Football Player: Walter Payton

(Image Courtesy of Da Bears Brothers) 

Walter Payton

Background 

Walter Payton before he was in the NFL attended Jackson State University which is an historically Black university in Jackson Mississippi. while attending school there Payton played on the football team as a half-back. Payton ended up being the Black college Player of the Year in the 1973-1974 season for the NCAA . also while playing football at Jackson State University Payton Was Selected for the All-American team.

Accomplishments 

As most know Walter Payton is one of the most accomplished running backs in NFL history. This was Solidified when he was inducted into the NFL Hall Of Fame after his career was over but this was only one of his many accomplishments. among other accomplishments  Payton also was the NFL player of the year twice and went to the pro bowl 9 different times. 

Impact

"Academically, Payton was an all-star as well, graduating in three-and-a-half years with his bachelor’s degree in special education and beginning work on a master’s degree. He studied so hard, he later wrote in his autobiography Sweetness, “to help dispel the myth that athletes in general and black athletes in particular don’t have to work to get their diplomas and that they don’t learn anything anyway.”

• http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/sports-and-games/sports-biographies/walter-jerry-payton
• BIography of Walter Payton
• shows that Payton was against the stereotype that Black athletes aren't  just athletes with no brain. Payton worked hard not only on the field but also in the classroom to be the argument against people who thought Black athletes can only be successful as athlete

(Image courtesy of Pintrest)

Quotes from Walter Payton

"If you ask me how I want to be remembered, it is as a winner. You know what a winner is? A winner is somebody who has given his best effort, who has tried the hardest they possibly can, who has utilized every ounce of energy and strength within them to accomplish something. It doesn't mean that they accomplished it or failed, it means that they've given it their best. That's a winner.”
― Walter Payton, Never Die Easy: The Autobiography of Walter Payton

(Researched and written by Jaris Neville.)