Chicago’s Walter Payton has gone down in NFL history as the league’s greatest running back. Beginning in 1975, Payton simply had no peer on the field, and his aggressive and versatile style of play led to his holding the records for touchdowns, carries, career rushing yards, all-purpose yards. As a nod to his versatility, when Payton retired in 1987, he also held the record for the most receptions by a non-receiver. When the NFL picked their 75th Anniversary Team in 1994, Payton was on it, a position he still held 25 years later when the league picked its 100th Anniversary Team. Off the field, Payton was revered for his selfless charitable works, leading the NFL to name their award for a player’s volunteer and charity work the “Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award.”

This classic Chicago Bears road white jersey was donned by Walter Payton during the first part of his Hall of Fame career. The uniform experts at MEARS have identified this jersey as being of the 1975-1978 period, years which includes Payton’s rookie campaign, his MVP and Man of the Year seasons. Additionally, Sports Investors Authentication has photo matched this incredible gamer to the November 23rd, 1980 game against Atlanta. In the game, Payton scored the first touchdown of the game and ran for a total of 40 yards. At first glance, 40 yards is a sub-par performance from the future Hall of Famer, but a look at the game recounts show this to be one of the more unique games in Payton’s career. The Bears were clinging to a 10-7 lead in the third quarter when Chicago recovered a Falcons kickoff return fumble. Now sitting right on the five-yard line, Payton took the handoff and made it to the one-yard line. Payton insisted he placed the football on the ground, signaling the end of the play – the referee saw a fumble. Payton began arguing the call when another player, unseen to the referees, pushed Payton into the official. Payton was ejected from the game. With the Bears momentum broken, Atlanta pulled ahead and won the game, 28-17. Besides being the only controversial moment in Payton’s career, the ensuing blowup after the ruling earned Bears' General Manager Jim Finks a $2,000 fine from the league. Not only is this the earliest photo matched Walter Payton game used jersey known, but it has also been shown to be from one of the most notable moments of his career.

The white mesh road jersey has Payton’s immortal number “34” on the front in Bears orange and navy applique. His number is repeated on each shoulder and the sleeve endings are ringed in orange and navy applique. The back has a matching white mesh nameplate with “PAYTON” above his number “34” in orange and navy applique. The lower front tail has the Wilson size “44” label. The jersey shows tremendous game use with many scuff marks and turf stains throughout. Along with the expected fabric pulls are multiple repairs to the white mesh, giving this Payton gamer that all-important “been there” appearance. Add on the photo matching and this has to be the most outstanding Walter Payton jersey in existence. This jersey comes with a LOA from MEARS (314244) for the game use and has been given the highest possible grade of A10, plus a LOA from Sports Investors Authentication, who have photo matched this jersey to the November 23rd, 1980 game.

Auction Notepad