Sweetness_ The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton - Jeff Pearlman [77]
Though the MVP award went to Bartkowski (likely because writers decided on the winner before the completion of the game—the South team tied the score on a field goal with twenty-five seconds remaining), a point had been made. “Walter was the best guy in the draft,” said Hill. “And it was obvious.”
Well, maybe not obvious. At least not to everybody.
Shortly before the January 28–29, 1975, NFL Draft, the Atlanta Falcons sent offensive lineman George Kunz (as well as the number three overall pick) to Baltimore for the right to select Bartkowski, the golden-haired quarterback out of Cal. At six foot four and 212 pounds, Bartkowski was the model big-statured, big-armed pocket passer. As a senior he had thrown for 2,580 yards and twelve touchdowns, and his breathtaking spirals evoked comparisons to a young Roman Gabriel. During one practice, Bartkowski had supposedly launched a ball an unfathomable 103 yards. “I am strictly a thrower,” he said. “I drop back and turn the ball loose.”
After the Falcons made their pick, Bartkowski was flown from California to Manhattan to meet the press. Payton, for his part, followed the goings-on from his room inside Jackson State’s Sampson Hall, sitting alongside Brazile and hoping for an early telephone call. Because the draft was not yet televised or broadcast, players were forced to wait for a team to contact them with the good news. Payton knew the Falcons were going to go with a quarterback, and that was fine with him. For all its hype as a growing Southern metropolis, Atlanta was too close to Mississippi for Walter’s tastes. One year earlier, leading into his junior season, Payton had actually been drafted by the Birmingham Americans of the fledgling World Football League (the league selected underclassmen). Even had he desired to turn pro at the time, there was no way in hell Walter Payton was going to kick off his career a mere 240 miles away from Jackson. Where was the adventure in that?
No, Payton wanted to go somewhere different. Somewhere snazzy. Which is why he had hoped and prayed that the Dallas Cowboys, holders of the draft’s second overall selection, would take him.
Coming off of an 8-6 season, Dallas was a model NFL franchise. The team was blessed with a cornerstone quarterback in Roger Staubach, a dazzling wide receiver in Drew Pearson, and the game’s best young offensive line.
Gil Brandt, the team’s vice president of player personnel, visited Jackson State multiple times, and he considered Payton to be a can’t-miss ballplayer. So, for that matter, did the Cowboys’ receivers coach, a thirty-five-year-old former tight end named Mike Ditka. “I remember the debate of whether we draft Walter or Randy White,” said Ditka. “And I can remember we always had a staff meeting and talked about those things and [head coach Tom Landry] kind of took a vote and all the offensive coaches for sure voted for Walter, and of course, the defensive coaches voted for Randy.”
Though Landry’s background was in offense, the legendary head coach thought his team needed to plug a hole in the defensive line. Plus, Dallas would be investing a great deal of money in the selection, and wanted the player to last. “What really swayed our mind was that, at the time, [Buffalo’s] O. J. Simpson and [Pittsburgh’s] Rocky Bleier were the only two running backs to start in the league for over five years,” said Brandt. “But even knowing that, it was the only time in the history of our drafts that within an hour of the pick we were still trying to decide who to take. It simply came down to longevity—we thought Randy would last longer than Walter. So we got Randy White.”
With the third pick, the Baltimore Colts selected Ken Huff, a six-foot-four, 252-pound offensive guard out of the University of North Carolina. Like Payton, Huff didn’t see it coming. In college he had been an all-American who bench-pressed in excess of five hundred pounds and projected into an excellent NFL prospect. “Without question, the best offensive