I’m a big numbers guy. I’ve always loved math; helping my son in this subject is one of my favorite things to do. I remember a lot of numbers, dates over the years. Although my son will clearly tell you I do not know any of today’s guys’ jersey numbers in the NBA, I can rattle off the guys from my era. I like specific dates too, like the 22nd for example, the day me, my brother, my sister, and my niece was born on in different months. We’re coming off a big date, March 4th. March 4th is of course the birthday of our city of Chicago, and also my youngest niece, who turned 3 this year. March 4th can also be written 3/4, 34… which is a very special number in this city. Of course, Walter Payton donned that number for his entire Bears career; to have the greatest running back of all time play for MY team… that’s pretty cool. That brings me to today’s subject. March 5th, 3/5… 35… imagine replacing the greatest running back of all time! Yeah, today I’m thinking about Neal Anderson.
Not Neil Armstrong, another famous Neil, but a different spelling, and not really relevant from a Chicago sports perspective. Neal Anderson on the other hand, is very relevant. I feel as if he’s a bit underrated on the all-time Chicago sports radar. He was one of the greatest 100 Bears of all time, a list that was compiled during the anniversary season; rightfully so. Yet, when you talk about all-time Bears RBs, he’s really not mentioned. Of course, there’s Sweetness. Gale Sayers and Bronko Nagurski and Red Grange are all talked about; I don’t think anybody would dispute their places. Even more recent guys like Thomas Jones and Matt Forte seem to get more love. I don’t know… when I think back, I seem to remember Neal Anderson being a pretty good damn RB too.
A quick look at the stats confirms that. Only Walter and Matt Forte have more career rushing yards with the Bears than Neal Anderson does. Neal also has the 2nd most rushing TDs behind 34. His career, like Sayers, was also cut short due to injury; he probably would have had a couple more years to add to those totals. He only played in 116 games. He was also a great catcher out of the backfield; again, only Sweetness and Forte rank ahead of him. He has more receiving TDs than both of them! By the way, did you know that Walter Payton and Matt Forte have more career catches than any WR in Bears history? They’re followed by Johnny Morris, Curtis Conway, Marty Booker, Mike Ditka, Alshon Jeffery, and then Neal Anderson… The Bears certainly do have a horrible history of WRs if 3 of the top spots are held by RBs… Anyways, back to 35, he also made the Pro Bowl 4 times during his Bears career. He was drafted 27th overall in the first round back in 1986.
Why is Neal kind of flying under the radar, at least IMO? Well, maybe it has something to do with replacing a legend; nobody would have stacked up. Maybe it has something to do with the lack of additional Super Bowls during those years; it wasn’t Neal’s fault, or the defense… but back to that other position… you know, the QB.
I don’t know why THIS March 5th brought Neal Anderson into my head, but I’m glad it did. Other than getting pissed that sometimes he ran into a pile with his head down, he was the most skilled offensive player during that era for our Bears. If only we had a better QB… or some WRs… maybe the Bears would have won another… this sounds familiar. Well, hope you’re doing well wherever you are 35; thanks for the memories.
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