Payton’s Son Steals the Show as His Dad Enters Hall of Fame : Pro football: Jarrett Payton provides emotional lift for all-time leading rusher in NFL.

CANTON, Ohio — There was the winningest coach in Super Bowl history, the leading ground gainer in NFL history, the greatest quarterback in San Diego history, the pulling guard on the only perfect team in league history and the coach of the greatest West Coast team in Super Bowl history.

So who stole the show at Saturday’s annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony?

Payton, of course.

Jarrett Payton, that is, the 12-year-old son of Walter, former star running back for the Chicago Bears.

In his days as a Bear executive, Jim Finks was a key figure in the senior Payton’s career. But when Finks, suffering from cancer, was unable to serve as Payton’s presenter Saturday, the man who sits atop the NFL’s all-time rushing list asked his only son.

“This is an historic event that my dad, Walter, and the other members of the Payton family will treasure for the rest of our lives,” said Jarrett, the first son to ever present his father for induction into the NFL Hall of Fame. “My father is my biggest role model and my best friend.”

Before the ceremonies, the inductees bet on which one of them would break down first during the ceremony.

“I was the first one to say I wouldn’t break down in tears, and I was the first one to say how strong I was,” Walter said when his turn came. “But I don’t care if I lose the bet. I have a lump in my throat.”

In speaking order, the inductees were:

--Dan Fouts, the former San Diego Charger quarterback, who chose his favorite coach, Don Coryell, as his presenter.

Fouts spent his entire 15-year career in San Diego, flourishing in the high-powered offense that became known as Air Coryell.

The league’s most valuable player in 1982 and a six-time Pro Bowl selection, Fouts completed 3,297 passes for 43,040 yards and 254 touchdowns. He is one of only three NFL passers to exceed 40,000 yards.

“I’m the luckiest man in the world,” Fouts said. “I went from a pro prospect to a third-round draft choice to a rookie quarterback to a struggling quarterback to a promising signal-caller to an All-Pro to player of the year to potential Hall of Famer to an aging superstar to ex-quarterback to . . . this Hall of Fame. As a roller-coaster ride, it truly has been thrilling.”

--Larry Little, the former Miami Dolphin guard, who selected Coach Don Shula as his presenter.

“There was no one more misnamed,” Shula said, “than Larry Little, who was a giant in his profession.”

Little’s story is one of the more unlikely among the 169 enshrined in Canton. He was signed as a free agent by the Chargers in 1967 for a $750 bonus.

“I bought some clothes,” Little said, “sent my momma some money and, pretty soon, I was broke.”

Little was traded to the Dolphins in 1969 for Mack Lamb, “a nothing for nothing deal,” the Chargers’ Sid Gillman called it at the time.

But when Shula arrived in Miami in 1970, he ordered Little to drop from 290 to 265 pounds and installed him as the pulling guard.

Little, whose career lasted 14 seasons, went on to play in three Super Bowls and four Pro Bowls. Little saw his Dolphins win two of those Super Bowls, including the perfect 17-0 season of 1972.

“This will be one moment,” Little said Saturday, “that I will cherish for the rest of my life.”

--Chuck Noll, formerly of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the only coach to win four Super Bowls. He chose club President Dan Rooney as his presenter.

“It was a special time,” Rooney said of the Noll era, “when the road to the Super Bowl ended in Pittsburgh.”

Noll coached the Steelers from 1969 to 1991, winning Super Bowls IX, X, XIII, XIV.

Noll remembered calling the then-Los Angeles Chargers in 1960 and asking Gillman for employment.

“I really need a coaching job,” said Noll, who had been an unspectacular linebacker for the Cleveland Browns.

“What kind of experience do you have?” Gillman asked.

“I’ve played, but I’ve never coached,” Noll replied.

“You’re hired,” Gillman told him.

--Payton, who played 13 seasons for the Bears, rushing for more than 1,000 yards in 10 of those years. In all, Payton had 16,726 yards on the ground, good for 110 touchdowns.

“We (the Hall of Famers) are not standing up here because of something we’ve done by ourselves,” Payton said. “Football is a team game. Every offensive lineman who played for the Chicago Bears helped me get that 16,000 yards, and I thank them.”

--Bill Walsh, the former San Francisco 49er coach who created a dynasty in his 10 years at the helm.

He took over a 2-14 team and led it to victories in Super Bowls XVI, XIX and XXIII.

His presenter, 49er owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr., called Walsh “a master magician.”

The greatest tribute to Walsh, now the head coach at Stanford, is the number of NFL coaches who are emulating his system.

“The game is for the players,” Walsh said. “The leaders are the players. The coaches are just there to facilitate.”