Ex-Argo Payton takes on new challenge

As the struggling Argos practised at the bottom of a nearby hill in advance of their rematch with the Ticats, a lone SUV pulled out of the player parking lot for the very last time.

The car came to a halt. The door swung open and Jarrett Payton stepped out. He had time for one last interview with the media before heading home to Chicago to begin a new life. Clearly this was no dead-of-the-night dash to the border by a suddenly ex-Argo.

"I'm just trying to figure out what's going to be best for me and the decisions in my life," the son of Walter (Sweetness) Payton explained after leaving the CFL club. "No hard feelings.

"This team, this organization has been nothing but the best. This team has everything it needs to be successful. It's just going to take time to kind of gel together. People have to understand that it's not going to happen overnight. It's going to take some time."

Payton, 28, had been signed by the Argos out of a Florida tryout camp. Following a successful season with the Alouettes in 2007, Jarrett sat out 2008 with an injury and was without a job when he decided to give the Canadian league another shot.

He and coach Bart Andrus had combined with the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe in 2005, so there was a certain familiarity and comfort level for Payton with the Argos.

It was a feel-good story all the way when the former Miami Hurricanes running back made the team this summer, but the results in nine league games have been spotty. The low point came on Labour Day when he was on the 46-man roster, not active.

"My expectations coming here were ... I knew they had a starting running back and I wasn't coming here to be a starter," Payton said. "I wasn't looking to be the guy that wanted 100 carries or 20 carries a game. I just wanted to help out any way possible."

So as his comeback season headed south, Payton decided to do the same. In fact, he felt the best way he could "help out any way possible" was with the Walter & Connie Payton Foundation established by his late father, rather than sitting at the end of the Argos bench collecting a paycheque he wasn't earning.

"We work with the Department of Children and Family Services in Illinois," mini-Sweetness explained. "We provide Christmas and also back to school drives for kids. Last year we helped over 50,000 kids. It would be nice to go back and help out."

The back to school supply drive is in full swing, while the Christmas toy drive is up next.

"My dream of playing football is not done," said Payton, who was given his official release later in the day. "This is not the end. We have to just figure out what's the next move. The hardest thing was the relationships that I've gotten with all the guys on this team. This is a special group of guys. I've been in a lot of places, but this place is very special. That's the hardest thing about leaving."

Coach Andrus was surprised when Payton walked into his office and explained what he had to do. Running back Jamal Robertson was also rattled by the news.

"He was a good player and a good teammate," Robertson said. "On a personal note, I was upset. We feed off one another during games. We keep each other going. As a man, though, he had to do what he had to do."
Payton said his marriage to Trisha on March 4 changed him as a man and as a professional football player, contributing to his decision.

"I don't want people to think I just walked out ... that wasn't the issue," Payton said. "(Marriage) really matured me. Once you put that ring around your finger and say those vows, it's totally different. It changes you. It's a different kind of commitment, one that lasts forever.

"It kind of changed the way I thought about football. It was always about me, me, me and now I understand it's not just about me any more."

Meanwhile, thanks to the Payton foundation, a bunch of underprivileged children in Chicago will likely have a better Christmas than they would have.



(thestar.com)