walter payton was this amazing man.re so protective because he was amazing. his goodness was incredible. >> there's one incident that jumps out to everyone in the book. it occurred at his hall of fame introduction. tell us about it. >> well, when he was -- you know, hall of fame, of course, is the biggest moment in a football player's life. walter payton was miserable. it was four days of misery. he had his wife connie, who he'd been married to for a long time but was separated from at this time, was in the first row of the induction. and his -- his girlfriend was in the second row. and, you know, connie had known about the girlfriend. but there was this real tension in walter for the entire time. he kept worrying are they going to meet? are they going to meet? are they going to meet? they actually did finally meet at the end later on. it wasn't actually nearly the big deal walter payton thought it would be primarily because he wasn't with his wife. wasn't living with his wife at that point. but it kind of ruined his fo

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it's by jeff pearlman called "sweetness: the enigmatic life of walter payton." running an excerpt this week. what's in there that's going to surprise your readers? >> well, there's some allegations of an extramarital affair, which probably doesn't surprise many people, seeing we're dealing with athletes. but walter payton, the figure of decency, sweetness was his nickname, there may have been some mental health issues, some drug abuse issues, and truly at odds this public portrait and i think that's what's causing some of the controversy. >> i'm glad you mentioned some of that, because the book describes the former chicago bears star as being a womanizer of sorts, abusing pain medication. was any of this known in sports circles when he was playing? >> well, i think talking to jeff pearlman, the author, was how little this was reported. i think a big difference as to what happens when he was playing, and what we see, even the most decorated hall of famer, walter payton, great image, even he has trouble with this transition from being a fire and retiring and being

and walter payton, he was an amazing man.tand why people are so protective because he was amazing. his goodness was incredible. >> hey, jeff, the final question then. there's one incident that jumps out to everyone. it occurred at the hall of fame induction. tell us about that. >> well, hall of fame is the biggest moment in a football players life. and he was miserable. he was four days of misery. he had his wife connie, she was in the first row of the induction. and his girl friend was in the second row. connie had known about the girlfriend, but there was a real tension in walter for the entire time. he kept worrying, are they going to meet? and they did meet at the end later on. it wasn't actually nearly the big deal that walter payton thought it would be. primarily because he wasn't with his wife, you know, wasn't living with his wife at that point. but it kind of ruined the four days, the amazing four great days of his life. >> the book is called "sweetness". the pictures are amazing. thank you for coming on, jeff pearlm

walter payton is dead. why?think definitive biographies of sports figures. i think it's important. i think you can ask the same question of j.f. kennedy or malcolm x or marilyn monroe. if you're going to write a definitive biography of someone and write about their life, you do it honestly or don't do it at all. it's not like you're passing judgment. how do you write about someone's life and find out he's writing suicide letters and say i'm not going to mention that. >> so much of your book talks about what made walter payton so great. there are a lot of great running backs. i never saw anybody cut like walter payton. there's the iconic shot where it looks like he's flying over the moon. this guy was blessed with such great talent and he worked so hard. >> amazing. >> my favorite walter payton story, his nickname is sweetness. nobody knew how he got the nickname. he was playing for a college all-star game. he gets a handoff during a drill. he's running. an opposing defensive back approaches and payton screams ou

too bad that walter payton didn't live to enjoy this. this is cool.this is a great thing to see the bears finally get their do. what am i saying, to get their due. come on, they're the bears. they have plenty of thumbs up all around. certainly a good moment, especially if you're a chicago guy. >> and reynolds, we'll be back with weather in a little while. >> the biggest thing is heavy rainfall in the u.s. that's despite where we'll see the best chance of delays from dallas to oklahoma city. if you're traveling anywhere on the east or west coast, conditions will be phenomenal. not just today but through the weekend. you're going to be feeling in texas and atlanta, higher humidity. it's been nice, crisp fall weather. it's going to be a little bit more springlike, to so to speak. if you're a football fan for auburn or arkansas, boy, this should be pretty good in fayetteville today. >> thank you. >> he's razor back fan. >> thank you, reynolds. quarter past the hour right now. it's only a couple weeks old. already showing some age. the occupy wall street m

also going to be talking with the author of a book about hall of famer walter payton.d "sweetness." yeah. it's a look at the troubled life behind the football legend and drawing some controversy again. because it talks -- it makes him human. he's had this sort of iconic type of -- >> yeah. okay. congratulations to you because you received a big award last night from g.l.a.d. outstanding citizen award for being you. >> for being me. >> and for the release of your book, "transparent." and just really telling your story and being transparent. >> thank you. that's all i'll say. >> congratulations. it's a big honor. it's their biggest honor and you got it. well deserved. >> it's a little bit embarrassing, but thank you. >> well deserved. don't be embarrassed. be proud. >> you're the best. >> no, you are. go ahead. now you say, no, i am. >> no, you are. you are. >> all right. don, we'll see much more of you at the top of the hour in the newsroom. okay. all of us love free stuff, right? coming up in our gaming and gadgets, we have apps for your smart phone and tablet that wil

there was some and we all revered which was walter payton.rs after we lost him to cancer, chicago still loves sweetnees. -- sweetness. after he high stepped and left his way past jim brown's record, he held the record for 18 years. he was one of the best blocking backs ever. sometimes hitting them so hard he would knock them out of the game. we are grateful that his wife connie is here with us. [applause] we also tragically lost dave do worsen this year -- dave this year, lessons with his struggle and the kind of injuries those hits could have caused, and we are former -- and we are grateful that his former wife felicia is with us as well. . this team had nine pro-bowlers, 5 future hall of famers. they won 3 by a stretch of 104- 3. even though they were the youngest team in the nfl, these guys were so confident that kevin butler, still in the bears' all-time leading scorer, called his fiancee to change the wedding date because that was going to be the super bowl. there were so confident that the day after they lost the only game of the season