SWEET DREAMS

Superman. Batman. Wonder Woman. Spiderman.

Kids in search of a superhero need only turn on their television sets to find a wide variety of colorful, costumed action figures.

For J.P., however, there was only one superhero. He wore a uniform, not a costume. Had a helmet, not a mask. And nothing, it seemed, could stop him, not even kryptonite.

J.P.’s hero was Walter Payton, the Hall of Fame running back of the Chicago Bears and the leading ground gainer in NFL history.

It was not a case of hero worship from afar. J.P. didn’t sit around dreaming of someday meeting the star player in person.

He didn’t have to. They lived in the same house.

Because while J.P. is the name he prefers to go by, his full name is Jarrett Payton. Walter was his father.

There’s a saying that no one is a hero to his valet. But that’s not true in this case. Rather than dim the illusion of greatness, the father-son closeness enhanced it for Jarrett.

“He was like a superhero to me,� Jarrett said. “It was like he had superhuman powers. He had a body like steel. Nothing fazed him.

“I remember he would come home after a game with ice all over his body. I know he had to be hurting. But he never let on. And by the next day, he was fine. He was a warrior.�

All Jarrett has today are his memories. Walter died just over two years ago at 45 of a rare liver disease.

He left some big footsteps to follow, footsteps that lead over, around and through the best defenses the NFL could throw at him in his brilliant 13-year career. It would seem daunting to try to follow those footsteps, especially as Walter’s only son. That could only lead, it would seem, to unflattering comparisons.

Yet Jarrett has followed those footsteps, not only by playing football, but by becoming a running back. He will be in Thursday’s Rose Bowl national championship game as the backup fullback of the Miami Hurricanes.

Just another challenge for Jarrett, who seems to take them on with a shrug of the shoulders.

How many 12-year-olds would take on the challenge of delivering the introductory speech for their father at the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

When Walter asked his son to do the honors, Jarrett responded with such a moving speech that his father’s usually impassive face cracked, tears forming in Walter’s eyes.

“It wasn’t that bad,� said Jarrett of the experience. “I am more nervous giving a speech in school in front of my classmates, people I know. At the Hall of Fame, I didn’t really know anybody.�

How many high school running backs would take on the challenge of trying to equal one of his father’s cherished accomplishments?

Because his mother, Connie, worried that he would get hurt, worried that he would come home with the same number of ice bags that covered his father’s body, Jarrett did not play football in his first two years at St. Viator High in Arlington Heights, Ill. So instead, he tried soccer and excelled at it.

But when Jarrett was finally allowed to put a football in his hands, it was the opponents who were getting hurt. Playing quarterback/tailback/receiver, Jarrett amassed 2,842 all-purpose yards as a senior.

And one day he decided he was going to take a shot at one of his dad’s marks.

Walter held the NFL record for yards gained in a single game, 275, until the Cincinnati Bengals’ Corey Dillon surpassed that figure last season with 278.

Jarrett came up short--by 10 yards, rushing for 265. He probably would have made it if his coach hadn’t sat him out for the final two series.

What did Walter think of his son’s big game?

“He told me I did really good,� Jarrett said. “That was a really big compliment coming from him because he was a quiet person, wasn’t one to blow smoke at you.� A lot of college recruiters thought Jarrett’s running ability was a big thing, so many that he was courted by 27 schools.

“I’m recruiting you,� said Miami offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski, “because you’re Jarrett Payton, not because of who your dad is.�

That meant a lot to Jarrett, who introduces himself as J.P. because he wants to be judged for what he does, not for what his last name is.

Chudzinski is glad he pursued Jarrett.

“I didn’t go there to talk to him about the old glory days of the Chicago Bears,� he said. “I went because I think he might be even a better athlete than his dad.�

That has yet to be demonstrated.

Jarrett won’t be the starter at tailback Thursday, or even at fullback where he was moved before this season. He wasn’t even the backup fullback until starter Najeh Davenport broke a foot in practice after Miami’s last regular-season game. Jarrett hasn’t had much playing time. After gaining 262 yards and averaging 4.9 yards with one touchdown at tailback as a freshman, he was a redshirt last season. This year, he has carried the ball only 14 times for 26 yards and two touchdowns.

Why hasn’t his highly touted talent come out? Life, it seems, has often tackled Jarrett short of his goal. His freshman season was interrupted by his father’s death and nagging injuries. A foot injury resulted in the redshirt year. Before spring practice this year, he suffered a bad cut on his foot when he jumped out of a boat and landed on sharp coral. And last summer, he suffered cuts and bruises in a car accident that could have been much worse.

He knows how he avoided death.

“It was my dad,� Jarrett said.

Kind of nice to have your own personal superhero.