
All-Purpose Yds 1976 NFL 1539 (4) 1977 NFL 2216 (1/50) 1978 NFL 1875 (2) 1979 NFL 1923 (3) 1980 NFL 1827 (4) 1983 NFL 2028 (3) 1984 NFL 2052 (3/100) 1985 NFL 2034 (4) 1986 NFL 1715 (6) Career 21803 (3)	Total Offense Career 17057 (89)	Touches 1976 NFL 327 (3) 1977 NFL 368 (2) 1978 NFL 383 (1/72) 1979 NFL 400 (1/40) 1980 NFL 363 (4) 1981 NFL 380 (3/81) 1982 NFL 180 (8) 1983 NFL 367 (5) 1984 NFL 426 (2/17) 1985 NFL 373 (4) 1986 NFL 358 (5) Career 4347 (2)	Yds/Touch 1977 NFL 6.0 (9)
Long Kick Return 1975 NFL 70 (10)	Yds/Kick Return 1975 NFL 31.7 (1/19)	Games Started Career 184 (132)	Fumbles 1975 NFL 9 (5) 1976 NFL 10 (3) 1977 NFL 11 (2) Career 86 (24)
Fumbles Recovered 1977 NFL 5 (2) Career 21 (79)

All-Pro Teams

Year	Team	Level	Voters
1976	1st Team	All-Conf.	Associated Press
1976	1st Team	All-Conf.	Pro Football Weekly
1976	1st Team	All-Conf.	Sporting News
1976	1st Team	All-Conf.	UPI
1976	1st Team	All-NFL	Associated Press
1976	1st Team	All-NFL	Pro Football Writers
1976	2nd Team	All-NFL	Newspaper Ent. Assoc.
1976	1st Team	All-NFL	Pro Football Weekly
1977	1st Team	All-Conf.	Pro Football Weekly
1977	1st Team	All-Conf.	Sporting News
1977	1st Team	All-Conf.	UPI
1977	1st Team	All-NFL	Associated Press
1977	1st Team	All-NFL	Pro Football Writers
1977	1st Team	All-NFL	Newspaper Ent. Assoc.
1977	1st Team	All-NFL	Pro Football Weekly
1978	1st Team	All-Conf.	Pro Football Weekly
1978	1st Team	All-Conf.	Sporting News
1978	1st Team	All-Conf.	UPI
1978	2nd Team	All-NFL	Associated Press
1978	1st Team	All-NFL	Pro Football Writers
1978	1st Team	All-NFL	Newspaper Ent. Assoc.
1978	1st Team	All-NFL	Pro Football Weekly
1979	1st Team	All-Conf.	Pro Football Weekly
1979	1st Team	All-Conf.	Sporting News
1979	1st Team	All-Conf.	UPI
1979	2nd Team	All-NFL	Associated Press
1979	1st Team	All-NFL	Newspaper Ent. Assoc.
1979	1st Team	All-NFL	Pro Football Weekly
1980	1st Team	All-Conf.	Pro Football Weekly
1980	1st Team	All-Conf.	UPI
1980	1st Team	All-NFL	Associated Press
1980	1st Team	All-NFL	Pro Football Writers
1980	1st Team	All-NFL	Newspaper Ent. Assoc.
1980	1st Team	All-NFL	Pro Football Weekly
1980	1st Team	All-NFL	Sporting News
1983	2nd Team	All-Conf.	UPI
1983	2nd Team	All-NFL	Newspaper Ent. Assoc.
1984	1st Team	All-Conf.	Pro Football Weekly
1984	1st Team	All-Conf.	UPI
1984	1st Team	All-NFL	Associated Press
1984	1st Team	All-NFL	Pro Football Writers
1984	1st Team	All-NFL	Newspaper Ent. Assoc.
1984	1st Team	All-NFL	Pro Football Weekly
1984	1st Team	All-NFL	Sporting News
1985	1st Team	All-Conf.	UPI
1985	1st Team	All-NFL	Associated Press
1985	1st Team	All-NFL	Pro Football Writers
1985	1st Team	All-NFL	Newspaper Ent. Assoc.
1985	1st Team	All-NFL	Sporting News
1986	2nd Team	All-Conf.	UPI
1986	2nd Team	All-NFL	Associated Press
1986	2nd Team	All-NFL	Newspaper Ent. Assoc.

Fantasy

Year	Age	G	FantPos	FantPt	VBD	PosRank	OvRank
1975	21	13	RB	129	16	17	52
1976	22	14	RB	232	124	2	4
1977	23	14	RB	308	217	1	1
1978	24	16	RB	254	112	1	1
1979	25	16	RB	296	150	1	1
1980	26	16	RB	225	97	4	8
1981	27	16	RB	208	62	13	24
1982	28	9	RB	104	46	13	34
1983	29	16	RB	269	118	4	7
1984	30	16	RB	283	160	4	5
1985	31	16	RB	279	129	4	4
1986	32	16	RB	236	98	5	9
1987	33	12	RB	103		27
				2926	1329

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NumYrs	Players whose career was of similar quality and shape
3	Thurman Thomas, Emmitt Smith, LaDainian Tomlinson, Joseph Addai, Wilbert Montgomery, John L. Williams, Steven Jackson, Eric Dickerson, Clinton Portis, Marshall Faulk
4	Hugh McElhenny, Ricky Watters, Eric Dickerson, Ricky Williams, Clinton Portis, LaDainian Tomlinson, Thurman Thomas, William Andrews, Billy Sims, Emmitt Smith
5	Marcus Allen, Billy Sims, Ricky Watters, William Andrews, Marshall Faulk, Chuck Foreman, Hugh McElhenny, LaDainian Tomlinson, Barry Sanders, Lawrence McCutcheon
6	Chuck Foreman, Ricky Watters, Barry Sanders, Jim Brown, Eric Dickerson, Marcus Allen, Hugh McElhenny, Thurman Thomas, Lawrence McCutcheon, Lenny Moore*
7	Chuck Foreman, Ricky Watters, Marcus Allen, Eric Dickerson, Lenny Moore, Roger Craig, Barry Sanders, Hugh McElhenny, Jim Brown, Clinton Portis
8	Eric Dickerson, Roger Craig, Ricky Watters, Thurman Thomas, Barry Sanders, Jim Brown, Eddie George, John L. Williams, Hugh McElhenny, Lenny Moore
9	Ricky Watters, Lenny Moore, Roger Craig, Jim Brown, Thurman Thomas, Eric Dickerson, Tony Dorsett, Franco Harris, Curtis Martin*, Tiki Barber
10	Ricky Watters, Jim Brown, Tony Dorsett, Barry Sanders, Curtis Martin, Emmitt Smith, Tiki Barber, Roger Craig, Thurman Thomas, Franco Harris*
11	Barry Sanders, Jim Brown, Tony Dorsett, Ricky Watters, Emmitt Smith, Thurman Thomas, Curtis Martin, LaDainian Tomlinson, Franco Harris*, Tiki Barber
12	Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith, Tony Dorsett, Jim Brown, Ricky Watters, Curtis Martin, Franco Harris, Thurman Thomas, Marshall Faulk, LaDainian Tomlinson
13	Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith, Tony Dorsett, Jim Brown, Ricky Watters, Curtis Martin, Franco Harris, Thurman Thomas, Marshall Faulk, LaDainian Tomlinson
Career	Barry Sanders, Tony Dorsett, Jim Brown, Emmitt Smith, Ricky Watters, Curtis Martin, Franco Harris, Thurman Thomas, Marshall Faulk, LaDainian Tomlinson