Bears RB Walter Payton
There is no question that Walter Payton is one of the greatest players in the history of the NFL, but what is often debated about the man we called “Sweetness” is whether his greatest impact as an NFL player was made on or off the football field.
Payton's impact as a role model to children and adults for the way he played the game and the way he conducted himself in the community caused the NFL to rename its Man of the Year Award — given to the player who each year exhibits extraordinary accomplishment both on and off the field — the Walter Payton Man of the Year after his tragic death from cancer at the all-too-young age of 45 in 1999, just 12 years after he retired from the NFL.