Remembering Walter Payton
- NFL great Walter Payton passed away 22 years ago today from a rare form of bile duct cancer known as cholangiocarcinoma, likely caused by his liver disease primary sclerosing cholangitis.
- Payton was just 45 at the time and had been hoping to get a liver transplant but he was no longer considered a viable host once diagnosed with cancer.
- While it can occur in younger people, bile duct cancer is typically found in older adults, above the age of 70. This type of cancer may be treated with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.
That was the motto of NFL great Walter Payton, who passed away 22 years ago today from a rare form of bile duct cancer known as cholangiocarcinoma.
Read MoreConsidered by many to be the greatest running back ever to play the game, Payton would spend all 13 seasons of his career with the Bears, winning the league MVP honors in 1977 and the Super Bowl in 1985.
His playing style was unique and aggressive, refusing to run out of bounds to avoid a hit no matter how hopeless the situation.
Payton also specialized in inflicting just as much pain on his tacklers as they did on him, sometimes dragging two or three men down the field with him to gain an extra yard.
In an era when professional sports records last a few years at best, he remains second in all-time-rushing yards behind Emmitt Smith.
It was ten years after he stepped away from football that Payton learned he had PSC.
His friends and former teammates spoke about Payton’s response to this news and his subsequent cancer diagnosis in the controversial 2011 biography Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton.
“I never heard him say, ‘Why me?’ ” noted former Bears linebacker Mike Singletary. “I know I would have been saying, ‘Why me? Why me? There are other guys out there killing people — why me?’ I never heard Walter say that.”
Bears’ offensive lineman Jimbo Covert echoed that sentiment.
“I was there with about 30 other guys. Walter took time to go around to everybody personally and grab him and say, ‘What are you doing?’ — just getting the down-low on how you’d been,” recalled Covert. “Can you imagine how strong a person he had to have been to do that? He knew he was going to die.”
Payton may have said it best at his 1993 induction ceremony when he told those assembled: “I am going to close by saying life is short. It is oh, so sweet.”
What is Bile Duct Cancer?
Bile duct cancer, also called cholangiocarcinoma, is a rare type of cancer that starts in the bile ducts, which are thin tubes that go from the liver to the small intestine. Bile is a fluid that helps digest the fats in food. Approximately 8,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with this type of cancer every year, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). This disease has a higher incidence in Southeast Asia, due to an infection that can lead to bile duct cancer. Patients with PSC, like Payton, have an increased risk of cancer including cholangiocarcinoma.
While it can occur in younger people, bile duct cancer is typically found in older adults, above the age of 70. This type of cancer may be treated with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. The side effects of this kind of treatment may include nausea, hair loss, fatigue, and nerve pain. Thankfully, some of these side effects can now be mitigated.
Staying Positive Through Cancer
Walter Payton had a love for life, choosing to enjoy the time he had rather than bemoan the fact that his life would be cut short. Experts tell SurvivorNet that having this kind of positive attitude while being able to find the joy in life can make a big difference while battling cancer.
In an earlier interview, Dr. Zuri Murrell said, “My patients who thrive, even with stage 4 cancer, from the time that they, about a month after they’re diagnosed, I kind of am pretty good at seeing who is going to be OK. Now doesn’t that mean I’m good at saying that the cancer won’t grow.”
Dr. Murell said that having a positive attitude can improve prognosis, in some cases. “But I’m pretty good at telling what kind of patient are going to still have this attitude and probably going to live the longest, even with bad, bad disease. And those are patients who, they have gratitude in life.”
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