Chicago Bears Top 100: #1 Walter Payton

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We’re finally in the Top 10 in our countdown of the Top 100 Chicago Bears! These are the most dominant and elite figures in the storied Chicago Bears history. As we get closer to the season opener, we get closer to naming the #1 Chicago Bear of all time.

We’ve finally reached the end of our top 100 countdown! After some debate over the #1 ranking, we decided that it could only be Walter Payton. The Bears wouldn’t be around to root for if not for George “Papa Bear” Halas, but Walter Payton was one of the greatest players in the NFL history and it seemed wrong to have him anywhere but the top spot. I’m a little sad the countdown is over as it has been a blast reminiscing about some of my favorite Bears and learning more about Bears legends from the past.

The Bears selected Walter Payton, a running back out of little known Jackson St, with the 4th overall pick in the 1975 NFL draft. Ken Grandberry led the Bears with 475 rushing yards in 1974, so running back was a definite need for the Bears and they made a damn good choice. Payton was an All-American at Jackson St, rushed for 3,563 yards, averaged 6.1 yards per carry and scored 65 touchdowns! College was also where Payton earned the nickname “Sweetness” though the reasoning behind it is unknown.

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As a rookie Payton really struggled running the ball. He was held to 0 yards on 8 carries in his first game and didn’t have a 100 yard game until week 8 and only 2 all season. Payton finished the season with just 675 yards and a 3.5 yards per carry average. He did show signs of elite running ability as a kick returner; Payton led the league in kick return average at 31.7 yards per return.

Payton broke out in his second season with 1,390 yards, 13 touchdowns and his first Pro Bowl appearance, but his 3rd season (1977) was when Payton showed signs of being a special player. He led the league in carries (339), yards (1,852), rushing TDs (14), yards per attempt (5.5), yards from scrimmage (2121) and total TDs (16). In a game vs the Vikings that season, Payton was suffering from a 101-degree fever, but still went out and broke the single-game rushing record with 275 yards. That record stood for 23 years before the Bengals Corey Dillon broke it with 278 yards in 2000. After the ’77 season, Payton made his 2nd Pro Bowl and was named the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year by both the Associated Press and the Pro Football Writers of America.

Payton continued to dominate, rushing for over 1200 yards in each of the next four seasons (78-81) but his success was tarnished some by the fact that the Bears were a bad football team. The Bears only had two winning seasons in Payton’s first seven years with the team, which prompted Bears management to hire Mike Ditka as head coach before the 1982 season. Ditka built his offense around Payton and he rushed for over 1,400 yards in both of Ditka’s first two full seasons (strike year in ’82). In 1984 against the New Orleans Saints, Payton broke Jim Brown’s career rushing yards record of 12,312.

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