He played at tiny Jackson State University, but Walter Payton was hardly an unknown commodity 40 years ago when he was chosen by the Bears with the fourth pick in the 1975 draft.
Payton was a two-time first-team All-American who set the NCAA scoring record with 464 points, established nine school records and received votes for the Heisman Trophy.
"He wasn't any deep secret," then-Bears head coach Jack Pardee said on Jan. 28, 1975, the day Payton was drafted. "Everyone in the country knows about him."
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