Is Walter Payton is greatest athlete in Chicago sports history?
Measuring greatness across generations is always a tough challenge. While athletes grow in size, stature and athletic ability, does it mean the athletes of today are greater than those of 30 years ago and were those athletes better than the stars of the 1920s and 1930s?
Chicago has been blessed with a plethora of great stars over the generations.
From the legends that helped Chicago teams win eight pennants and four World Series titles between 1905 and 1919, to the larger than life superstars that have built the legacy for one of the NFL’s original teams, and the all-time greats that have helped the city claim championships in hockey and create a dynasty in basketball, Chicago has been home to more than its share of “special” athletes.
The images of him flying through the air or high stepping across the end zone are so ingrained in my mind that I cannot believe that it has been more than two decades since Walter Payton completed his NFL career and nearly a decade since his premature passing.
I know you hear it all the time, but God definitely broke the mold when he created Walter Payton.
Others are recognized as maybe being better NFL players, but I just don’t know that there was ever a better combination of desire, gracefulness, power and athleticism packed into a 5-foot-10 frame than the man they called “Sweetness.”
March 14, 1958- Ireland’s Jim Delany celebrates St. Patrick’s Day a few days early, as he runs a record indoor mile at 4:03.4 in the Chicago relays held at the International Amphitheater.
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