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91_HJ0034
LRB9109406KBkbA
1 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the General Assembly wish to
3 honor legendary Chicago Bear Walter Payton, who recently
4 passed away, by naming U.S. Route 34 the Walter Payton
5 Memorial Highway; and
6 WHEREAS, U.S. Route 34 starts in the City of Chicago and
7 runs west across the State of Illinois, through such cities
8 as Lyons, Brookfield, LaGrange, Western Springs, Hindsdale,
9 Westmont, Downers Grove, Lisle, Naperville, Aurora, Oswego,
10 Plano, Sandwich, Somonauk, Mendota, Princeton, Wyanet,
11 Kewanee, Galva, and Galesburg; and
12 WHEREAS, Walter Payton was a 1st round draft pick for the
13 Chicago Bears in 1975; the young college football star from
14 Jackson State would go on to set eight NFL records and 28
15 Bears team records in his 13 seasons with the team; and
16 WHEREAS, Known as "Sweetness" for his running style,
17 Walter Payton was selected to play in the Pro Bowl nine
18 times, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in
19 1993; he was a part of the spectacular 1985 Bears season,
20 which ended with a Super Bowl victory; and
21 WHEREAS, Many of Walter Payton's records include: a
22 record 16,726 yards rushing in his career; he had 110 rushing
23 touchdowns in his career, and 77 100-yard rushing games; in a
24 game against the Minnesota Vikings in 1977 he had a record
25 275 rushing yards; he played 10 seasons with 1,000 or more
26 rushing yards; he made 3,838 rushing attempts; he had four
27 consecutive seasons leading the NFL in rushing attempts; his
28 career combined net yards totaled 21,803, and his combined
29 net attempts in his career totaled 4,368; and
30 WHEREAS, On October 7, 1984 Walter Payton passed Jim
31 Brown's rushing record of 12,312 yards, setting up a
-2- LRB9109406KBkbA
1 celebration in Soldier Field by his teammates and the fans in
2 attendance; and
3 WHEREAS, Walter Payton retired from the Chicago Bears in
4 1987, and the Chicago Bears honored him by retiring his
5 jersey number, 34; on November 1, 1999 Walter Payton passed
6 away after a battle with cancer and liver disease; he is
7 survived by his wife, Connie; his son, Jarrett; and his
8 daughter, Brittney; therefore, be it
9 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
10 NINETY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
11 SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we wish to memorialize Chicago
12 Bear great Walter Payton by naming U.S. Route 34 the Walter
13 Payton Memorial Highway in tribute to this great athlete; and
14 be it further
15 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
16 presented to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the
17 Illinois Department of Transportation, the Chicago Bears
18 organization, and to the family of Walter Payton.