Anne Maselli, working on behalf of Donate Life and Astellas, wrote in an e-mail message:

“I wanted to let you know about an initiative the Payton family is currently working on,” along with the Bears, Donate Life and Astellas.

The groups have partnered together to issue the Tackle the Shortage: Donate Life Challenge, encouraging football fans to honor Walter’s life and legacy by registering as organ donors. After Walter Payton announced he was in need of a liver transplant, we saw a 25 percent increase in the number of registered organ donors in Illinois. We are counting on Illinois residents to again show that support and help us honor the life and legacy of Walter Payton by meeting the Donate Life Challenge goal of registering 5,000 new organ donors by the end of the year.

Since Walter’s passing, the transplant waiting list in the U.S. has grown from 67,000 to more than 100,000 people. With only 38 percent of Americans being registered donors, an average of 18 people die each day waiting for available organs.

She asked fans to visit Facebook.com/DonateLife “to learn more about organ donation and find out how they can join the donor registry in their state.”