Walter Payton Enigmatic Life "Sweetness"

Walter Payton Enigmatic Life "Sweetness"
A new biography of Walter Payton Hall of Fame details the reverse position, the use of drugs, extramarital affairs, and crippling loneliness that has plagued him since his retirement from the NFL.

Sports Illustrated's Jeff Pearlman spent more than two years of work, "Sweetness: Walter Payton Enigmatic Life," and revealed surprising information about the Chicago Bears running back who was so esteemed that he named the NFL Man of the Year award after him.

The book is slated for release next week. Excerpts appear in Sports Illustrated this week. In a section describing the use of drugs Pearlman Payton:

The burden of loneliness and his marriage was not only the problems of Payton. As a player, he had surprised him with pain pills and liquids that are normally provided by the Bears. Payton jumped Darvon robot during his playing days, said Holmes, "I saw him leave the locker room with pots of painkillers, and he will eat them as they had a snack" and also lathered his body with dimethyl sulfoxide, a topical analgesic commonly used to treat horses. Now that he has withdrawn, self-medication only intensified. Payton usually ingested a cocktail of Tylenol and Vicodin. In an embarrassing episode in 1988, Payton visited a handful of dental clinics , complaining of severe tooth pain. He has received several orders for morphine and hit a handful of traders for completion. When a pharmacist noticed the activity, he contacted the police, who arrived in Payton's house and discussed the situation.

Pearlman also detail the use of painkillers Darvon Payton in his days playing and how it fitted with a VR with the nitrous oxide for use in training camp.

Payton's career ended when he struggled against depression and suicide are often discussed with close friends. Two no relationship contributed to his discomfort. Pearlman describes how the ex-wife and his girlfriend Payton took part in both the Hall of Fame induction ceremony - "they were like ships passing in the night," said Payton assistant - and made a triumphant weekend of the worst of life Payton.

As the recent autobiography of Andre Agassi, in which he detailed his drug use unknown "smooth" will be remembered for salacious stories on the inside. Dominate the discussions in the coming days the bright and dark stories in the book: How a young cancer Payton pleased mounted on a flight or the times when I was playing ball with the kids before they sign their football. Drug use and the business will do something funny to forget what Payton was on the ground and how strong it is facing a terminal illness, and how they grew up in segregated Mississippi and calm the racial tensions that his deeds in the field.

As "Sweetness" shows, our heroes are always more complex than we know.