Jarrett Payton was among the list of reporters and analysts regularly featured on 670 The Score programming during football season, and Payton’s hiring has paid dividends in the eyes of operations director and brand manager Mitch Rosen.
Jarrett is the son of NFL and Chicago Bears legend Walter Payton and is also a sports anchor for WGN TV. When The Score lost rights to air Bears radio broadcasts, the station leaned into making sure there was no shortage of voices able to provide insight and offer the latest information on the Bears. Jarrett was one of them.
Payton appeared on Mully & Haugh on Tuesday and shared a story about his legendary father and an act of generosity during the holidays that really resonated with Rosen.
Jarrett talked about his dad taking him on a Toys-R-Us shopping spree as a kid. He remembered his dad telling him money was no option and to pick out whatever he wanted. Thinking the buggy full of toys was for him, Jarrett said he remembered his dad taking the gifts to a nearby apartment complex and helping a family in need with Christmas gifts.
“That’s the moment when I figured out what my passion was,” Payton said. “It was giving back in service. It was doing something for other people that couldn’t do anything for me maybe, but in the grand scheme of things they did. They showed me what it was like to love each other, not to have a lot, but still have each other. And that moment forever changed my life and is probably one of the reasons why I’m the way that I am right now, the person that I am. So I’m very thankful and grateful for my pops for doing that because that’s what our family’s all about.”
That unique perspective was exactly what Rosen had envisioned when he brought Payton into the fray.
“One of our best free agent signings to 670 The Score this year has been (Payton),” Rosen wrote on X on Tuesday afternoon. “He is real, smart, opinionated, and just a terrific person. The insights he adds to our audience each week is incredible.”
