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Olsen vs Payton

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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
OlsenWinner
87.7

Olsen wins: Peak, Longevity, Honours

Payton
87.6

Payton wins: Dominance, Statistics

Candidates
Locked to American Football

Shareable URL · /compare/merlin-olsen-vs-walter-payton

Time range

Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.

Category radar

Verdict

Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Merlin Olsen
87.7

Olsen leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories. Fourteen straight Pro Bowls as the anchor of the Fearsome Foursome.

1. Merlin Olsen
87.7
2. Walter Payton
87.6

Category breakdown

Season form · Touchdowns per season

Career timeline · Touchdowns per season

Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.

GOAT pace tracker

Career stage · GOAT pace

Through season 5 · Touchdowns per season
1. 🇺🇸 Walter Payton5 seasons played · career day 1,8256,926 touchdowns
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Merlin Olsen5 seasons played · career day 1,825372 touchdowns
-94.6% vs Payton at the same stage
Ghost race · career day30100365100018253650
🇺🇸 Olsen0060127372719
🇺🇸 Payton006792,0696,92611,625

Careers are aligned at debut, so a rookie's first 5 seasons are measured against the same window in a legend's career — Yamal against Messi at the same age-stage, a tour rookie against Tiger Woods in 1996.

MetricOlsenRetiredPaytonRetired
Pro Bowl selections14
First-team All-Pro selections5
Defensive Player of the Year awards1
Career games208
Seasons played15
MVP awards1
Super Bowl titles1
Career rushing yards16,726
Pro Bowls9
Rushing touchdowns110
Rushing titles1
Dominance w25%8487
Peak w20%9290
Longevity w20%8886
Honours w20%8685
Statistics w15%9091

Fan vote — data vs the people

GOAT Rank · the data
Olsen87.7
Payton87.6
The people
Olsen
Payton

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