"As usual, there was no stopping Walter Payton.

The unexpected death of his father, Edward, on Dec. 11, 1978, gave Payton a jolt worse than any tackler ever could but an inexplicable force inside pushed him to keep fighting. The way the parent Payton just laid to rest would want, the way Chicago came to expect from a man who defined the Bears.

"Walter and I talked about it and there really never was a doubt,'' recalled Eddie Payton, Walter's brother who was a member of the Chiefs at the time. "It wasn't a question of if we were going to play that week; it was a question of when we'd be back. We were committed first to our family and second to our teammates, who were like family. The team that you play for becomes your extended family and helps you get through the process.''

Not since the loss of Payton's father 33 years ago has a Bears legend experienced a process quite like the confluence of personal anguish and professional obligation Brian Urlacher confronted this week. Urlacher plans to start at middle linebacker Sunday in the Louisiana Superdome against the Saints 24 hours after burying his mother, Lavoyda Lenard, in Urlacher's hometown of Lovington, N.M.

The No. 54 jersey will look the same as always. He can't possibly be."