Hall of Famer Payton in Fight for Life

Walter Payton, gaunt, tearful and barely resembling the dashing, durable Chicago Bears’ Hall of Famer who rushed his way into the NFL record book, got to the point quickly Tuesday:

He has a rare liver disease and needs a transplant to live.

“To the people that really care about me, just continue praying,” said the 44-year-old Payton, who choked up when he embraced his 17-year-old son, Jarrett.

The disease, primary sclerosing cholangitis, afflicts only three in 100,000 people, said Payton’s physician, Joseph Lagattuta. The cause of the disease, which blocks the bile ducts, is unknown, but isn’t related to alcohol, steroids, hepatitis or immune deficiency, he said.

Patients in Payton’s condition survive an average of two years unless they receive a liver transplant, Lagattuta said. Symptoms include fatigue and jaundice--yellowing of the pigment of the eyes and skin.

Asked if he was scared, the NFL’s all-time rushing leader snapped: “Am I scared? Hell, yeah, I’m scared. Wouldn’t you be scared?”

“But it’s not in my hands anymore,” he added. “It’s in God’s hands.”

In 13 years with the Bears, Payton’s trademarks were his vaulting goal-line leaps and a punishing running style. He stiff-armed and barreled past tacklers in the open field almost as often as he dodged them.

Rumors about Payton’s health spread last week after he appeared at a news conference in which his son announced he would play college football for Miami. Payton said those rumors prompted his disclosure.

“We wanted to get everything straight before things got bad,” said Payton, who wore sunglasses and an NFL jacket and bluejeans that couldn’t hide his thinness.

Payton is being evaluated for a transplant at the Mayo Clinic, where former Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker received a liver transplant in 1996 for the same disease. Tucker was on a waiting list for four months.

Lagattuta said 88% of people who receive a liver transplant are alive after a year, and the long-term survival rate is “very promising.”

Doctors say Payton won’t get preferential treatment because of his celebrity.

News of Payton’s illness sobered those who knew him as a muscular, fearless player.

“We’re all humans and regardless of how rich we are, how fortunate we are, whatever we may be, things like this happen,” said retired Bear fullback Roland Harper, who blocked for Payton.

Former Bears’ coach Mike Ditka called Payton “the greatest football player I’ve ever seen. Plus, he’s one of the sweetest human beings I know. And if that’s not important, I don’t know what is.”

Bears’ owners Ed and Virginia McCaskey issued a brief statement saying they were “devastated to hear that Walter is sick.”

“He’s a very dear person to our family and the entire Bears organization. We’ll do all we can to help Walter in his current battle.”

Lagattuta said the disease is difficult to diagnose and can go undetected for years. He initially thought it might be a gall bladder problem when Payton told him in October that he had felt ill for a few months. The liver problem was diagnosed within the last two weeks.

Lagattuta said Payton has significant bile-duct blockage. To aid his digestion and give him adequate nutrition, a plastic tube was surgically inserted between the vessel that carries bile from the liver to the intestines.

“It’s amazing, I can eat anything I want, as much as I want, and I still can’t gain any weight,” Payton said.

In his final season with the Bears in 1987, the 5-foot-11 Payton was listed at 202 pounds.

Asked how much he weighed now, Payton wouldn’t say.

Instead, he replied: “You want to pick me up?”

A first-round draft pick from Jackson State in 1975, Payton carried the load for mediocre Bear teams early in his career before helping Chicago make its only Super Bowl appearance in 1986.

Selected to nine Pro Bowls and inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993, the player known as “Sweetness” holds NFL career records for yards gained, 16,726, and carries, 3,838.

He had 77 100-yard games and 10 1,000-yard rushing seasons. His 275-yard performance against Minnesota in 1977 still stands as the NFL record for rushing yards in a game.

After retiring from football, Payton co-owned an Indy-CART auto-racing team and ran a restaurant and other businesses in the Chicago area. He served on the Bears’ board of directors and joined groups seeking NFL franchises.