NFL: 30 greatest seasons from players 30 and older
By Tommy Jaggi
Walter Payton. 21. player. 57. . RB. Chicago Bears
NFL: 30 greatest seasons from players 30 and older: 21. Walter Payton, 1984
Making his second appearance on this list is Walter Payton. While his 1985 season at the age of 31 was thoroughly impressive, if you back up just one more year, we saw an even more dominant performance in 1984.
Despite already being in the league for a decade, Payton was able to stay healthy for all 16 games and abuse NFL defenses en route to compiling 1,684 rushing yards on a respectable 4.4 yards per carry. Also, Payton chipped in 11 rushing touchdowns and managed a season-long run of 72 yards. Considering his age at the time, this was quite an accomplishment.
The Hall of Fame running back also helped the Bears in the passing game – chipping in for 45 catches and 368 yards. This brings his scrimmage yards to a grand total of 2,052 in the 1984 season. What’s perhaps even more impressive is that Payton earned 196 yards in the playoffs (98.0 yards per game).
Payton had one of the most legendary careers for a player at the running back position. In all, he finished his career with 10 seasons of over 1,000 rushing yards – 9 of which he topped 1,390 yards with a career-high of 1,852 back in 1977. Still, his ’84 season at the age of 30 remains one of the best running back seasons for a player his age.