Sweetness. (snapshots).(Walter Payton)

"Walter had a special way of touching people," says Connie Payton of her late husband. "He was about really making a difference in other people's lives. So in my eyes, he was the greatest--not for what he did on the football field, but for the kind of human being he was."

What he did on the field, however, was pretty amazing.

For 13 seasons, Walter "Sweetness" Payton wore number 34 for the Chicago Bears. Despite standing a relatively diminutive 5'10", he became known as one of the most powerful running backs in NFL history--a gutsy player who would lower his shoulder and run through opponents nearly twice his size.

During his career, Payton scored 110 touchdowns, amassed a then-record 16,726 rushing yards and led his team to a championship in Super Bowl XX. When he retired following the 1987 season, he held or shared seven all-time NFL records. He was elected to the Hall of Fame on his first ballot in 1993.

But six years later--in February 1999--fans saw a very different man. The powerful ex-running back was gone. In his place stood a thin, frail, visibly weakened Walter Payton announcing that he'd contracted a rare form of liver cancer.

Payton began a series of treatments, but nothing seemed to help. Worse yet, the cure proved as devastating as the disease. "At that time, Walter wasn't able to eat anything because he was on so much medication," says Connie. "He didn't even know the time of day."

Things began to change, however, when a friend invited Connie to attend a seminar offered by Patrick Quillin, PhD, Director of Nutrition for the Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA). "When Dr. Quillin explained that most cancer patients die from malnutrition and dehydration, I realized that that's what was happening to Walter, and that we needed to get him out of bed and get him some food," Connie says. "It made so much sense when I heard this doctor talk about nutrition, and I thought, `I've got to do something for my husband.'"