

His father, the late Peter Payton, was a factory worker.Īs a child, Payton was more interested in music than sports. Walter Jerry Payton was born July 25, 1954, in Columbia, Miss., the son of strict Baptists. “What I experienced this weekend was by far the best I’ve seen of him,” Singletary added. There was definitely a peace there I had not seen. “When I left him morning, I remember going back home and telling my wife there was a peace. if you were down, he would not let you stay down,” Singletary said at a news conference. One of those teammates, Mike Singletary, read Scripture and prayed with Payton until hours before his death. Jarrett said his father was surrounded by family, friends and former teammates in recent days. Rumors that Payton’s health was rapidly deteriorating began circulating last week when his son, Jarrett, left the University of Miami football team to return home. Radiation and chemotherapy were unsuccessful, said Gores, who praised Payton for “the dignity and courage he showed during this long and severe illness.”

Greg Gores, his Mayo Clinic physician, said at a news conference Monday. “Because of the aggressive nature of his cancer, Walter’s malignancy spread outside of his liver,” Dr. Some of the luster was missing from his trademark smile, his familiar high-pitched voice and the cheeriness that was partly responsible for his nickname.įurther testing revealed an additional problem: a tumor in his liver. With each subsequent public appearance, the former athlete looked more gaunt and jaundiced. “That’s not like me,” a shaken Payton told People magazine after confirming his diagnosis. The body’s immune system mistakenly attacks its own tissues.

When the ducts become blocked, bile backs up and migrates elsewhere.
The mysterious disease scars the bile ducts, which carry bile from the liver to the small intestine to help digest food. Payton confirmed in February that he was suffering from the liver disease and his name was put on a transplant waiting list at the Mayo Clinic.
