Book Review
Never Die Easy
Author: Walter Payton with Don Yaeger
Review by Paul Hopkins
25/2/2008
Walter Payton regularly comes atop many polls on message boards and internet sites as the greatest NFL player of all time. For me, he was almost a mythical being, someone who was almost too good to be true from video footage, and from testimony of those who knew and saw him. In an age before everybody was hyped up as the greatest or the next big thing, Payton was arguably the best there had ever been.
This autobiography is a curiously constructed book, tinged with sadness because it was during writing this book that Walter Payton died at the age of 45. Therefore it has been filled out from the half complete memoirs of Payton with testimony from his family, friends and team-mates.
What you ultimately end up with is a triumph. This book gives you a holistic picture of Payton. There are enough of Payton's own words in here to know what Payton say, felt and believed. But it gives other people's perspectives of the great man. Because, when you read this, you'll understand that this is what he was.
When people die early, there is a tendency, certainly in this day and age, for rose-tinted spectacles to be applied. But with Payton it's clear that he truly was as great as they say. Not just on the football field, where his greatness is unquestioned, but off the field too.
The contrast in this book comes from the humility and downplaying by Payton of his achievements and stature, compared to the praise and huge admiration his friends and family had for him. Don't get it wrong – Walter clearly believed in his own abilities and was self-confident, but he saw what he did as his job. What he did everyday – no different from what all of us do. The blessing, as he saw it, was that through what he did, he could change other people's lives. Therefore, a great deal of the book seeks to promote the Walter and Connie Payton Foundation.
From beginning to end this is a thoroughly absorbing book, which covers Payton's early years, college and pro career before taking a sadder twist as Payton battles the liver ailment that ultimately took his life. In doing so, it is tragic that rumour and speculation surrounded his later years, whilst he suffered with this illness.
In considering that this book is in effect not an autobiography in the true sense of the word, but instead more of a biography, it is to Don Yaeger's credit that he is able to pull the different excerpts together seamlessly into a complete and comprehensive narrative, that does not seem fragmented.
For those of you who haven't seen footage of Payton, I urge you to seek it out. For those of you who have, seek out some more. For starters seek out this other worthwhile book and while you are doing that, purchase this book too. Because in an age of football where it's all about brash, bravado, money, fame and ego (or so it seems) it's reassuring to remember that players, and men like Walter Payton succeeded.
Diner Rating 9/10
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