Never Die Easy His legacy is towering. Walter Paytonthe man they called Sweetness, for the way he ranremains the most prolific running back in the history of the National Football League, the star of the Chicago Bears' only Super Bowl Championship, eleven times voted the most popular sports figure in Chicago's history. Off the field, he was a devoted father wh... more »ose charitable foundation benefited tens of thousands of children each year, and whofaced with terminal liver diseaserefused to use his celebrity to gain a preferential position for organ donation. Walter Payton was not just a football hero; he was America's hero. Never Die Easy is Walter Payton's autobiography, told from the heart. Drafted by the Bears in 1975, he predicted that he would last only five years but went on to play thirteen extraordinary seasons, a career earning him regular acknowledgment as one of the greatest players in the history of professional football. And when his playing days were over, he approached business and charity endeavors with the same determination and success he had brought to the football field, always putting first his devotion to friends and family. His ultimate battle with illness truly proved him the champion he always had been and prompted a staggering outpouring of love and support from hundreds of thousands of friends and admirers. Written with veteran journalist and author Don Yaeger in the last weeks of Walter Payton's life, Never Die Easy presents Walter's singular voicewarm, plainspoken, funny, self-awarealong with the voices of the friends, family, teammates, and business associates who knew him best at all stages of his life, including his wife, Connie, and their children, Brittney and Jarrett; his teammate and friend Matt Suhey; former Bears head coach Mike Ditka; and many, many others.« less