It was all over the news today in Chicago.
According to a biography by Jeff Pearlman, Walter "Sweetness" Payton wasn't all that sweet. Apparently #34 had several extramarital affairs, fathered an illegitimate son, abused prescription and non-prescription drugs and was chronically suicidal.
I guess I'm pretty naive because I had always assumed that Walter and his wife, Connie, had a good marriage.
Wrong. Connie has admitted that they were estranged for most of the last ten years of their marriage before Walter died in 1999 at age 45.
I'm sure I'm not the only one asking why Pearlman felt like he needed to bring up these sordid details twelve years after Payton's death or, for that matter, why he had to bring any of this up at all. What purpose is served by tarnishing a legend?
Prior to Sweetness (Pearlman's book), the name Walter Payton was spoken with reverence in acknowledgment of his phenomenal athletic achievements, incredible work ethic, charitable contributions, and all-around nice guy qualities. Payton was universally respected throughout the NFL and all but worshiped in Chicago. In spite of the praise heaped on him, Walter remained a team player and a humble man -- something that players such as Terrell Owens and Terrell Pryor (maybe it's their shared name) can only dream of emulating.
Now people will remember Walter Payton as the man who charged an assistant with making sure that his wife and his mistress didn't cross paths at his 1993 Hall of Fame induction.
What sort of man of character and integrity invites his mistress to an event where the spotlight would rightly shine on the wife and family that had sported him in his rise to the pinnacle of his sport? Maybe the better question should be what sort of married man of character and integrity has a mistress?
Pearlman's book will certainly lessen the shine on the image that many of us carry in our minds of one of the greatest football players ever, but it cannot diminish Payton's accomplishments on the field and off. Although many of his records have been broke, Payton continues to influence and inspire many current NFL players. In honor of his commitment to help disadvantaged children throughout the Chicago area, the NFL annually gives the "Walter Payton Man of the Year" award to recognize player involvement in community service. The ongoing work of the Walter and Connie Payton Foundation is "dedicated to the emotional healing of neglected, abused, and underprivileged children" by offering practical help to make everyday life better and provide hope for a brighter tomorrow.
Payton will perhaps best be remembered for the way he faced the illness that ended his life. In his last months he became a powerful and persuasive advocate for organ donation. He recorded several commercials encouraging people to donate organs, even though his disease had progressed too far to make organ donation an option for him. Walter's efforts and the efforts of his foundation after his death brought national attention to the dire need for organ donors. As a result, donations increased and thousands of people in the Chicago area alone committed to donate their organs in the event of their death.
Walter Payton was an extraordinary athlete and a role model to many. But he was also human. He was not perfect; he made mistakes and he failed to live up to the high standards we unrealistically demand of our heroes. It would be easy to dismiss his many admirable qualities and accomplishments and focus instead on the flaws, unsubstantiated accusations, and tawdry factual revelations that Pearlman's book has brought to light.
Human tendency is to drag someone down in order to elevate oneself and endeavor to look better by comparison. There were probably people today who were happy to see Walter Payton's name and memory drug through the mud. But I wonder how those same people would fair if they lived their life in the intense spotlight of fan adulation and public curiosity. We are so quick to criticize and condemn, but we would do well to pause and recall the words of Jesus, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
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