Walter Jerry Payton (July 25, 1954 ? November 1, 1999) was an American football player, who played for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He is remembered as one of the most prolific running backs in the history of American football. Payton, a nine-time Pro Bowl selection, once held the League's record for most career rushing yards, touchdowns, carries, and many other categories. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993. The NFL player and coach Mike Ditka described Payton as the greatest football player he had ever seen - but even greater as a human being. Never Die Easy: The Autobiography of Walter Payton. New York Times book review of Never Die Easy. Michael Lichtenstein, 2000.

Payton began his football career in Mississippi, and went on to have an outstanding collegiate football career at Jackson State University . He started his professional career with the Bears in 1975, who selected him as the 1975 Draft's fourth overall pick. Payton proceeded to win two NFL Player of the Year Awards, and won Super Bowl XX with the 1985 Chicago Bears. After struggling with the rare liver disease, primary sclerosing cholangitis, for several months, Payton died on November 1, 1999.