January 27, 2015: Shuffling Crew

We open the doors of the Players Club to the first Chicago team.  Was there really ever any doubt about who that team would be?

29 years ago yesterday, in Super Bowl XX, the Bears trounced the Patriots 46-10 topping off one of the best single seasons in NFL history.  Today, we welcome the 1985 Chicago Bears.

When did it all start?  It started in with the draft and some key hirings.  I guess we can thank GMs Jim Finks for the building of most of this team, and Jerry Vanisi for completing it.  Back in 1975 the Bears drafted Walter Payton in the first round, and Mike Hartenstine in the 2nd.  In 1978, George Halas hired a new defensive coordinator named Buddy Ryan, who would turn out to be the architect of the 46 defense.  Then it was on to 1979, when the Bears had the 4th overall pick in the NFL draft.  They selected the future Hall of Famer from Arkansas, Dan Hampton.  They had 2 first round picks that year, and with the 9th overall pick they took Al Harris.  We all know what happened to Al Harris and Todd Bell that year; bad timing to sit out due to a contract dispute.  In 1980, Otis Wilson and Matt Suhey… 1981 Keith Van Horne, Samurai Mike, Ken Margerum, and the previously mentioned Todd Bell.  1982 brought us the punky QB from BYU, Tim Wrightman, Dennis Gentry, Kurt Becker, and the owner of the safety in Super Bowl XX, Henry Waechter.  1982 also brought the hiring of a new Bears coach…

So as the Bears continued to build through the draft (hint hint Ryan Pace), 1983 might have been one of the best.  Jimbo Covert, Willie Gault, Mike Richardson, Dave Duerson, Tom Thayer, Richard Dent, and Mark Bortz.  WOW!  This has to rank among the best draft classes EVER by any team.  1984 saw the addition of Wilber, Chico, and Shaun Gayle of the Sean Landeta whiff fame.  The final pieces were added in 1985 and played important roles as rookies on this team:  The Fridge, Reggie “Super Bowl pick 6” Phillips, and Butt-head.  Who did I miss?  Now I’m going to learn some more stuff…

Gary Fencik:  drafted by the Dolphins in 1976 as a WR was acquired by the Bears that very same year.  Leslie Frazier: undrafted FA picked up by the Bears in 1981.  Steve McMichael:  drafted by the Patriots in 1980 was acquired by the Bears in 1981.  That completes the starting D:  the best defense in the history of the NFL.

Jay Hilgenberg:  another undrafted FA picked up by the Bears in 1981.  Dennis McKinnon, with whom I share a birthday, was another undrafted FA signed by the Bears in 1983.  Emery Moorehead:  drafted by the Giants in 1977 and signed as a FA in 1981.  And let’s not forget about Maury Buford who was drafted in 1982 by San Diego and was signed by the Bears in 1985.  Nice timing on that one Maury! 
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So the team was assembled.  The year before in 1984, the Bears made the postseason and defeated the Redskins in RFK in an upset.  The following week they lost to the Niners in Candlestick, and the rest was history.  That playoff experience, both the win & the loss, left this team hungry.  They knew what feeling they liked better.  They knew what they wanted.  And then it began…

12-0 until the only blemish on their record on Monday NIght against the Dolphins; that loss maybe helped more than anything?  Screw that, I wanted to go undefeated, but that loss, followed the next day by the recording of the Super Bowl Shuffle, was only a speed bump.  Finishing 15-1, they headed into the playoffs ready to claim what was theirs.  The Giants… no match.  The Rams… no match.  Both of them… NO points.  So back to back shutouts in the playoffs gave the Bears the ticket to New Orleans.  Once the Dolphins choked against the Patriots in the AFC Championship game, it was all but sealed.  I really wanted that revenge game, and just knew we’d cream them.  But… it was the overmatched Pats.  They DID go up 3-0 in the Super Bowl….  outscored 46-7 by the Bears after that, the mission was completed. 

I can go on and on about this team.  I have so many memories of that season, as I’m sure anyone alive in Chicago at the time does.  They took the city, the NFL, and the country by storm.  This group of characters made up the best team in NFL history, as stated by this die hard Bear fan.  There will never be another team like them.  It’s like we’ve seen the best… and then there’s the rest.

We were blessed to have this team, and can always hang our hat on them.  Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, including getting rid of the Honey Bears, this Bears team only won 1 Super Bowl, but boy what a memorable ride it was.  Only 1 Super Bowl appearance since then, a loss at that, leaves us grasping onto the memory of this team even tighter.  It’s been 29 years, but feels like only yesterday…

I hope the Bears can regain this kind of greatness one day, although they will NEVER reach the heights this team did, in that one magical year.  Come on in boys.  I have the DVD collection of every game of that 1985 season, and it’s playing on repeat.  I even brought the cutout from the Sun Times of the Super Bowl Shuffle that was taped above my bed during that year; the song that my brother and I recited about 500 times that year.  Let’s all sing along…  We are the Bears, shuffling crew….