Running with a hint of sweetness

By RICK STROUD and STEPHEN F. HOLDER
Published September 29, 2005

	[Times photo: Bill Serne]
	The Bucs' Cadillac Williams has patterned his running style after Walter Payton, whose nickname was Sweetness.

TAMPA - A little boy watches highlights on television of the greatest running back who ever lived.

He goes into the backyard and tries to imitate his every move, the straight-legged style, the elegant elusiveness, the combination of power and grace.

When he gets to high school and begins his own football career, coaches notice the similarities of rushing styles. His idol has long since retired from the NFL, but the young man is moved to study some old tapes of him.

By the time Cadillac Williams plays for Auburn, the comparisons are inevitable.

He has the trademark, first-step burst that carries him through the hole, where he can explode to daylight or accelerate into a tackler with violent force.

A retired coach watches highlights on television of the greatest three games an NFL rookie has ever had. He sees the way Williams never takes the easy way out. If he can't run around you, he runs over you and never runs out of bounds.

Mike Ditka, the former Chicago Bears coach and analyst for ESPN, sees the image of the Bucs rookie flashing across the screen and thinks of Sweetness.

It's Walter Payton.

"That's who he reminds me of," Ditka said

of Williams. "That's the first thing I thought. Walter was probably more flashy with his style, but they have the same toughness. And they both hit the hole.

"You can see it (that the watched film of Payton) because he has some of the same traits that Walter had. ... If you're going to tackle him, you're going to pay for it. If he doesn't make you miss, he's going to make you hurt. I love that. He doesn't run out of bounds. I loved the way he kept the clock moving last week."

To be clear about one thing: Nobody is saying Cadillac Williams is the next Walter Payton.

The Bears' Hall of Fame running back, who died of liver disease in 1999, is the NFL's second all-time career rushing leader with 16,726 yards and 110 touchdowns.

Williams, who leads the NFL with 434 yards, is the first player in NFL history to run for 100 yards in each of the first three games of his career. But he acknowledges the similarities to Payton are purposeful.

"It's not by accident, no doubt," Williams said. "Walter Payton was who I patterned my running style after.

"Actually, I just caught highlights and had seen how he ran the ball and the things he did on the field and I became a fan. Once I became that fan and I actually started playing ball, I had coaches and other people say: "You kind of remind me a little bit of Walter Payton.' Therefore, I got to looking at him and critiqued his game. That's what I want to be labeled as, a guy who finishes runs and is going to hit you before you hit me and that's the type of guy Payton was."

Bucs coach Jon Gruden attended high school in South Bend, Ind., and traveled to Soldier Field to watch Payton play on some pretty bad Bears teams. He knows the comparison is dangerous.

"I don't really know how to do that. I've been fortunate to be around some really good backs. He's really good," Gruden said of Williams. "That's all I know.

"Walter never missed games, so we'll see if he can continue to show up week in and week out. Walter had some lean years. I was at a lot of those games, having grown up in South Bend. I had a poster on my wall and I saw him play. He had some lean years where it was just him. I remember (quarterback) Bob Avellini trying to get him the ball on screen passes, shuffle traps, every which way. I love our young guy. He's got the kind of character, work ethic, self-motivation and skill that's going to give him a chance to be one of the greats of all time. But we're only (three) games into the season."

They are better than Payton's first three games. A first-round pick from Jackson State, Payton carried eight times for zero yards in his NFL debut in a 35-7 loss to the Baltimore Colts.

"Zero yards, but it was like I'd just watched someone gain 150," Bears teammate Mike Adamle told the Chicago Tribune after Payton's death. "He made a couple of moves in the backfield after he was trapped for losses just to get back to the line of scrimmage and I said, "This guy's great.' And he got zero yards."

In his first three games, Payton rushed 47 times for 156 yards and no touchdowns. He finished the season with 196 carries for 679 yards (3.5) and seven TDs.

Williams is well ahead of Payton's pace but has miles to go to catch him. Payton rushed for at least 1,200 yards in 10 out of the next 11 seasons and was a nine-time Pro Bowl player. To equal Payton, Williams would need 74 more 100-yard performances.

Scot Brantley, Bucs linebacker turned broadcaster, estimates he played against Payton 15 times. He has noticed another way Williams simulates Payton's style.

"What I see is the compactness of Walter Payton and the way he carried the ball," Brantley said. "You look at him and he's got it secured with strong hands and it's tucked under his elbow. He might have one arm up as he runs as a balance tool. But for balance and explosiveness, Walter Payton was the greatest ever.

"Cadillac is an every-down back. But if he's ever going to be the next Walter Payton, he's going to have to catch the ball out of the backfield. When Walter got in space, that's when he made some of his greatest runs."

Off the field, no player may equal Payton. He was a locker room prankster with an enormous heart.

"He never said no," Ditka said. "If a young athlete like Cadillac wants to know why he is where he is, it's by the grace of God and with the help of others. Walter understood that better than anybody. He'd stand out there and sign autographs all day, do whatever the people wanted. That's who he was.

"He's the toughest athlete I've ever been around. He was strong as steel. But he had a personality that was great. He was the life of the locker room."

Ditka has more advice for Williams. "Just tell him to keep finishing off those runs and make the other guy go home with a headache."

Just like Payton.

[Last modified September 29, 2005, 06:40:26]