Alltime Best For Mississippi's top 50 homegrown sports figures, go to SI.com/50
Walter Payton, Football player
The Hall of Famer from Columbia starred at Jackson State and for
the Chicago Bears, with whom he broke Jim Brown's career rushing
record in 1984. Sweetness retired in 1987 with 16,726 rushing
yards. He died of a rare liver disease in November 1999, at age
45.
Jerry Rice, Football player
The Crawford native set 18 NCAA Division I-AA records at
Mississippi Valley State and holds nearly every major NFL
receiving mark. In his 20 pro seasons with San Francisco and
Oakland, Rice has caught 1,519 passes for 22,466 yards and 194
touchdowns.
Archie Manning, Football player
The father of NFL quarterbacks Eli and Peyton, Archie was a
legend at Ole Miss and finished third in the 1970 Heisman
balloting. The quarterback from Drew was picked No. 2 by the New
Orleans Saints in the '71 draft. He played 14 pro seasons and was
league MVP in '78.
Lance Alworth, Football player
The wide receiver from Brookhaven was the first American Football
Leaguer elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. An All-AFL
selection in seven of his nine seasons with the San Diego
Chargers, he averaged more than 100 yards per game from 1964 to
'66.
Margaret Wade, Basketball coach
The former star player from Cleveland, Miss., coached her
hometown school and alma mater, Delta State, to three straight
national women's titles (1975 to '77) and a 51-game winning
streak. Women's college basketball's player of the year award is
named for her.
Brett Favre, Football player
The QB from Kiln is the only three-time NFL MVP. He led the Green
Bay Packers to victory in Super Bowl XXXI and ranks in the
league's alltime top 10 in passing TDs, passing attempts,
completions and passing yards. He has started 190 straight games,
a record for QBs.
COLOR PHOTO: JOHN IACONO (PAYTON)
COLOR PHOTO: KIRBY LEE/WIREIMAGE.COM (RICE)
COLOR PHOTO: ART SHAY (MANNING)
COLOR PHOTO: JOHN G. ZIMMERMAN (ALWORTH)
COLOR PHOTO: JAMES DRAKE (WADE)
COLOR PHOTO: ROBERT BECK (FAVRE)