Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton (1 Viewer)

[azgroover]

I read this guys work on the Cowboys (Boys Will Be Boys) and it was one of my favorite sports book. Looking forward to this one.

Jeff Pearlman's latest book, Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton, is sure to draw plenty of attention. SI.com's Ben Glicksman talked with Pearlman, a former SI senior writer and current SI.com contributor, about Payton, the process of writing the book and more.

SI.com: What motivated you to write a book about Walter Payton?

Jeff Pearlman: I wanted to write about somebody iconic. There aren't many icons who haven't been written about a million times. Go through the list: Joe Namath, Joe DiMaggio, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle. It's hard. There hasn't been much written about Walter Payton. You can narrow it down to he was a great football player and a prankster. But for good and bad, he was also very introspective. He wasn't just some dummy going out and playing sports.

SI.com: You've also written works on Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds. How did this experience compare?

Pearlman: I thought Bonds was an unambiguously bad guy. I still do. I had to beg people to say something good about him. I just didn't find Roger Clemens introspective. I didn't find him that likable. Payton's the opposite. He was beloved, and rightfully so. He was amazing with fans. He went out of his way to meet their expectations.

SI.com: Do you have an example?

Pearlman: I'll tell give a great one. There was a football player from Central Florida, Todd Burks. He couldn't get a sniff from an NFL team. He's flying on a plane from Chicago to Orlando, and someone tells him Walter Payton is in first class. He begs the flight attendant, 'Can I just talk to him for a minute?' Finally, the attendant gives in. Burks gives him his bio and tape clip. Payton says, 'Call my office in two weeks.' He does, thinking he probably won't remember him. Payton gets the guy a tryout with the Bears! Some kid he never met, some guy he had no reason to go out of his way for. How many professional athletes would do that?

SI.com: In the title of the book, you label Payton as enigmatic. Why?

Pearlman: He was an odd combination of extrovert and introvert. When it came to fans, he was as great as you could be. But he was also, after his career was over, a beaten up person who struggled to find happiness. As I wrote, there were many times he would bring up suicide. There was this cry for help that he never felt comfortable doing anything about.

SI.com: One particularly striking anecdote surrounds his Hall of Fame induction. Why was that so telling?

Pearlman: If you want to talk about the word enigmatic, give me a better way to sum it up than you're at your Hall of Fame induction ceremony, your wife is in the first row and your girlfriend is in the second row. This is the culmination of everything you've accomplished. You're on stage. You're wearing your jacket. This is the moment you've been waiting for. And internally, you're freaking out that your wife and girlfriend are both attending your speech. What's gonna happen if they meet? A lot of athletes cheat on their wives. But that's a new one.

SI.com: How do you think fans will receive those types of revelations?

Pearlman: Some loyalists will read the book and say, "How could this guy write about Walter Payton this way?" I feel almost the opposite. There's something important about learning that even the greatest among us have their burdens. Whether you're a Hall of Fame running back or a guy moving cement, we all have issues. No one lives up to the pedestal.

SI.com: Were all of your sources cooperative?

Pearlman: No. Certainly not. But I didn't expect them to. The ultimate goal was to write a definitive biography. I had a good friend of his say, "You're not gonna write about the Hall of Fame." How can you write a definitive biography about someone, find out something like that and not write about it? Your goal isn't to write an ode to Walter Payton. The goal is to find out who he was and how he lived. I'm very defensive about that. You want to write an honest and accurate biography.

SI.com: What surprised you most during reporting?

Pearlman: At the start, I didn't know very much about him. One of the first things I did was read Never Die Easy, his autobiography. Understandably, the book is very positive. One of my first interviews -- it was with his brother or his agent -- I said, "Was he one of these guys who has something magical about him?" Because it was so overwhelming. The guy is a transcendental human being. I guess my biggest surprise was finding out that he wasn't.

SI.com: What is Walter's lasting legacy?

Pearlman: Mike Ditka told me this: You go to a Cleveland Browns game, you don't see many people wearing Jim Brown jerseys. You go to a Packers game, you don't see Paul Hornung jerseys. But if you go to a Bears game, you still see tons of people -- 12 years after he died -- wearing Walter Payton jerseys. That's not just because he was a great player. He was so good to the fans. That's why he's iconic. He treated people with dignity.

 

[azgroover]

A little more info.

Walter Payton's image as the man known as "Sweetness" is about to take a hit.

An upcoming biography by Jeff Pearlman, Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton, portrays the late Chicago Bears' Hall of Famer as an adulterer and an abuser of pain-killers and laughing gas.

A lengthy excerpt from the book posted at SI.com reports that:

Payton was a nervous wreck on the day of his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction in 1993, because his longtime mistress had insisted on attending, and was staying at the same hotel as his wife Connie and children. The book says the two women talked after the ceremony, and Connie said, "You can have him. He doesn't want me or the children."

Pearlman quotes Payton's agent, Bud Holmes, saying, "I'd see him walk out of the locker room with jars of painkillers, and he'd eat them like they were a snack." The book says use of pain-killers increased after Payton retired, and that he "habitually ingested a cocktail of Tylenol and Vicodin."

During training camp, according to the book, Payton kept tanks of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, in an RV. The book says he shared balloons of the gas with other Bears players, and that after retirement he kept large tanks of it in his garage.

Before Payton's death from cancer and liver problems in 1999, the book tells several anecdotes of Payton behaving erratically because of his use of pain-killers. That included threats of committing suicide, according to Holmes and others.

 

[Limp Ditka]

Without a doubt, my favorite sports figure of all time.

I heard a little bit about this on the radio today and now just seeing this little bit here.

I'm not sure I'm going to be able to read it.

 

[azgroover]

Yeah, I would guess this is going to crush many Payton fan's hearts.

 

[SmoovySmoov]

I agree with whoever I heard on ESPN Radio talking about it this afternoon: Why go there on Walter Payton? If true, what is the purpose of bringing this information about Payton to light? To make money. That's it. Won't be reading it.

 

[SmoovySmoov]

I agree with whoever I heard on ESPN Radio talking about it this afternoon: Why go there on Walter Payton? If true, what is the purpose of bringing this information about Payton to light? To make money. That's it. Won't be reading it.

 

[Oh Yes!]

He's a real person? Gtfo

 

[azgroover]

I agree with whoever I heard on ESPN Radio talking about it this afternoon: Why go there on Walter Payton? If true, what is the purpose of bringing this information about Payton to light? To make money. That's it. Won't be reading it.

It was answered in the first question on the author Q&A above.

 

[Joe Summer]

These types of books make sense for rock stars and movie stars -- because ordinary people like to fantasize about living a wild lifestyle. And it even works for certain athletes (Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, John Daly, Tiger Woods).

But I am not sure if the same strategy works on athletes who are universally beloved by their fans. Does the author really believe that the book will sell more copies than a similar book that omits the salacious details??

Know your audience.

 

[beaux]

Druggie loser.

 

[Christo]

It's a biography not a homage. The man was the sum-total of actions. If you're not willing to tell the whole story, don't tell it at all.

 

[Clinton]

Sweetness always seemed a bit sweet.

 

[Walton Goggins]

I agree with whoever I heard on ESPN Radio talking about it this afternoon: Why go there on Walter Payton? If true, what is the purpose of bringing this information about Payton to light? To make money. That's it. Won't be reading it.

SI.com: How do you think fans will receive those types of revelations?

Pearlman: Some loyalists will read the book and say, "How could this guy write about Walter Payton this way?" I feel almost the opposite. There's something important about learning that even the greatest among us have their burdens. Whether you're a Hall of Fame running back or a guy moving cement, we all have issues. No one lives up to the pedestal.

 

[Walton Goggins]

So a grown man who pulled for someone would rather just have this fictitious image of him rather than learn about the real person behind the fantasy?

 

[Walton Goggins]

It's a biography not a homage. The man was the sum-total of actions. If you're not willing to tell the whole story, don't tell it at all.

 

[Da Guru]

Very sad. Life at the top is not always what it seems. Sounds like Payton destroyed his liver. Guys like Payton, Kirby Puckett, Mickey Mantle all had crafted images that were not the real man..as do many others. Sometimes it is better off being as a known scumbag jacktard like Mike Vick from the start, that way people are never let down.

 

[scoobygang]

Walter Payton is my favorite player. Bit how can you write about Payton the football player without addressing the painkillers. Payton was praised for his toughness. This was the cost. It would be worse than dishonest to sweep that under the rug.

 

[HellToupee]

I'm not a "drug guy" so whats the deal with the nitrous oxide?

 

[azgroover]

Maybe they should produce another copy for the deniers that's like one of those Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books that we read as kids.

If Walter should take a Vicodin after a hit of laughing gas, turn to page 32.

If Walter should tap that hoe from the hotel bar, turn to page 66.

 

[Christo]

I'm not a "drug guy" so whats the deal with the nitrous oxide?

Sedative

 

[SHIZNITTTT]

I think someone needs to dig up all the dirt on Jeff Pearlman and put it in a book. Who gives a flying #### about what Walter Payton did outside of football? Is he your Dad? Unless he is cheating with or on your mother who gives a ####. Painkillers - I bet he had a prescription. Pearlman should be ashamed.

 

[beaux]

I think someone needs to dig up all the dirt on Jeff Pearlman and put it in a book. Who gives a flying #### about what Walter Payton did outside of football? Is he your Dad? Unless he is cheating with or on your mother who gives a ####. Painkillers - I bet he had a prescription. Pearlman should be ashamed.

Is it okay that Brett Favre was addicted to painkillers?Is it okay that Rush Limbaugh was addicted to painkillers?

 

[McJose]

My all time favorite player and IMO not just the greatest RB of all time but one of the best all-around players.

Nothing I saw in those blurbs would lead me to change my opinion of him as a football player. Nobody is perfect and I would never have expected him to be.

 

[Oh Yes!]

good post from hairy skittles or whatever his name is from the shark pool. this is why we love walter so much.

When I was growing up in Chicago, there was a park with a toboggan run across the street. The hill was evenly sloped on the side where we would take our sleds, but the other side was steep and overgrown with weeds.Walter would run on the steep side for hours during the summertime. I was there alot (mostly because it was right across the street and had fields we could play in). Never once did I see him pop a pill or stop to do anything but go to the water fountain for water or catch his breath on the top on the hill. He was always very friendly and would stop to sign autographs when he was finished, if you brought him a pen and paper. I can still remember him palming my entire skull like it was a football while telling my friends to go out for a pass. There was a reason he was nicknamed Sweetness.I hate to hear stories like these because it detracts from the work I personally know he put in. He has always been a hero to me. I always have thought of him in conjunction with work ethic. More than anything, I find this story sad. Its not something I ever would have wanted to know. It doesn't change how I feel about him one bit.

 

[hooter311]

My all time favorite player and IMO not just the greatest RB of all time but one of the best all-around players. Nothing I saw in those blurbs would lead me to change my opinion of him as a football player. Nobody is perfect and I would never have expected him to be.

Opinion of the guy not changed one bit.The full body rubdowns of horse tranquiler is insane to read about. I don't know how a human could walk after doing that.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

My all time favorite player and IMO not just the greatest RB of all time but one of the best all-around players. Nothing I saw in those blurbs would lead me to change my opinion of him as a football player. Nobody is perfect and I would never have expected him to be.

What he said. I'm a fan of what these guys do on the field. Only Earl Campbell rivals the brutal punishment Walter dished out. Payton was Ronnie Lott on offense.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Walter Payton is my favorite player. Bit how can you write about Payton the football player without addressing the painkillers. Payton was praised for his toughness. This was the cost. It would be worse than dishonest to sweep that under the rug.

That's fine and all, but this is a money grab. I'm not in an uproar or anything, just calling it like I see it.

 

[RhymesMcJuice]

I love Payton and can't see the big deal here. Is anyone who watched him really surprised that he had to pop painkillers to play? Or that he found it difficult to stop taking after he retired? A non-story, IMO.

 

[RhymesMcJuice]

I think someone needs to dig up all the dirt on Jeff Pearlman and put it in a book. Who gives a flying #### about what Walter Payton did outside of football? Is he your Dad? Unless he is cheating with or on your mother who gives a ####. Painkillers - I bet he had a prescription. Pearlman should be ashamed.

Is it okay that Brett Favre was addicted to painkillers?Is it okay that Rush Limbaugh was addicted to painkillers?

It's ok for anyone to be addicted to painkillers. MYFB.

 

[RhymesMcJuice]

I'm not a "drug guy" so whats the deal with the nitrous oxide?

I don't know but I read that it can cause liver cancer, which is what Payton died from.

 

[Juxtatarot]

Prior to this, I assumed Walter's death was random and tragic. As someone that selfishly hopes for a long, healthy life, it's always a bit of a relief to find out another's premature death was of his own devices.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

I'm not a "drug guy" so whats the deal with the nitrous oxide?

I don't know but I read that it can cause liver cancer, which is what Payton died from.

I don't know if any of this is true, but I've read that the extremely rare liver cancer he had is linked to steroid abuse.

 

[Adebisi]

Found this on Pearlman's Wikipedia page:

Pearlman followed that up with his 2006 publication of Love Me, Hate Me an unauthorized biography of Barry Bonds for which the author said he interviewed 524 subjects. Pearlman said that because Love Me, Hate Me was released three weeks after Game of Shadows, it quickly faded. It's also possible people did not enjoy the book and felt Game of Shadows was much better written.

 

[snitwitch]

I'm not a "drug guy" so whats the deal with the nitrous oxide?

Sedative

more like egg beater on your brain

 

[SHIZNITTTT]

I think someone needs to dig up all the dirt on Jeff Pearlman and put it in a book. Who gives a flying #### about what Walter Payton did outside of football? Is he your Dad? Unless he is cheating with or on your mother who gives a ####. Painkillers - I bet he had a prescription. Pearlman should be ashamed.

Is it okay that Brett Favre was addicted to painkillers?Is it okay that Rush Limbaugh was addicted to painkillers?

Sure as long as Favre/Limbaugh are not saying that it is bad and being a hypocrite.

 

[SHIZNITTTT]

Effects of Nitrous Oxide

The substance disrupts learning ability. In a typical experiment volunteers who inhaled a low dose of the drug showed worsened reaction time, worsened ability to do arithmetic, and general sedation accompanied by nervous system depression (as opposed to stimulation).

Interference with driving ability has been noted one-half hour after a dose.

Short-term exposure can cause dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and breathing difficulty.

Some recreational users quickly inhale as much nitrous oxide as possible and hold their breath. This technique causes a sudden change of pressure inside the lungs and can rupture small interior structures needed for breathing.

Blood pressure can go up or down, depending on dosage. Users can lose consciousness, which may be hazardous in a recreational context due to falls or inability to shut off the gas source.

The substance deactivates vitamin B12, an effect that can cause numbness and difficulty in moving arms and legs.

Other results can be impotence and involuntary discharge of urine and feces.

Nitrous oxide interferes with blood clotting, and long-term exposure has caused blood abnormalities.

Persons with chronic industrial exposure have more kidney and liver disease than usual.

Nitrous oxide can become very cold when released as a gas from a pressurized container, cold enough to cause frostbite upon meeting skin or throat.

Breathing nitrous oxide without an adequate supply of oxygen can be fatal; a little in a closed space or a lot from a face mask can suffocate a user.

Although nitrous oxide is called nonflammable, when inhaled it can seep into the abdominal cavity and bowels, mixing with body gases to create a flammable combination. If ignited the result would be like setting off an explosive inside the body; the danger is real enough that surgical personnel administeringnitrous oxide as an anesthetic have been warned about it.

 

[scoobygang]

Walter Payton is my favorite player. Bit how can you write about Payton the football player without addressing the painkillers. Payton was praised for his toughness. This was the cost. It would be worse than dishonest to sweep that under the rug.

That's fine and all, but this is a money grab. I'm not in an uproar or anything, just calling it like I see it.

All biographers presumably choose a subject hoping to make money off the book. I don't even understand that complaint. A hagiography of Payton would be just as much of a "money grab."

 

[Giant Wooden Badger]

Walter Payton is my favorite player. Bit how can you write about Payton the football player without addressing the painkillers. Payton was praised for his toughness. This was the cost. It would be worse than dishonest to sweep that under the rug.

That's fine and all, but this is a money grab. I'm not in an uproar or anything, just calling it like I see it.

Not really. This is what Pearlman does. He writes the truth about athletes no matter how ugly. That's what he's always done. It's no more a money grab than anyone else going to work every day.

 

[optionmaven]

No one, not even my childhood idol Walter, lives up to the pedestal. No one can, or ever will. Why do we have these unreasonalbe expectations? The fraility of life leads people to do unhealthy things to themselves over the course of it. We were so blessed here in chicago to have the best athletes ever at football and basketball.

 

[Christo]

Walter Payton is my favorite player. Bit how can you write about Payton the football player without addressing the painkillers. Payton was praised for his toughness. This was the cost. It would be worse than dishonest to sweep that under the rug.

That's fine and all, but this is a money grab. I'm not in an uproar or anything, just calling it like I see it.

Writers write biographies (authorized and unauthorized) about public figures all of the time. He's a public figure. Why is this particular one just a money grab? Or are you against any biography that's not authorized?

 

[pantagrapher]

Yeah, I would guess this is going to crush many Payton fan's hearts.

Not at all.

 

[Christo]

I'm not a "drug guy" so whats the deal with the nitrous oxide?

Sedative

more like egg beater on your brain

 

[azgroover]

Yeah, I would guess this is going to crush many Payton fan's hearts.

Not at all.

Yep, I didn't think this crowd would be as forgiving. Other athletes are crucified for much less.

 

[Prussian]

I met "sweetness" multiple times when I was growing up. I had opportunities to go to Soldiers' Field games free because my great aunt worked prep in concessions. We'd be there at 5AM and stay through the game. MANY times we were allowed on the field before the players' early warm-ups and they would let us stay and catch balls for them when warming up. It was awesome.

Payton was ALWAYS cordial, friendly, and patient with us 10-14 year old kids. (or at least that's how old I was through the years going.)

Was I naive? Sure. Was he an idol worth having, even if this proves true? Yes. Painkillers were a part of the league as much as running and tackling was then. The guy played hard EVERY down and will forever be one of my sports heroes. His personal life aside, because non of us are perfect, his effort and demonstration of desire to be his best still serves as motivation for my own sons playing football. Nothing will be tarnished on the field. It will just be a sense of the reality behind him and every player.

Choose your heroes wisely and frame them for what they are. Teach yourself and children the difference between reality and perception.

 

[B-Deep]

Yeah, I would guess this is going to crush many Payton fan's hearts.

Not at all.

Yep, I didn't think this crowd would be as forgiving. Other athletes are crucified for much less.

Really?i always thought fans would forgive an athlete for damn near anything other than blowing a game for them

 

[azgroover]

I had opportunities to go to Soldiers' Field games free because my great aunt worked prep in concessions. We'd be there at 5AM and stay through the game. MANY times we were allowed on the field before the players' early warm-ups and they would let us stay and catch balls for them when warming up. It was awesome.

Love to hear stories of how accessible those guys were back in the day. My old man used to tell me stories about drinking with Lions players--good ones, at local watering holes.

 

[Michael Brown]

Walter Payton is my favorite player. Bit how can you write about Payton the football player without addressing the painkillers. Payton was praised for his toughness. This was the cost. It would be worse than dishonest to sweep that under the rug.

That's fine and all, but this is a money grab. I'm not in an uproar or anything, just calling it like I see it.

Not really. This is what Pearlman does. He writes the truth about athletes no matter how ugly. That's what he's always done. It's no more a money grab than anyone else going to work every day.

Yeah I mean, a money grab would be if Jim McMahon wrote a tell-out autobiography and told sordid tales of the wild times he and Payton used to have. This is a book writer. Who wrote a book.

 

[RhymesMcJuice]

Yeah, I would guess this is going to crush many Payton fan's hearts.

Not at all.

Yep, I didn't think this crowd would be as forgiving. Other athletes are crucified for much less.

When they're alive but once they're dead it's water under the bridge.

 

[RhymesMcJuice]

I had opportunities to go to Soldiers' Field games free because my great aunt worked prep in concessions. We'd be there at 5AM and stay through the game. MANY times we were allowed on the field before the players' early warm-ups and they would let us stay and catch balls for them when warming up. It was awesome.

Love to hear stories of how accessible those guys were back in the day. My old man used to tell me stories about drinking with Lions players--good ones, at local watering holes.

I believed your story until that point.

 

[azgroover]

I had opportunities to go to Soldiers' Field games free because my great aunt worked prep in concessions. We'd be there at 5AM and stay through the game. MANY times we were allowed on the field before the players' early warm-ups and they would let us stay and catch balls for them when warming up. It was awesome.

Love to hear stories of how accessible those guys were back in the day. My old man used to tell me stories about drinking with Lions players--good ones, at local watering holes.

I believed your story until that point.

He was old. The two names I remember him mentioning were LeBeau and Karras.RIP