Each NFL team’s best ever 1st-round draft pick
'75. player. 57. <p>In 1975, the the Chicago Bears selected running back Walter Payton from Jackson State No. 4 overall. And for a while there, Payton was the only player on the team worth the price of admission. He played on some bad teams and with some bad offensive lines but still managed to make things happen.</p> <p>He had great vision, was elusive and tackling him was one of the hardest things a defensive player could do. And that combination made for some of the most amazing runs the NFL has ever seen. Payton has had runs for minus yards that were better than a lot of runs that went for good yardage by other backs.</p><div class=. RB. Jackson State. Walter Payton
Payton carried some of those bad Bears teams to the playoffs in his third and fifth years in the NFL. Then after four years of missing the playoffs, head coach Mike Ditka built a winner around him. The Bears would be contenders for the rest of his career and in 1985, his 11th year in the NFL, the Bears won the Super Bowl.
Payton retired as the NFL’s all-time leading rusher with 16,726 yards until Emmitt Smith eventually broke it. Over his 13-year career, Payton made nine Pro Bowls and was an All-Pro five times. The NFL’s No. 2 all-time leading rusher and champion in the community is in the Hall of Fame with and award named after him.
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'75
Walter Payton
RB, Jackson State
In 1975, the the Chicago Bears selected running back Walter Payton from Jackson State No. 4 overall. And for a while there, Payton was the only player on the team worth the price of admission. He played on some bad teams and with some bad offensive lines but still managed to make things happen.
He had great vision, was elusive and tackling him was one of the hardest things a defensive player could do. And that combination made for some of the most amazing runs the NFL has ever seen. Payton has had runs for minus yards that were better than a lot of runs that went for good yardage by other backs.
Payton carried some of those bad Bears teams to the playoffs in his third and fifth years in the NFL. Then after four years of missing the playoffs, head coach Mike Ditka built a winner around him. The Bears would be contenders for the rest of his career and in 1985, his 11th year in the NFL, the Bears won the Super Bowl.
Payton retired as the NFL’s all-time leading rusher with 16,726 yards until Emmitt Smith eventually broke it. Over his 13-year career, Payton made nine Pro Bowls and was an All-Pro five times. The NFL’s No. 2 all-time leading rusher and champion in the community is in the Hall of Fame with and award named after him.
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