I was 14 years old on a snowy day in January of 1975.  It was so crapy out, my buddy DR Superstar and I were relegated to his basement where the only thing on was the 1975 Senior Bowl.  We weren't big college football fans, as it was pretty much a regional sport back then and we lived in a pro market.  But we watched because we had nothing else to do.

It was during this game we saw a running back out a school called Jackson State.  "Who is that guy?" DR wondered.  "He's pretty good." "I don't know" I said, "but the Bears could sure use him."  The running back, of course, was Walter Payton.

When the Bears drafted him in April, DR and I beamed like proud parents.  Our other friends, like the Riffner brothers, Bohuck Blair and Alex the Greek declared it to be another wasted draft pick.  DR and I just smiled and said "You have no idea how good this guy is."

It is my opinion that Walter Payton is the greatest Chicago athlete of all time.  Yes, even greater than MJ.  Because, while dominating five guys on a basketball court is tough, dominating  eleven guys on a football field is even harder.  Running for 277 yards against the Vikings was one of the single greatest performances I've ever seen.  He broke Jim Brown's all-time rushing record against New Orleans in 1984. He could not only run, he could block, punt and do anything on football field. He retired and never looked back or attempted a comeback.

Best of all, Walter Payton was a grounded human being who was humble despite all his success.  You never heard anything bad about him, except maybe the whispers before he announced he was sick. He was a great player, a solid citizen and a wonderful role model.

There is a statue of Michael Jordan in front of the UC.  The statue was built after his first retirement.  He actually played three and a half more seasons for the Bulls with the statue outside the UC. The Cubs built a statue to an announcer who spent the first 25 years of his career working for a hated rival.  The White Sox constructed a statue to a catcher whose best years came in Boston.  And yet, the Chicago park district cannot see fit to honor a man who played his entire career in Chicago and was the face of the franchise for 12 seasons. A man who died tragically at a young age, but showed class and dignity to the end.

The excuses?  Soldier Field is a shrine to veterans and must be kept that way.  My dad is a veteran and he would be proud to share that monument with someone of Walter's stature.  The other excuse? It wouldn't be fair to the other Bear hall of famers.  Yeah, except Walter is the best of that group and he deserves to be immortalized.  So do Luckman, Butkus and Sayers, but of the group, Payton is clearly the best.

In a city so starved for winners and so known for losers, a statue of Walter Payton reminds fans and visitors to the city alike that while we don't always win championships in Chicago, we do have champions.

It's time for the park district to remove their heads from their backsides and do the right thing.  And after that, we can talk to the Cubs about building a Ron Santo statue.