Sound Off: Walter Pay ton - MSNewsNow.com - Jackson, MS

Sound Off: Walter Payton

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By Dan Modisett - email
JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) -

There is a biography being released this week on the life of native Mississippian Walter Payton. The biography authored by Jeff Pearlman is titled, "Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton," Pearlman claims that the NFL legend was a philanderer and drug abuser, who was at times suicidal. The book has made a lot of people fighting mad.

Mike Ditka, the former head coach for the Chicago bears put it this way, ""If you're going to wait 12 years after somebody's passed, come on. This is the sign of a gutless individual who would do this."

Walter Payton certainly was not perfect and we should be careful not to idolize our sports heroes. I choose to remember watching Payton's highlights on WLBT sports while he was at Jackson State, rooting for him each Sunday when he played for the Bears and for all his charitable work. Pearlman wrote this book for one purpose and that was to make money, but he won't make money off me because I won't be purchasing a copy.

Copyright 2011 WLBT. All rights reserved.

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