They always called him Sweetness. It's a strange nickname for a player of the big, tough-man game that he grew to dominate against all odds. he was neither large nor exceptionally swift. He had never been particularly quick footed or intimidating. He was simply the most consistantly unstoppable and fearless runner that the singular game of American football has ever seen. The Ghost was simply fast and elusive, Dickerson was a locomotive, Barry was a dancer, Brown had long haul abilities, Earl was a battering ram, O.J. had speed and quickness..Sayers had balance and speed.....each new generation has it's heroes and stylemasters, but Sweetness was the equal of all of them and outright better than most. He wasn't interested in records and he only ever made it to a single superbowl (where Iron Mike Ditka made the coaching gaffe of the century by giving a goal line rushing touchdown to "the refrigerator" instead of handing it off to the quiet, humble man who had labored for the team for years. It was a pure public relations move and it's coldness and stupidity would cost the City of Chicago one of the most natural of it's choices for future coach of it's beloved Bears.
The entire world saw Sweetness on the sidelines, watching in disbelief as the Superbowl celebration, which should have been his own, was carried out away across the field. The cliche, of course, is that the important thing was to win the game, but the game was well in hand by the time that Ditka bit the hand that had fed him through the lonely years.
Ditka didn't last long after that, but then again, neither did the Bears.
You can't blame Sweetness though, he never stopped, never slowed down... never even seemed to pause long enough to draw breath. When his career as a ball carrier ended, Chicago was fool enough to let him walk away... the greatest player the city had ever produced in any sport... yeah, even including Jordan. He was the leading rusher of all time in the NFL. He had not so much as a shadow of a blot on his reputation. A pillar of the community.. a genuinely nice man.
A city like Chicago cannot afford to allow someone like Sweetness walk away - and neither could the Bears. Hell, for that matter, neither could the Bulls - make him "Humanity Coach" if necessary but don't let him walk away, with nothing but the memory of "the refrigerator" blustering callously across the goal-line.
He made appearances for a while.. gathered names and contacts to buy a team to own/manage. As far as I know, not a single NFL team offered him a coaching position.
Not too long ago, I heard he needed a liver transplant. I didn't worry too much, after all if anyone was gonna be unstoppable on the list, it was Sweetness.
Then I read that it was over..... final whistle time....hit the showers.
I was sad at first, selfish and sad.
Then proud when I heard his son, at a press conference. Looked like a nice boy - a good boy. The best legacy for Sweetness to leave us all was another good man. I don't know if he can play, or how well he runs with the ball tucked seamlessly into his body frame.
I know that I have been fortunate by being here during this generation...I have seen Walter and Barry on the same field, Sweetness and Marino locking horns...in NFL terms I have indeed seen the best there ever was and almost certainly the best there will ever be. His name was Walter.. there'll be lots of other "Walters".
But the name "Sweetness" is now officially and forever retired.
to return to the NFL page
to return home