Sweetness_ The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton - Jeff Pearlman [113]
To start the second half, Chicago’s offensive linemen held hands in the huddle, a symbolic gesture of unity for an occasionally fractured group. Though it went unreported in the press, Payton’s blockers were hardly the tightest of friends. Noah Jackson, the 273-pound left guard known as “Buddha” for his sizeable gut, was regarded by teammates as lazy and selfish. For his part, Jackson thought left tackle Ted Albrecht, his neighbor on the line, had no business starting in the NFL. General contempt was also directed toward Revie Sorey, the right guard whose cockiness rarely matched his play. “Were we all having beers together?” said Dan Peiffer, a center. “Not often. But does that matter? Probably not.”
Beginning in the second half against the Chiefs, however, the unit inexplicably clicked. Payton was running hard, and the linemen were blocking even harder. Jackson pancaked Lanier on a brutal Payton sweep, then Sorey drove Lynch into the ground with equal force.
And then came the greatest run of Payton’s career.
Early in the third quarter, with the Bears still down by seventeen, Payton grabbed the ball from Avellini and swept right, where he was immediately met by Lanier and cornerback Tim Gray. Trapped, Payton spun around and retraced his steps back toward the middle of the field. The first to miss was Tom Howard, a rookie linebacker who grazed Payton with his right arm as the running back paused, skipped, then zoomed by. (“The idea of tackling Walter with one arm is crazy,” said Avellini. “Couldn’t be done.”) Two Chiefs, Lynch and defensive end Whitney Paul, converged on Payton, who appeared momentarily trapped. His white shoes and blue jersey a blur, Payton turned upfield, extending away from the grasps of Lynch and Paul and into the waiting arms of Thomas. A future Hall of Famer who would retire with fifty-eight interceptions and a sterling reputation, Thomas did everything right. He squared his body, bent his knees, reached with both arms, and—BOOM! Payton trampled over him. “I threw two blocks on that play,” said Robin Earl, the Bears’ rookie fullback. “That’s how long that play went on. I cut the defensive tackle and then I got up, saw Walter dancing around, and jumped on someone else’s back.”
Next up for Payton was Gary Barbaro, a second-year free safety. Like Thomas, Barbaro approached the situation perfectly. Empowered by a running start, he lowered his head and slammed into Payton. “Man, I exploded into him,” said Barbaro, known throughout the NFL as a dangerous hitter. “I thought I knocked him off his feet, I hit him so hard. But I didn’t wrap him up.” Payton plowed into Barbaro and the safety dropped like a sack of bricks. “He actually stepped on me as he continued on,” Barbaro said. “That’s domination.” Though he was momentarily slowed from nearly tripping over Barbaro’s prone body, Payton outran Howard, who somehow returned to the play, and defensive tackle Willie Lee. By the time Payton was finally brought down, he had broken seven tackles and gained eighteen miraculous yards. A better run has never been caught on tape.
“If you look at the video I’m within three or four feet of him four times,” said John Lohmeyer, a Chiefs defensive tackle. “I didn’t give up, because it was well known that you couldn’t get him down with ease, and he was an escape artist. I tried tackling him—we all did. But when I got near him, he’d already changed his mind and gone another direction.”
Payton went on to score moments later, and added two more touchdowns while running for 192 yards in the Bears’ 28–27 triumph.
Watching the highlights from his home in Los Angeles was Jim Brown, the NFL’s all-time rushing king. Now forty-one years old and retired for twelve years, Brown had largely divorced