Walter Payton Described as Drug Abusing Adulterer in Upcoming life history

Walter Payton Described as Drug Abusing Adulterer in Upcoming life history: According to a new life history, the late Walter Payton a legendary Chicago Bears running back nicknamed “Sweetness” by fans and teammates alike was addicted to painkillers throughout and later his playing career, engaged in a lot of extramarital affairs, fought depression and considered suicide just earlier his death from bile duct cancer in 1999. The book, titled “Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton,” is the 2 and a half year project of Jeff Pearlman, a former “Sports Illustrated” senior writer, who claims to have interviewed nearly 700 hundred people during its making. In an excerpt from the book over at SI.com, Pearlman details Payton’s addiction to pain meds, writing: The burden of loneliness and his marriage were not Payton’s only troubles. As a player he had numbed his maladies with pills and liquids, usually supplied by the Bears. Payton popped Darvon robotically during his playing days, says [his agent Bud] Holmes, ‘I would see him walk out of the locker room with jars of painkillers, and he had eat them like they were a snack,’ and also lathered his body with dimethyl sulfoxide, a topical analgesic generally used to treat horses. Now that he was retired, the self-medicating only intensified.” Walter was pounding his body with medication,” Holmes said. “I wish I knew how bad it was, but at the time I actually did not. According to the book, in 1988 Payton visited dentist offices complaining of tooth pain. He secured a lot of prescriptions for morphine but raised red flags with at least one pharmacist, who called police. Payton was visited by officers but accepted only a warning. Despite stories of depression and personal chaos, the book also recounts Payton’s courageous side. Knowing he was going to die, Payton spent his last month’s hosting former Bears. I was there with about thirty other guys,” former Bears offensive lineman Jimbo Covert explained, recalling Payton’s grace under dire circumstances. “ Walter took time to go around to everyone personally and grab him and say, ‘What are you doing?’ just getting the down low on how you would be. Can you imagine how strong a human he had to have been to do that? He knew he was going to die. When asked if he worried about facing a backlash for tarnishing the image of a deceased man, Pearlman said: I certain do. It hurts me that this will hurt his kids. It actually does because Jarrett and Brittney are wonderful, engaging, fun, caring folks and they are really uplifting figures in the Chicago landscape … That said, I set out to write a definitive life history period. When folks would ask, ‘Well, is this going to be positive’ I’d say, ‘Not positive, not negative definitive.Walter Payton Described as Drug Abusing Adulterer in Upcoming life history