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10 things I learned about Walter Payton

From the new biography 'Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton' by Jeff Pearlman, here are 10 memorable stories about the football star.

3. Payton's Heisman hopes crumbled

Archie Griffin of Ohio State with the Heisman Memorial Trophy AP

  • By Ross Atkin, Monitor staff writer

It galled Payton that, as a senior in 1974, he was handicapped in achieving serious Heisman Trophy consideration. He boasted to an Atlanta reporter that he was better than the two front-runners, Ohio State’s Archie Griffin and Southern Cal’s Anthony Davis, but felt he suffered because his school, Jackson State, was in the shadows of large, traditional football powers.

In particular, Payton felt he could run circles around Griffin, who was smaller, slightly slower, and benefitted from running through huge holes. Despite being from a lesser-known school, Payton still thought he had a chance until his last college game, when Jackson State lost to Southern University despite his gaining 113 yards. When the Heisman ballots were toted up, it wasn’t even close. Griffin won, Davis was second, and Payton finished a distant 14th .

 In the NFL, the tables were turned. Payton’s 13-year career was nearly twice as long as Griffin’s, and he outrushed him by nearly 14,000 yards.

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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