Jarrett Payton

Jarrett Walter Payton (born December 26, 1980) is an American former professional football running back. He is the son of Walter Payton. Payton was previously signed as an undrafted free agent by the National Football League (NFL)'s Tennessee Titans. Payton also played for the Amsterdam Admirals, Montreal Alouettes and Toronto Argonauts. Payton co-hosts mornings at WSCR in Chicago and hosts The Jarrett Payton Show on ChicagolandSportsRadio.com. He also anchored for WGN-TV in Chicago.

Early life Payton played high school soccer and football at St. Viator High School. In his first two years of high school, he opted for soccer and earned All-State player honors. As a senior in high school Payton accounted for 2,842 all-purpose yards while playing quarterback, tailback, and wide receiver (passed for 1,088 yards and rushed for another 1,345 yards). He was rated the No. 58 overall prospect in the nation by The Sporting News and named the No. 5 athlete in the Midwest Region by PrepStar.

College career As a freshman at the University of Miami, Payton saw action in several games. He finished his freshman year with 262 yards rushing on 53 carries for a 4.9 average. He also totaled six catches for 48 yards (8.0 average) and returned two kickoffs for 44 yards. As a sophomore in college Payton sat out the season with a redshirt year (not medically related). As a third-year sophomore, moving to fullback from tailback, Payton played in eight games during the regular season and gained 26 yards on 14 carries with two touchdowns. In 2002, as a fourth year junior, he played extensively at tailback and as a starting kickoff return man (averaged 20.7 yards per kickoff return). At tailback he rushed for 223 yards on 50 carries (4.5 average). In his final year at the University of Miami Payton ran for 985 yards and seven touchdowns on 182 carries (5.4 average). He also caught 17 passes for 136 yards and one touchdown (8.0 average). He was also named the MVP of the 2004 Orange Bowl.

Professional career

National Football League

In 2004, Payton joined the Tennessee Titans in free agency and spent that year on their practice squad. The Titans head coach, Jeff Fisher, was one of his father's former teammates on the Bears. He was a major part of the Admirals victory that year in the World Bowl XIII. He was also a member of the All-NFL Europe League team in 2005. Payton re-joined the Titans the 2005 NFL season and made his NFL debut on October 2 in a 31–10 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

Canadian Football League On February 22, 2007 it was announced that Payton had signed a one-year contract with the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL. He scored his first career CFL touchdown on August 2, 2007, against Toronto. Jarrett's first 100-yard rushing game came on August 9, 2007, when he rushed the ball 20 times for 160 yards and one touchdown against the Calgary Stampeders. Payton finished the season fifth in the CFL with 852 yards and fourth with eight rushing touchdowns. Payton was released by the Alouettes on July 2, 2008.

Payton signed with the Toronto Argonauts on June 7, 2009. He was released by the Argonauts, at his request, on September 9, 2009. During his time with the Argos he gained 47 all-purpose yards on three catches and seven carries. In 2010, He finished up his professional playing career with the Chicago Slaughter of the Indoor Football League. He announced that his desire was to continue work with the Chicago-based Walter & Connie Payton Foundation, which helps underprivileged children.

Broadcast career On May 8, 2015, Payton was hired as a sports reporter by WGN-TV, which included a role as a host of a show on Chicagoland Television. As of 2025, Payton's role at WGN included being a sports anchor/reporter for WGN News and co-anchor of WGN's GN Sports

On September 24, 2023, while covering the Chicago Bears' game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium for WGN, Payton recorded the first publicly released video of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce together, capturing the pair leaving the stadium side by side following the game. The four-second clip, which Payton posted to X, was widely regarded as the first visual confirmation of the couple's then-rumored relationship and went viral, amassing more than 15 million views within 24 hours. Payton later said stadium security had asked him to delete the footage, which he declined to do.

In August 2026, Payton replaced Mike "Mully" Mulligan as morning co-host with David Haugh on sports-talk "104.3 The Score" WSCR in Chicago.

Personal life Payton is the son of Walter Payton, the former Chicago Bears running back. He grew up in Arlington Heights, Illinois and South Barrington, Illinois, and has a sister, Brittney. In 1993, 12-year-old Jarrett gave the induction speech at his father's induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In 2024, he would induct his father's former Bears teammate Steve McMichael into the NFL Hall of Fame as well. The couple has two children, son Jaden and daughter Madison.

In 2011, Payton formed the Jarrett Payton Foundation. The Jarrett Payton Foundation strives to positively influence young people in and around Chicago through two core programs: the youth football camp The Jarrett Payton Leadership Academy, and the anti-bullying program PROJECT: NO BULL.