All pro football running backs have a goal. They want to gain 1000 yards in one season. Chicago Bear Walter Payton did it in 1976, and also many other years. He gave gold watches to his offensive linemen. The watches were engraved: THANKS FOR THE 1000, WALTER.

"Football is a team game," Walter said. "If I were Mohammed Ali in the ring all alone, I could take all the credit. But I'm running out of the backfield. I'm only as good as my offensive line lets me be."

The fans don't often watch the offensive linemen. A running back or a pass receiver gets to spike the ball after a touchdown. But not when Payton scores a touchdown. He flips the ball to one of his linemen. He tells him to spike it. The linemen love it. Guard Noah Jackson says, "someday I'll throw it down so hard it will explode...