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Article: Sports World Mourns Loss Of Walter Payton.(Obituary)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Jet
- Article date:
- November 22, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Johnson Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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More than 20,000 people came to say farewell to a man they called "Sweetness" during a public memorial tribute.
They filed into Chicago's Soldier Field, which has been nicknamed "Payton's Place" in honor of the former Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton, who many have called "the best football player ever."
Payton, 45, recently died of cancer of the bile duct at his home in Barrington, IL (JET, Nov. 15).
Earlier this year, he announced at a tearful press conference that he had a rare liver disease and needed a transplant to live (JET, Feb. 22). During treatment of the disease, doctors discovered that he had cancer of the bile duct.