Chicago Bears

Walter Payton's son pens open letter to Mike McCarthy about respect

Published Sep. 11, 2015 12:50 p.m. ET

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Jarrett Payton, son of Chicago Bears legend Walter Payton, has responded to an incendiary comment made by Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy.

Offended by McCarthy saying his Packers will "kick Chicago's a**," Payton wrote an open letter at WGNRadio.com detailing a lesson his father once taught him as a child. The son of Sweetness was six years old when he learned to treat his opponent with respect.

From Payton's letter, addressed to McCarthy, via WGNRadio.com:

Back in 1986, I came home from school after overhearing kids at school calling your team from Wisconsin a bunch of names that I wasn’t able to say at the time. All the way home on the bus I couldn’t wait to tell my dad some of the things I had learned at school that day. So, I ran into the house looking for my father. I found him in his office getting off of a conference call. The first thing he asked me was, “What did you learn to at school?”

I proceeded to tell him about my day then at the end of our conversation I said, “The team from Wisconsin sucks!” My dad looked at me like it was the fourth quarter, his team down by a touchdown and he was taking the field with his headband on and his Jheri curls perfect.

He said, “Son, we don’t say that word. No matter how much you dislike your opponent, you always show them respect.” Now, Mr. McCarthy, that statement came from a guy that is the best player to have ever played and will ever play within the rivalry from either team.

Walter Payton's Bears teams went 17-7 against the Packers from 1975-1987, peaking as Super Bowl XX champions after the 1985 season. Green Bay made the playoffs only once during Payton's 13-year career, and that was during a strike-shortened 1982 season.

The rivalry has taken a sharp turn since then, as the Packers certainly hold the upper hand in the series as of late. McCarthy's latest comment is nothing compared to what he said last summer, when he said, "Let's go bomb Chicago!" before getting on a World War II-era B-17 with his family (h/t Barstool Sports).

Maintaining civility and respect in his letter to McCarthy, Jarrett Payton -- whose professional football career was a tour with stops in Europe, Canada and the Indoor Football League -- goes on to write that the Bears will "be back on top of the NFC North" in time.

We'll see if Payton's diplomatic tone gets the loose-lipped Packers coach to turn down his rhetoric in the future.

(h/t WGNRadio.com)