Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Jarrett Payton talks Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, Bears at NFL Honors

Episode Date: February 6, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Mark Grote were joined by WGN sports anchor Jarrett Payton live from San Francisco to discuss the NFL Honors ceremony Thursday and the latest Super Bowl festivities.

Jared Payton. My name is Jared Payton, and I am here to motivate you today. Former NFL running back. Jared Payton wearing his father's number, number 34, and looking like the old man. Look at this run. A gorgeous job by Jared Payton. The son of sweetness. There's Walter with his cup's jacket on, and here he comes.

Jared is with him. Sweetness. What an ovation. Sports anchor for WGN. You know me. I'm the resident Ronnie. back Jared Payton with Rahimi Harrison Grody on 1043 the score. Uncle Luke got me hooked on Hennessy, so thank you to Uncle Luke.

You know what that means? When you hear the 305, when you hear Uncle Luke, that means it's time to call Jared Payton. Jared Payton is the WGN TV sports anchor. You can catch him on the sports office on the free WGN Plus streaming app on your smart TV weeknights live at 730. And he joins us via the Circus Sports Illinois online. download the circus sports app today. Jared, just wonderful moments that we got to see involving you,

your sister Brittany, Roger Goodell, and all of the people nominated for the honor that bears your dad's name and Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award. What was that experience last night like for you? Oh, Laila, I'm going to tell you, I just got chills just saying that because we're at the Boys and Girls Club here in San Francisco. My sister is actually standing right next to me. she wanted me to let everybody in Chicago know and at the score know.

She said, what's up. That's what she just said. Hey. They say, hey, Britt. We miss Brittany. They miss you. Yeah, last night was like a movie, you guys. Every single time that we get a chance to do this, it's, this is our, we go by Super Bowls,

not by Jan 1 is like the new year. Super Bowls is our new year. So we're here and we get the chance to add another Man of the Year award winner to the family. and Bobby Wagner, just an unbelievable guy and just a football player, going to be a Hall of Famer, but then also just what he's doing in the community and honoring his late mother. He's just an amazing dude, so you just can't ask more to add another person to the family like him who is just top-notch and know that my dad would not.

So he'd be super, super proud of Bobby. And all the other 31 other guys that were nominated, but definitely for Bobby and the work that he's put in to get to this point. My favorite part about the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, JP, is how genuine it is. It's not just something that when the players, it's not just Bobby Wagner, but we're talking about Bobby Wagner. It's not just something, okay, that's cool.

You've been appointed to. They take it seriously. It means something to them to win it. Bobby Wagner even said when he got up there. He's like, I wasn't even going to come here because I didn't think I was going to win. so which is like I mean you got to support it one way or the other but just the fact that

he was so genuine when he came up there and I was feeling it man I mean I really was I'm starting to tear up listening to him I teared up when I saw you thinking about you and thinking about your dad Walter Payton man was that

was that a just a lot of emotions last night it really was gross it was crazy I mean I'm you know we're in this business and I do this every single night, reading off a prompter and speaking to thousands of people every single night

just on GM sports. And it's totally different, you guys. And you get up on that state, when you walk out onto the stage, like last night and where we were, I got up and looked up because it was Roger Goodell's like, yo, Brady walks out first, I'm going to walk out second, you walk behind me. And right before we're about to walk out on the stage,

my sister is having this side conversation with Travis Kelsey and I'm like trying to like get into the conversation too just the I don't think he ever knew that I was the one that took the video of him and Taylor that grew up the internet so no I was trying to do it so when I I'm showing him the video and I'm like him giving me that like the stank eye like looking at me when I had the video with my camera so he was like oh you got that he's like dude you blew off that night so and then they're usering us onto the stage and when you get on the stage, you look out and it just looks like thousands of people. Like, you just, the room looks crazy. Every person that you talk about throughout the year at football is staring at you in the

front row and you're like, just don't mess up. Like, just do not mess up. This is one of those moments. But once we got done, it just all makes it worthwhile to see all these guys on stage and the impact that they're making in their communities. It's amazing. My dad, he's shining down on us right now here in San Francisco. The sun is just beaming right now. So super cool. It was. It was an incredible moment. And I'm always left with, and Jerry, you know this, having been a football player yourself. I always think about when I talk to athletes about, about their charitable efforts, a lot of them talk about the fact that, hey, we wear helmets. You know, people don't get to see who we are. They don't get to see our faces. They don't get to see us, you know, have emotions

in these moments. So when I consider that and just to see how proud, everybody was to be on that stage, you know, with you when the nominees came up, what did that moment mean to you? And how important is it that people know who these guys actually are? Yeah, it's, you're exactly right when it comes to these guys wearing helmets, right? You don't really get to see their faces like other sports where you're, you instantly know who they are. And so, yeah, in the NFL, we know the superstars, but a lot of these guys who I've got a chance to be close with now. Like, even like this weekend, this week has been crazy. So C.J. Hamm and I have, you know, he just retired from the Vikings and he's a nominee.

And so I've been talking to him a lot. All NFC North teams, I've just been like locking down with them throughout this process. Even this morning sitting there talking with Jordan Love this morning before we walked out. And we're just joking about playing each other three times. He just told me he's like, I don't want to play you guys again in the playoffs. We just two times a year is good. I don't want to do it in the playoffs, and I just started laughing because we're having these conversations with you guys. You get a chance to meet them, and, you know, he was in the locker room in the home game with the walkoff.

So he was watching it. He told me on a small TV and just interacting with these dudes and having the conversations and getting to know them, you see that it's bigger than football. Their missions are way bigger than football. Football is just kind of like the avenue and what you do and what you love. love, but the giving back and service is that rent that we pay while we're here on this earth. And so that's what you see out of all these guys. No doubt about it, man.

And I, you know what? Hey, Grody. Yeah, buddy. Lela, guess what? Yeah. Just to let everybody know, because I'm not at home. But in a couple, like a couple hours here, I am, I'm leaving from the Boys and Girls Club straight from here.

And I'm going to do a sit down with George McCasky. So I'm going to sit. I'm going to be with George in a little bit, and it should be hopefully coming up tonight at some point on WGN. But, yeah, we're going to talk about the season, everything that happened this season. I know people are going to want to know about the stadium and all that stuff. It's a later date, everyone, just relax. But we're going to talk about his joy for this city, I mean, for the city and what this meant for this year. And it's crazy that I'm doing this today.

because today is a year that Virginia McCasky died. Oh, wow. I'm getting a chance to sit down with him today and discuss just the state of the bears and his feeling. So I'm really looking forward to that. That's awesome, man. So that'll be tonight about what time on GM sports?

I don't know. People are going to have to just keep on checking. I mean, 1030 on GN sports, definitely. But it's, yeah, we're looking forward to it. All right. He deserves to celebrate the season, too. And I bet he wants to talk to you on a day like today as well. Yeah, so I'm looking forward to that and honored that I get that opportunity,

knowing just how significant this day is and what it means to him and the whole entire family. And yeah, man, it's been a world win out here just seeing these guys, talking these guys, and just was with DJ. I'm about to go find DJ in a second. He's upstairs with some of the kids in some of the different areas that they have at the Boys and Girls Club. It's our day of service with the kids in the community. Sounds like, yeah, DJ, one of the, he was the Bears candidate for the Walter Payton year award.

So that's awesome. And so how cool was it to actually see? You had company last night, man, for once at these awards with Bears, with DJ Moore winning the play of the moment of the year, Joe Tooney, the NFL protector of the year. Talk about symbolic of this Bears turnaround, man. I mean, it really was because I've been coming to this thing for so long. right since 99 and ever since they started NFL honors it's never really been you know about the bears and last night man we were it was a different feeling you guys about where this organization is headed where the vibe is and what the general public and the in the media think about

about this bear's team ben jonson and kaila williams and company and yeah it just it was a vibe a bear's vibe last night and I first got a chance to meet Joe Tooney two the other night. He, um, he was having, I told Malian Hollis, he was, she was having dinner with my, my mom and her, uh, and some of their friends. I walked up on a, on a dinner and I'm sitting there. I'm like, that's Joe Tony. I'm like, what are you eating the pasta across from my mom? Like, what's going on here? So they were all talking Chicago connection here in San Francisco, super, super cool.

And just the Bears vibe here on radio. row, you can't, everybody wants to talk about it. Everybody's saying that the bears are going to be here at some point. And it could be sooner rather than later and that they're on the right track. And it's just a good feeling knowing that you have your head coach intact, who's calling the plays. And then you also have your quarterback who is just scratching the surface about how good he actually can be.

It's a good time to be a bear's fan. We are talking to Jared Payton, who just told us he's sitting down with George McCasky. That will air tonight on WGF. we look forward to it. And in the meantime, yeah, just having the bears be of significance. You know, we hear a lot about phrases like the NBA is better when the Bulls are winning. But I was not prepared for the embrace that the NFL would give for the bears being relevant and putting them on the stage like this, you know.

And for a long time, you were that representation, you and Brittany. And it was so nice to even see the cutaway of your mom sitting in the crowd. I thought that was a really thoughtful detail that they added. but to have that significance of how ready the league was to embrace the bears in this, you know, what do you think of that as well? I love it, Leva. I mean, this is what, you know, we've been in this business since I've been at GN for 10 years now. It's like, this is what you want.

You want your team to be relevant. You want to be talking about success. You want to be talking about that they're heading in the right direction and it just feels good. I've been here too many times where there's so many questions. marks about the quarterback position. What are you going to do at head coach? And it just feels refreshing that that's not the conversation that we're having here at the Super Bowl.

I mean, everybody's walking up to me and like, yo, you know, you guys could have been here. What happened to the Bears? Oh, this and that? Like, you guys are on the right track. And I'm sitting here going, yeah, we got this thing. So there are pieces. We know it's not set in stone. You're going to have to add to this roster.

You're going to have to, you know, add some more pieces, especially on the defense side, some tough decisions that are going to have to be made as well because that happens in every offseason. But right now it seems like you have things in place where the system is so strong and the belief is so strong. And what Ben is creating in that culture, which just seems infectious to everybody that walks through those doors at how it's whole, that now guys are going to want to come to Chicago. It's going to be a destination. And that's what makes me feel good. People are going to want to come and play with K. and they're going to want to play for Ben Johnson. And so it's going to open up more opportunities in one of the greatest cities,

if not the greatest city, in all America. So, you know, how I feel. Yeah, and when coaches leave, coaches are going to want to come here, you know, which I'm sure. Yeah. That happens. Yeah. Right? I mean, the whole Declan Doyle's thing is, like, totally understand.

great opportunity super great opportunity but it all still makes me feel good that he's not the guy calling plays the guy's calling plays is the dude that's sitting there clicking his pen hat on bears sweatshirt on

good better best and never and not even smiling at all like that's that's my dude he's still here and as long as he's here we are good who's winning the Super Bowl I got the I got the Seahawks went in.

All right. And I've said it. I've said it. I think that the spread is four and a half. I think it's a low scoring game. I think they win 24 to 20. I think it's going to be one of those games. It's just something about the balance of the Seahawks, I believe.

But it wouldn't surprise me, though, the Patriots won, but I'm picking the Seahawks. Jared, we appreciate the time and look forward to that interview with George and to talk to you about it when it happens. All right. I appreciate you guys. Thank you so much. It's been a blast. I think this might be my last hit for the football season. So I want to say just thank you guys.

Thank you, the whole score family. I appreciate you all my producers. Ray Diaz in the back calling me every single day. I appreciate you guys, man. You are as our family every single time. I'm getting these text messages, and it always works out. And it's just always cool to be a part of the score family. Thanks, man.

We appreciate you. And congratulations again on representing just a wonderful cause and a wonderful year. So, Jared, thank you. Talk to you guys soon. Tell DJ more to call us. Thanks. Bye. They take the North podcast.

Yes. That is Jared Payton. I am looking forward to watching. That'll be something I do tonight is watch George McCasky's interview. I think that's fantastic. Yeah, we haven't heard from him yet. And you know I said that. I said I wanted to hear from George McCask.

Absolutely. And I think they did. After reflecting on it, I think that Kevin Warren and George McCasky and all the Bears Power players at that final press conference did the right thing. and not speaking, but I still want to hear from them. So did you want them to have a separate? I would have hoped for that, but I wanted them to speak that day in the moment, but I thought, you know what?

No, this is a day for Ryan Poles to speak, who quite frankly was very quiet this year, and for Ben Johnson, the star of the show. So I accepted and understood what they did. Still would love a chance to talk to George McCasky and Kevin Warren. We would like another other stars press conference with George McCasky and Kevin Warren. that is fair. I think so. So I'm glad to hear that something like that is happening. Speaking of the Walter Payton Man of the Year award and Bobby Wagner, it was, uh, it was, it is something that evokes emotion. Yeah, I pointed to the tissues for Grady while we were talking to Jared. Just thinking about it.

I saw you tear up. So we're going to make you do the same. You will not want to miss what he had to say. That's next.