Jarrett Payton was 4 when the world discovered in no uncertain terms he was ready to stand on his own.
He had embarked on a one-meal hunger strike when a preschool teacher invoked a bit of time-honored child psychology.
If Jarrett didn’t eat his lunch, he would never grow up to be like his father.
“You know,” Jarrett said, looking up at his teacher, “I don’t want to be like my dad. I just want to be like myself.”
And with Walter Payton’s blessing, his son never played a football game.
Until Friday night, that is. Jarrett Payton will start at quarterback for St. Viator in a much-ballyhooed season-opener against Hersey in Arlington Heights. A capacity-exceeding crowd of 5,000 is expected to jam into the football stands at the former Forest View High School.
Soccer had been Jarrett’s passion since 5. Stardom came quite naturally, and he progressed rapidly. Last year, he was named to the Tribune’s All-State team as a sophomore.
Then, something kicked in. Maybe it was the essence of what a father passes on to his child. More likely, the 16-year-old athlete was simply burned out playing high school and club soccer 12 months a year.
Last spring, Jarrett approached St. Viator football coach and close family friend Kevin Kelly about switching sports. (Both knew that last year’s junior QB, Matt Callero, who had injured his shoulder toward the end of the season, was opting not to return in order to concentrate fully on his best sport, baseball).
“You want him to respect others and see things from their perspective, not just your own,” Walter Payton said. “When Jarrett was growing up, I’d hoped he’d be a basketball player. I love basketball more than football.
“He was having so much fun playing soccer and was so good at it. He is doing this on his own. Jarrett is going into something new and is playing a demanding position. It’s going to be a grueling experience for him. Time will tell if he’s going to be a success.”
Any doubts about the young Payton’s football credentials began to dissipate during a training combine at Northwestern last May.
Out of 600 potential college prospects, the 6-foot-3-inch, 200-pound Payton finished first in the 40-yard dash with a time of 4.42 seconds.
Then came the off-season conditioning and workouts that displayed Payton’s quarterback proficiency. His first pass at St. Viator’s initial preseason practice was a 50-yard strike to Division I recruit Chris Taylor.
“I’m playing football because I love the sport, and it has nothing to do with my father,” Jarrett said. “I was playing soccer nonstop all year. I’d get back from a vacation and it was time to play soccer again. I thought, `This is crazy.’
“When I made my decision, my dad gave me a few words of advice, stood back and let me do my own thing. I liked that. Whether it’s soccer or football, the pressure’s the same. No matter what, I’ll always be compared to my dad in some aspect of the game.”
It’s a comparison that fired up the imaginations of college recruiters. Before Payton even hinted about jumping sports, 20 colleges–including Florida State, Michigan and Penn State–had already sent him football letters.
“They must have him confused with somebody else,” his mother, Connie, said.
“No,” replied Jarrett’s uncle, Eddie, who also played in the NFL. “They just understand the gene pool.”
And what they envision is a bigger, faster version of pro football’s all-time rushing leader.
“I caught up to my dad speedwise when I was in 6th grade,” Jarrett said with a laugh. “I was 11 years old and he must’ve been, what, 45, 60?”
Such banter is what provokes the kind of all-out wrestling match father and son waged last week in the kitchen of the Payton’s South Barrington home.
“It was a never-ending battle, because both have to end up on top,” Connie said. “They both have the same temperament and determination. They were going at it pretty hard. It ended in a tie when I stepped in and said it was time to quit.”
Ferocious as they are in competition, Jarrett shares equally with Walter the easy-going, unassuming manner and genuine modesty off the playing field.
He is a caring, sensitive teenager unaffected thus far by the glare of publicity and all the hoopla surrounding his famous football surname. That’s evident in his approach to his new sport.
Looking to help Kelly turn around St. Viator’s program, Jarrett shows up early for practices, never lets up and stays late for extra work. He is aware that St. Viator was 12-33 in the five years before Kelly took over last year, when the Lions went 4-5.
“I was delighted (with Jarrett’s decision),” said Kelly, who became Walter Payton’s conditioning partner when Kelly was a junior defensive back at Barrington. “It was really good for the program, and Jarrett is going to help us immensely.”
“I’m excited after seeing the things he can do,” said Taylor, certain to be Payton’s favorite target this fall. “He brings a presence to the team, and he’s going to be good for the game. At first, I wasn’t sure about it. Timing was a big concern. But he’s been around the game for so long, he picks things up real quickly.”
There is precedent for the late start. Walter Payton didn’t play football until his junior year in high school. Before, he’d been too busy playing baseball and being the drummer of a local band while growing up in Columbia, Miss.
Despite exercising his best restraint, the father still slips up every so often and gets involved. Walter recently told Jarrett not to tip off the direction of a play with his eyes. Jarrett didn’t take the criticism kindly.
“What does dad know about playing quarterback anyway?” Jarrett said to his mom, who promptly explained that dad’s constructive critique had his son’s best interests at heart.
“It’s difficult,” Walter said. “You know about so many things, having been involved in the sport. But you can’t tell your son about it. He has to experience it for himself.
“Those hills are going to be there. He’ll just have to get through the best he can. There’s so much I want to tell him, but he can’t see over those hills.”
Jarrett drove out to Highway 53 and Dundee Road the other day to see the famous landfill hill with the steep 60-yard incline that Payton would run with Kelly.
“I couldn’t find it because there’s a golf course covering it up,” Jarrett said.
Does the younger Payton have his own hill to climb? Jarrett thought for a moment and then glanced at Kelly.
“Blazing his own trail, that’s Jarrett’s hill,” Kelly said as Payton nodded his head.
