Category profile
- Dominance
- 87
- Peak
- 90
- Longevity
- 86
- Honours
- 85
- Statistics
- 91
Career timeline · Touchdowns per season
| Season | Touchdowns per season | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 679 | |
| 1976 | 1390 | |
| 1977 | 1852 | |
| 1978 | 1395 | |
| 1979 | 1610 | |
| 1980 | 1460 | |
| 1981 | 1222 | |
| 1982 | 596 | |
| 1983 | 1421 | |
| 1984 | 1684 | |
| 1985 | 1551 | |
| 1986 | 1333 | |
| 1987 | 533 |
Data sources
- NFL
- Pro Football Reference
- Olympics.com
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Walter Payton ranks #14 in American Football
Walter Payton ranks 14th among American Football athletes on GOAT Rank and 404th of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 87.6 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 87, Peak 90, Longevity 86, Honours 85, Statistics 91. Those categories are normalised against the full American Football reference universe of 378 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1975–1987 with 13 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1977, which sets the Peak component at 90. Statistics is the defining strength of the profile at 91 out of 100, and it carries 15% of the final score. The underlying career record includes mvp awards 1, super bowl titles 1, career rushing yards 16726, pro bowls 9.
Immediately ahead sits Dan Marino on 87.3, a gap of -0.3 points. Directly behind is Emmitt Smith on 86.9. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
Walter Payton GOAT Score explained
- Dominance87/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Payton stood above the field while competing. Scored 87/100 against the full American Football cohort.
- Peak90/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1977. Scored 90/100.
- Longevity86/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 12 years of competition and 13 recorded seasons. Scored 86/100.
- Honours85/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 85/100.
- Statistics91/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 91/100.
Top Payton comparisons
Walter Payton — frequently asked
- Is Walter Payton the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Walter Payton ranks 14th in American Football with a GOAT Score of 87.6, behind Tom Brady on 97.2.
- What is Walter Payton's GOAT Score?
- 87.6 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 87 (25%), Peak 90 (20%), Longevity 86 (20%), Honours 85 (20%), Statistics 91 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Walter Payton rank all time?
- 404th of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 14th within American Football.
- Walter Payton vs Dan Marino: who ranks higher?
- Walter Payton, on 87.6 against Dan Marino's 87.3 — a margin of 0.3 points.