“Sweetness” called.
Legendary Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton phoned to congratulate Northern Arizona’s Archie Amerson. The call came not long after the 1996 season when Northern Arizona was holding a banquet to honor the Walter Payton Award winner.
“He was my favorite running back,’’ Amerson said. “He was the reason I was a Bears fan. Walter Payton was the reason.’’
Since The Sports Network began the Walter Payton Award in 1987, seven Big Sky Conference players have been bestowed the FCS’s version of the Heisman Trophy. Six of the seven have been quarterbacks. Amerson’s Walter Payton Award ranks 14th on the list of the Big Sky Conference’s “50 Greatest Men’s Moments.’’
Amerson, who transferred to Northern Arizona in 1995 after two stellar seasons at Dixie State Junior College in St. George, Utah, enjoyed one of the greatest seasons by a Big Sky Conference running back in 1996. The 5-foot-9, 175-pounder from San Diego’s Morse High School rushed for a then Big Sky single-season record 2,079 with 25 touchdowns. He averaged a national-best 189 yards per game, and 6.2 yards per carry.
Amerson also amassed 2,432 all-purpose yards, which is still a Big Sky single-season record, as are the 184.64 all-purpose yards per game he averaged. Amerson scored 26 total touchdowns that season, which ranks third in conference single-season history.
The highlight of the season was rushing for seven touchdowns in a 59-45 victory over Weber State. The seven touchdowns remain a Big Sky and FCS single-game record.
Still, Amerson wasn’t a lock to win the Walter Payton Award. His stiffest competition came from within the Big Sky. Montana sophomore quarterback Brian Ah Yat, who shared the Big Sky Offensive MVP honors with Amerson, had a sensational season. Ah Yat completed .613 percent of his passes for 3,615 yards with a Big Sky single-season record 42 touchdowns. Montana also finished the regular season 11-0. Grizzly wide receiver Joe Douglass was also a strong candidate, catching 82 passes for 1,469 yards and 18 touchdowns.
“I didn’t know anything about the Walter Payton Award when the season started,’’ said Amerson, who currently resides near San Diego in Spring Valley. “During the season, people started bringing it up. I know the media relations staff started making some cards to promote it. Toward the end of the year, the last couple of games, I started thinking about it. I thought I really had a chance to win.’’
In 2013, more than 140 media, sports information directors, and other dignitaries voted for the Walter Payton Award. In 1996, it was a much more intimate panel. Amerson won with eight first-place votes and 66 total points. Ah Yat, who was looking to become the second straight Montana QB to win the honor, was second with three first-place votes and 47 points. Douglass finished fourth in voting, giving the Big Sky three of the top four finishers.
Today, The Sports Network holds a banquet to honor its annual Award winners. In 1996, that wasn’t the case. Northern Arizona, however, did hold a ceremony to honor Amerson’s Payton Award on the campus in Flagstaff.
“We held it up on the second floor of the Du Bois Center,’’ recalled former Northern Arizona Certified Athletic Trainer Mike Nesbitt. “Walter Payton was on the speaker phone and Archie was talking to him. It was really very special. Archie wanted to give a shout out to everyone. He got the accolades, but loved sharing them with everyone.’’
A Walter Payton Award bust currently sits in a trophy case at Northern Arizona’s Walkup Skydome. Another one resides in the Big Sky Conference office in Ogden, Utah, where it shares space with six other Walter Payton Award busts. Amerson also has a Payton bust at his home.
“It’s right here in my room,’’ Amerson said.
Quarterbacks have won 17 Walter Payton Awards, including Idaho’s John Friesz (1989), Weber State’s Jamie Martin (1991), Idaho’s Doug Nussmeier (1993), Montana’s Dave Dickenson (1995), Eastern Washington’s Erik Meyer (2005) and Eastern Washington’s Bo Levi Mitchell (2011). From 1996-2001, five running backs won the Walter Payton Award. A running back, however, hasn’t claimed the honor since Colgate’s Jamal Branch in 2003.
Amerson is expected to have his No. 9 retired by Northern Arizona during the 2014 season, and he would become the first Lumberjack football player to earn that honor. Amerson has also been a candidate for the College Football Hall of Fame, but has yet to get the call. That’s an honor that would rank higher than being the only Big Sky running back, and the only Northern Arizona player to win the Walter Payton Award.
“That would mean the most if I can get into that,’’ he said. “That’s the highest of the highest. No one can take that from you. You are recognized as one of the best. There’s not a higher accomplishment than that.’’
