The NFL is in the process of unveiling it's All-Time Team as the league celebrates its 100th anniversary, and it was announced Friday that former Chicago Bears greats Walter Payton and Gale Sayers were picked as two of the All-Time Team's running backs.
A total of 12 running backs made the cut, including Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, Earl "Dutch" Clark, Eric Dickerson, Lenny Moore, Marion Motley, Barry Sanders, O.J. Simpson, Emmitt Smith and Steve Van Buren.
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Payton was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993 and finished his career as the NFL's all-time leader in rushing yards (was later surpassed by Emmitt Smith). He joined the Bears as the fourth overall pick in 1975 and went on to be a nine-time Pro Bowler and the 1977 NFL MVP.
Sayers, whose time as a pro was cut short due to injury, became a Hall-of-Famer in 1977 after a career that totaled 9,435 combined scrimmage yards including two seasons ('66, '69) as the NFL's leading rusher. Like Payton, Chicago used the fourth overall pick on Sayers in 1965. His dazzling open-field running style was decades ahead of his time.