Michael Payton is a former American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 quarterback

Quarterback

Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

. He played college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 for the Marshall Thundering Herd

Marshall Thundering Herd football

The Marshall Thundering Herd football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports program of Marshall University. The team represents the university as a member of the Conference USA Eastern division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, playing at the Division 1 Bowl Subdivision...

 at Marshall University

Marshall University

Marshall University is a coeducational public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States founded in 1837, and named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States....

. He was the recipient of the 1992 Walter Payton Award

Walter Payton Award

The Walter Payton Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding offensive player in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision of college football as chosen by a nationwide panel of media and college sports information directors...

, which is bestowed annually upon Division I-AA's most outstanding player. After college, he played one season in the Arena Football League for the Florida Bobcats

Florida Bobcats

The Florida Bobcats are a defunct Arena Football League team. They had been previously known as the Sacramento Attack and the Miami Hooters.-Sacramento Attack :...

.

Biography

Payton did not originally intend to attend Marshall University, but changed his mind upon visiting the campus. He later said, "I loved the place and loved the people. They stand behind the athletes." As a sophomore in 1990, he completed

Completion (American football)

A completion is a term used in American football when a receiver successfully catches a pass. The three possible outcomes of a pass thrown are completion, incompletion, and interception, respectively....

 199 of 347 passes

Forward pass

In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line...

 for 2,409 yards, 12 touchdown

Touchdown

A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...

s, and 16 interception

Interception (football)

An interception, intercept or pick is a move in many forms of football, including Canadian and American football, as well as rugby league, rugby union, Australian rules football and Gaelic football, which involves a pass, either by foot or hand, being caught by an opposition player, who usually...

s.

In 1991, he completed 222 passes on 346 attempts for 3,392 yards, 26 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. That season, he led Marshall to the NCAA Division I championship game, where the Herd finished as runners-up. Payton also set the Division I-AA record for season passing efficiency. In 1992, he completed 268 passes on 415 attempts for 3,610 yards, 31 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Payton again led Marshall to the championship game their first-ever national title. He finished his college tenure as the Southern Conference

Southern Conference

The Southern Conference is a Division I college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision . Member institutions are located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North...

's all-time career passing leader, and received the Walter Payton Award

Walter Payton Award

The Walter Payton Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding offensive player in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision of college football as chosen by a nationwide panel of media and college sports information directors...

, which is given annually to the best player in Division I-AA football.

After graduating from college, Payton played for one season in the Arena Football League. He played as a back-up quarterback for the Florida Bobcats

Florida Bobcats

The Florida Bobcats are a defunct Arena Football League team. They had been previously known as the Sacramento Attack and the Miami Hooters.-Sacramento Attack :...

 in 1996

1996 Arena Football League season

The 1996 Arena Football League season was the 10th season of the Arena Football League. The league champions were the Tampa Bay Storm, who defeated the Iowa Barnstormers in ArenaBowl X. The AFL finally stabilized its scheduled number of games. It expanded to a 14-game season, which would remain...

. That year, he completed three passes on 17 attempts and threw one interception. Payton was inducted in the Marshall University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.