[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 44 (Monday, November 8, 1999)]
[Page 2226]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Death of Walter Payton

November 1, 1999

    We were saddened to hear of the death of Walter Payton. In the long 
highlight reel of this life cut short, Walter Payton will always be a 
man in motion: breaking tackles, breaking records, clearing every 
obstacle in his path. From the first day he donned the uniform of the 
Chicago Bears in 1975, until his retirement 13 years later, Walter 
Payton missed only one game--and that was because the coach ordered him 
to rest his ankle. He followed a long line of great Bears running backs 
and became the greatest of them all. The record books confirm that. But 
individual triumphs would never mean as much to Walter Payton as a 
victory he could share with his teammates and with the fans who endured, 
season after season, the icy winds of Soldier Field. Walter Payton would 
not stop running until his Bears were as great as the Bears of old, 
until they had again won the Super Bowl--which they did, in dramatic 
fashion, in 1985.
    Walter Payton faced his illness with the same grit and determination 
that he showed every week on the football field. The people of Chicago--
and all Americans who love the game of football--will miss him 
profoundly.
    We would like to offer our condolences to Walter's wife, Connie, and 
to their two children, Jarrett and Brittney. Our hearts are with them 
today.

Note: This statement was released by the Office of the Press Secretary 
as a statement by the President and the First Lady.