Courtesy Montreal Gazette:

Jarrett Payton, the son of arguably the game’s most- renowned running-back, has never rushed for 1,000 yards in a season. Nor he has captured a football championship.

At least one, if not both, of those streaks will end this season, he vowed.

“If I’m healthy, I’ll guarantee 1,000 yards,” Payton told The Gazette yesterday. “That’s the figure in my head. It’s not even a question mark. That’s the goal every running back shoots for. It’s a must.

“I’ve been gypped (out of reaching the total) too many times. I didn’t get it in college, although I came close a couple of times. I’ve got to get it.”

As he approaches his second Canadian Football League season with the Alouettes, Payton appears more confident, at ease and sure of himself. There are none of the family distractions that took some of his concentration away a year ago, after Hurricane Katrina displaced his grandparents.

And the questions about being Walter Payton’s son have ceased, at least temporarily - not that discussing the bloodline ever has or will upset the 27-year-old native of Arlington Heights, a Chicago suburb.

Payton was Montreal’s most-celebrated offseason signing in 2007. And, although he began the year sidelined with an ankle injury and behind Robert Edwards on the depth chart, it was almost inevitable a change was coming at the position. When Edwards stumbled early in the season, and once Payton’s health returned, the torch was passed. Edwards requested, and was granted, his release, resurfacing in Toronto.

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