A portrait of a vibrant, healthy Walter Payton wearing his Bears uniform and white headband stared out at his family and close friends who came to say their final goodbyes to the football great Friday.
The invitation-only memorial service in a Barrington Hills church was a celebration of Payton's life, told through stories, laughter and song.
Those who paid tribute to him during the ceremony recalled their favorite memories of Payton. For his son, Jarrett, it was his father's whistle.
No matter where he was, he could always hear that whistle. He would hear it when he was in the yard goofing off or as he was leaving the football field after a game.
He understood that his father was saying: "Represent me well." "Many of you knew my father as a football player and as a business man," said 18-year-old Jarrett, who offered one of five tributes during the emotional two-hour service. "I knew him as my dad - and he was my hero." "My mother, my sister and I will miss him ... but we know he's in a place where there's no sickness, no pain."
Payton died Monday at his South Barrington home from bile duct cancer after also battling a rare liver disease. He was 45. The altar at the Life Changers International Church in Barrington Hills was awash in flowers, many of them orange.
One arrangement formed the "34" that Payton wore first in college and then with the Bears. Payton's body was cremated, and his ashes were in a vase on the altar.
A public memorial service begins at noon today at Soldier Field. Thousands are expected to bid farewell to the 13-year veteran of the Bears.
A final memorial ceremony is expected to be held Monday in Mississippi, Payton's birthplace. Former Bears Coach Mike Ditka joined nearly 1,000 people at Friday's service.
"Walter was a compassionate, loving, caring, sharing individual," Ditka said after the ceremony. "When you think about that, you got to celebrate a person's life. Yeah, it isn't fair. Forty-five years on this Earth, you should be in the prime of your life. But I think it warns us that tomorrow is not promised."
Ditka, Payton's brother Eddie, former teammate Mike Singletary and sportscaster John Madden spoke during the two-hour ceremony.
The guest list ranged from Gov. George Ryan and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley to about 100 current and former football players, coaches and scouts who also attended the services. Among them were Marcus Allen and Bears great Gale Sayers.
Members of the Bears' Super Bowl-winning team said Payton inspired them all.
"He had great leadership, unspoken leadership most of the time," said former wide receiver Willie Gault. "He led by example on and off the field. He was just an incredible guy.
"He hugged a lot," Gault said. "And he hugged really tight so you often could hear your bones crack."
And at one time or another, Gault said, everyone was victim to a Payton prank.
"He would lock you out of the bathroom or the showers or turn the hot water on when you were washing your hair," he said.
Payton, who joined the Bears in 1975 out of Jackson State, rushed for 16,726 yards and led Chicago to its only Super Bowl victory after the 1985 season. He was known as "Sweetness" to his fans. During the ceremony, Payton's family wore white buttons with the nickname on it. Guests were asked to wear miniature yellow silk roses in honor of Payton.
Outside the church, 10 American flags flew at half-staff, while a flag with the number 34, and another with the Chicago Bears logo, flew high.
They appeared to symbolized the pinnacle Payton reached in his football career.
"Walter Payton was the greatest football player that ever lived," Madden said. "He could run, catch, tackle. He did all those things better than anyone else."
Madden said he plans to suggest to the NFL that they make a video and a book titled, "How to be like Walter" and give it to every new player who comes into the league. Madden said it would teach them all to be pros.
Meanwhile, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said the league may consider naming the Player of the Year after Walter Payton. The way Payton lived was remarkable, friends said. The courage with which he faced his death was just as commendable.
"Walter didn't care about how important he was," said Revie Sorey, the big Bears lineman who blocked for Payton. "He lived 45 years, and he touched more people than we know. Walter has given us the best wake-up call ever. He died with toughness, so he is making us tough. The benchmark was raised a couple of notches when God made Walter."
