LAS VEGAS — Once Walter Payton glanced at the caboose of his new fullback, crouched two paces ahead of him in a three-point stance, that signature squeal halted the Bears’ first preseason practice of 1977.
“Whoa! Timeout! Is this a [bleepin’] truck in front of me or what?!”
Robin “The Truck” Earl, fresh out of the University of Washington, and Payton would fortify their mutual respect the next offseason on the latter’s fabled hill near Buffalo Grove and Arlington Heights.
Payton donned spiked cleats, wrapping tape around them, his heels and ankles, a routine usually reserved for practices and games.