Worth a Thousand Words: The 1985 Bears Defense

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the greatest defense in pro football history. 

     Bears defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan named his defense "46" after the uniform number of his favorite player, safety Doug Plank, who played for the team from 1975 to 1982. 

     It all came together for Ryan's defense in 1985. After dominating throughout the regular season and posting shutouts in the two NFC playoff games, the Bears took it up another notch in the Super Bowl, playing with a ferocity that was truly frightening. "It was like trying to beat back the tide with a broom," said New England Patriots guard Ron Wooten after his team was routed 46-10. 

     "It will be many years," Paul Zimmerman wrote in Sports Illustrated, "before we see anything approaching the vision of hell that Chicago inflicted on the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX. It was near perfect, an exquisite mesh of talent and system, defensive football carried to its highest degree."

     And now it has been many years, and we still haven't seen anything to compare with this group. It will be a cold day you know where before we ever do. 

Secondary:
Leslie Frazier (21)
Gary Fencik (45)
Dave Duerson (22)
Mike Richardson (27)

Linebackers:
Wilber Marshall (58)
Mike Singletary (50)
Otis Wilson (55)

Front four:
Richard Dent (95)
William Perry (72)
Steve McMichael (76)
Dan Hampton (99)

Check out our book Heydays: Great Stories in Chicago Sports on Amazon.

1985 Bears Postseason Flashback: "The Super Bowl Shuffle"

The lead-up to the Bears’ first Super Bowl was enlivened by “The Super Bowl Shuffle,” the audacious rap song by the Chicago Bears Shufflin’ Crew that was heard almost incessantly throughout December 1985 and January 1986--and has endured, somewhat surprisingly, as a landmark of sorts in the subsequent 35 years.
    

Despite having sustained their first defeat of the season (after 12 straight victories) shortly before the recording session, the Bears remained quite sure that they were headed to the Super Bowl, and the “Shuffle” was a bold statement to that effect. The project was the brainchild of Dick Meyer, a lifelong Bears fan who enlisted Willie Gault, the fleet wide receiver and aspiring actor/singer, to be his point person with the players. “A substantial portion” of the proceeds was to be donated to charity.
     Meyer and Melvin Owens wrote the lyrics, which were tailored to each of the ten featured “singers”: Walter Payton, Gault, Mike Singletary, Jim McMahon, Otis Wilson, Steve Fuller, Mike Richardson, Richard Dent, Gary Fencik, and William Perry. Bobby Daniels and Lloyd Barry wrote the music, and Meyer acted as producer and choreographer.
     In addition to the ten front men, fourteen other Bears participated in supporting roles. The players might have done the project as a lark, but “The Super Bowl Shuffle” was a genuine phenomenon. It sold more than half a million copies as a 45-RPM record, ascended to No. 41 on the national pop music charts, and was nominated for a Grammy award. At the end of the day, some $300,000 was donated to the Chicago Community Trust to provide food, shelter, and clothing for needy families.

Chicago Bears Shufflin’ Crew (featured singers, in order of appearance)
34 - Walter Payton, running back
83 - Willie Gault, wide receiver
50 - Mike Singletary, linebacker
  9 - Jim McMahon, quarterback
55 - Otis Wilson, linebacker
  4 - Steve Fuller, quarterback
27 - Mike Richardson, cornerback
95 - Richard Dent, defensive end
45 - Gary Fencik, safety
72 - William Perry, defensive tackle/fullback

Chicago Bears Shufflin’ Crew Band (in alphabetical order)
  8 - Maury Buford, punter (cowbell)
29 - Dennis Gentry, running back (bass)
98 - Tyrone Keys, defensive end (keyboard)
33 - Calvin Thomas, running back (saxophone)
18 - Mike Tomczak, quarterback (guitar)

Chicago Bears Shufflin’ Crew Chorus (in alphabetical order)
21 - Leslie Frazier, cornerback
23 - Shaun Gayle, safety
75 - Stefan Humphries, guard
51 - Jim Morrissey, linebacker
89 - Keith Ortego, wide receiver/punt returner
48 - Reggie Phillips, cornerback
53 - Dan Rains, linebacker
20 - Thomas Sanders, running back
31 - Ken Taylor, cornerback/punt returner

 

 Check out our book Heydays: Great Stories in Chicago Sports on Amazon.

 

George S. Halas Jr., The Man Called "Mugs"

Judging by the fierce reaction to this week's end-of-season press conference by Bears chairman George McCaskey and president Ted Phillips, the majority of fans are not convinced that these two have any idea how to lift their franchise out of mediocrity. Phillips is the only person not named Halas or McCaskey to hold the title of Bears president. During his 22-year tenure, the Bears have a .486 winning percentage and have played a total of nine postseason games, winning three.

 

GEORGE HALAS JR. and JIM FINKS.

When the legendary George Halas retired as head coach after the 1967 season, the Bears had an all-time winning percentage of .680 over 48 seasons and had won nine world championships. Only a few years later, at a Bears game in 1973, George Halas Jr. turned to his dad and said, "I am so sick of this!" By "this," the man known as Mugs meant the Bears' recent history of losing, which was about to extend to five consecutive sub-.500 seasons. (It was the first such streak of more than two years in franchise history.)

     In September 1974, the Halases did something about it. They hired the Bears' first general manager other than Papa Bear himself--and the man they chose for the job proved to be exactly what the doctor ordered.

     He was Jim Finks, who had just concluded a ten-year stint in a similar role with the Minnesota Vikings, which resulted in Super Bowl appearances after the 1969 and 1973 seasons and the NFL Executive of the Year award in 1973.

     The Bears opened the 1974 season two days after Finks was hired, with a team that did not yet have his fingerprints on it. They beat the Detroit Lions in the opener, but soon reverted to form and finished 4-10.
     Finks had spent the season evaluating the Bears' coaches and players, and he delivered his verdict shortly after clock ticked down on a season-ending 42-0 loss at Washington. Head coach Abe Gibron was sent packing, and so were a good many of his players. Jack Pardee took over as head coach, and Finks and his staff set about planning for the 1975 draft.
     The first player that Finks drafted for the Bears, with the fourth overall pick in 1975, was the immortal Walter Payton. Long-time starters Mike Hartenstine, Virgil Livers, Revie Sorey, and Bob Avellini also were products of that same draft.
     During his years with the Bears, Finks never missed on a first-round pick. After Payton, his other first-rounders were Dennis Lick, Ted Albrecht, Dan Hampton, Al Harris, Otis Wilson, and Keith Van Horne. He got future Hall of Famer Mike Singletary in the second round in 1981.        

     Finks was no longer employed by the Bears when his rebuilding project culminated in the 1985 world championship. He had resigned in 1982 after Papa Bear hired head coach Mike Ditka without consulting him. 

     

Sadly, neither George Halas Jr. nor his dad lived to see the Bears' resounding victory in the 1986 Super Bowl. Mugs passed away suddenly on the morning of December 16, 1979. He was only 54 years old. That afternoon, the Bears dedicated their game (the season finale) to Mugs and routed the St. Louis Cardinals 42-6 to make the playoffs for just the second time since the 1963 championship.

     George Halas Jr. had been groomed for his whole life to take over the Bears some day. If he had survived his dad, who passed away on Halloween in 1983 at age 88, Mugs would have taken control of the franchise and eventually passed it on to his children, Christine and Stephen. In that case, Mugs's sister and brother-in-law, Virginia and Ed McCaskey--along with their ten children and 21 grandchildren--would have been stockholders but would not have been running the show all these years.

     It's only fair to wonder how different the Bears' recent history might have been. 

 

 

 Check out our book Heydays: Great Stories in Chicago Sports on Amazon.

 

1985 Bears Postseason Flashback: January 12, 1986

We are revisiting the three postseason games that confirmed the 1985 Bears as one of the greatest teams in pro football history—the NFC playoff games against the New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams and the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots—on the 35th anniversary of each. We hope you enjoy the ride.

 

OTIS WILSON and WILBER MARSHALL.

After the Bears dispatched the New York Giants 21-0 on January 5, they hosted the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC championship game on January 12. It was another cold and windy day in Chicago, and the Rams looked as if they longed for the temperate climes of southern California. Bears defensive end Dan Hampton said he could see defeat in their eyes even at the opening coin toss. When the Rams won the flip and elected to receive, the crowd of 63,522 cheered, figuring the Bear defenders would push them backward.

From the start, Los Angeles quarterback Dieter Brock (10-for-31 passing) and running back Eric Dickerson (17 carries for 46 yards) were wholly ineffective. Dickerson, supposed to be the man who would eventually break Walter Payton’s lifetime rushing mark, had gained a playoff-record 234 yards against Dallas the week before. The Bears held him to less than three yards per attempt and forced him to fumble twice. “If they would have run him more,” said defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, who had predicted three fumbles by Dickerson, “he would have had three.” 

In the third quarter, Dickerson and Mike Singletary—Southwest Conference rivals at S.M.U. and Baylor, respectively, renewed their acquaintance in the Rams’ backfield. Dickerson had just taken a handoff when he blasted into Singletary filling the gap and stopped dead in his tracks. He moved not one inch forward after meeting up with the Bears’ middle linebacker. “I like this kind of party!” Singletary shouted to the Rams. “I’m gonna be here all day!” 

Bears quarterback Jim McMahon, meanwhile, was brilliant. Despite the weather, he hit on 16 of 25 passes for 164 yards. On the Bears’ first series, he ran 16 yards for a touchdown on a play that was called as a pass. Later he passed for a touchdown on a play called as a run. “The coach sent in a play I didn’t agree with,” McMahon said, “so I called my own.” His 22-yard strike to Willie Gault put the Bears ahead 17-0, and the outcome was decided. The Bears would be NFC champions. 

The fans began to chant: “Super Bowl, Super Bowl.” Late in the fourth quarter, the hapless Brock dropped back to pass and was flung to the turf by defensive end Richard Dent. The ball popped loose. Linebacker Wilber Marshall picked it up at midfield and headed into Rams territory with Otis Wilson escorting him. 

Just then, it started to snow. 

Marshall and Wilson romped 52 yards to the Los Angeles end zone all alone, while the crowd cheered both them and the snow. As the final minutes ticked away, the Bears briefly abandoned the business-as-usual demeanor that had characterized them all year. They embraced one another on the sideline, and head coach Mike Ditka congratulated each man individually. Safety Dave Duerson said that Ditka even became choked up. 

The final score was 24-0. “The way we were playing defense,” said Ditka, “it didn’t matter what we scored.” The Bears became the first team ever to post back-to-back playoff shutouts. They were headed to the Super Bowl as confident as a team could be—and rightly so.

 

 

 Check out our book Heydays: Great Stories in Chicago Sports on Amazon.

 

 

Colonel Now Ranks as a Hall of Famer

Richard Dent

     Col. Harlan Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame used to say, "We do chicken right." His point was that the company did not allow itself to be distracted by offering hamburgers, hot dogs, tacos, or other fast-food staples. KFC focused on one thing and did it very well.
     Early in his career with the Bears, Richard Dent picked up the nickname "Colonel" because it was said that he, like Sanders, focused on one thing (in his case, rushing the opposing quarterback) and did it very well.
     Dent's ability to rush the passer made him the most proficient sacker of quarterbacks in Bears history and the sixth most proficient in NFL history. It earned him four trips to the Pro Bowl, a first-team All-Pro nod in 1985, and the Most Valuable Player award for Super Bowl XX. This past Saturday, it also earned him election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
     Extraordinarily lithe and agile for his size (six-foot-five and 265 pounds), Dent relied more on quickness than brute strength to go around blockers. "He could play at a level that I don't care who you were," former NFL coach and broadcaster John Madden said, "you couldn't block Richard Dent."
     Perhaps the man who came closest was Dent's teammate, Jimbo Covert. After he was informed of his election to the Hall of Fame, Dent gave a shout-out to the former All-Pro offensive tackle who might have ended up in Canton himself but for the injuries that shortened his career. "Practicing against him every day," Dent said of Covert, "made the games seem easy."
     When he is inducted into the Hall this summer, Dent will become the third member of the 1985 Bears' defense to be enshrined, having been preceded by Mike Singletary and Dan Hampton.
     Buddy Ryan, the coordinator of that incomparable defensive unit, has argued that Dent's moniker is misleading, for "the Colonel" didn't simply take off after the quarterback on every play. Ryan often assigned Dent to run away from the quarterback to cover potential receivers. "I used him in coverage a lot, and most defensive ends just rush the passer," Ryan said. "But he paid the price so we could run the defense we wanted to run. He could have had a lot more sacks if I hadn't used him in coverage."
     Even when Dent was otherwise occupied, opposing quarterbacks were far from safe. Hampton, Steve McMichael, Mike Hartenstine, Wilber Marshall, Otis Wilson, and Singletary would be swarming from all directions. "It was," New England guard Ron Wooten said, "like trying to beat the tide back with a broom."

1985 Bears Flashback: "It Didn't Matter What We Scored"

Twenty-five years ago yesterday, the 1985 Bears punched their ticket to Super Bowl XX in New Orleans with a resounding 24-0 victory in the NFC championship game. That game is described below in an excerpt from the recent book Heydays: Great Stories in Chicago Sports.



WILBER MARSHALL (58) AND OTIS WILSON ROMP TO THE RAMS END ZONE.

     
     The Bears hosted the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC championship game on January 12, 1986. It was a suitably cold and windy day in Chicago, and the Rams looked as if they longed for the temperate climes of southern California. Bears defensive end Dan Hampton said he could see defeat in their eyes even at the opening coin toss. When the Rams won the flip and elected to receive, the crowd of 63,522 cheered, figuring the Bear defenders would push them backward.
     From the start, Los Angeles quarterback Dieter Brock (10-for-31 passing) and running back Eric Dickerson (17 carries for 46 yards) were wholly ineffective. Dickerson, supposed to be the man who would eventually break Walter Payton’s lifetime rushing mark, had gained a playoff-record 234 yards against Dallas the week before. The Bears held him to less than three yards per attempt and forced him to fumble twice. “If they would have run him more,” said defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, who had predicted three fumbles by Dickerson, “he would have had three.”
     In the third quarter, Dickerson and Bears middle linebacker Mike Singletary—Southwest Conference rivals at S.M.U. and Baylor, respectively—renewed their acquaintance in the Rams’ backfield. Dickerson had just taken a handoff when he blasted into Singletary filling the gap and stopped dead in his tracks; he moved not one inch forward after meeting up with the Bears’ middle linebacker. “I like this kind of party!” Singletary shouted to the Rams. “I’m gonna be here all day!”
     Bears quarterback Jim McMahon, meanwhile, was brilliant. Despite the weather, he hit on 16 of 25 passes for 164 yards. On the Bears’ first series, he ran 16 yards for a touchdown on a play that was called as a pass. Later he passed for a touchdown on a play called as a run. “The coach sent in a play I didn’t agree with,” McMahon said, “so I called my own.” His 22-yard strike to Willie Gault put the Bears ahead 17-0, and the outcome was decided. The Bears would be NFC champions.
     The fans began to chant: “Super Bowl, Super Bowl.” Late in the fourth quarter, the hapless Brock dropped back to pass and was flung to the turf by Richard Dent. The ball popped loose. Linebacker Wilber Marshall picked it up at midfield and headed into Rams territory with Otis Wilson escorting him. Just then, it started to snow.
     Marshall and Wilson romped 52 yards to the Los Angeles end zone all alone, while the crowd cheered both them and the snow. As the final minutes ticked away, the Bears briefly abandoned the business-as-usual demeanor that had characterized them all year. The embraced one another on the sideline, and head coach Mike Ditka congratulated each man individually. Safety Dave Duerson asserted that Ditka even became choked up. The final score was 24-0.

“The way we were playing defense,” said Ditka, “it didn’t matter what we scored.”

The Bears became the first team ever to post back-to-back playoff shutouts.
     The Bears were headed to New Orleans for the first Super Bowl in franchise history and their first championship game since 1963. They would make the trip worthwhile.

1985 Bears Flashback: The Super Bowl Shuffle

     Twenty-five years ago today, on December 3, 1985, the “Chicago Bears Shufflin’ Crew” entered a studio to record “The Super Bowl Shuffle,” the audacious rap song that would be heard almost incessantly over the next two months and has endured, somewhat surprisingly, as a landmark of sorts in the subsequent quarter century.
     Despite having sustained their first defeat of the season (after 12 consecutive victories) the very night before, the Bears remained quite sure that they were headed to the Super Bowl, and the “Shuffle” was a bold statement to that effect. The project was the brainchild of Dick Meyer, a lifelong Bears fan who enlisted Willie Gault, the elegant wide receiver and aspiring actor/singer, to be his point person with the players. “A substantial portion” of the proceeds was to be donated to charity.
     Meyer and Melvin Owens wrote the lyrics, which were tailored to each of the ten featured “singers”: Walter Payton, Gault, Mike Singletary, Jim McMahon, Otis Wilson, Steve Fuller, Mike Richardson, Richard Dent, Gary Fencik, and William Perry. Bobby Daniels and Lloyd Barry wrote the music, and Meyer acted as producer and choreographer.
     In addition to the ten front men, 14 other Bears also participated in supporting roles. All are listed below. The players might have done the project as a lark, but “The Super Bowl Shuffle” was a genuine phenomenon. It sold more than half a millon copies as a 45-RPM record, ascended to No. 41 on the pop music chart, and was nominated for a Grammy. At the end of the day, some $300,000 was donated to the Chicago Community Trust to provide food, shelter, and clothing for needy families.

Chicago Bears Shufflin’ Crew (featured singers, in order of appearance)
34 - Walter Payton, running back
83 - Willie Gault, wide receiver
50 - Mike Singletary, linebacker
  9 - Jim McMahon, quarterback
55 - Otis Wilson, linebacker
  4 - Steve Fuller, quarterback
27 - Mike Richardson, cornerback
95 - Richard Dent, defensive end
45 - Gary Fencik, safety
72 - William Perry, defensive tackle/fullback

Chicago Bears Shufflin’ Crew Band (in alphabetical order)
  8 - Maury Buford, punter (cowbell)
29 - Dennis Gentry, running back (bass)
98 - Tyrone Keys, defensive end (keyboard)
33 - Calvin Thomas, running back (saxophone)
18 - Mike Tomczak, quarterback (guitar)

Chicago Bears Shufflin’ Crew Chorus (in alphabetical order)
21 - Leslie Frazier, cornerback
23 - Shaun Gayle, safety
75 - Stefan Humphries, guard
51 - Jim Morrissey, linebacker
89 - Keith Ortego, wide receiver/punt returner
48 - Reggie Phillips, cornerback
53 - Dan Rains, linebacker
20 - Thomas Sanders, running back
31 - Ken Taylor, cornerback/punt returner

1985 Bears Flashback: 44-0!

OTIS WILSON

     November 17, 1985. One for the books. The Bears annihilate Dallas 44-0 for the worst defeat in Cowboys history. The game “was just as close as the score indicated,” Don Pierson writes in the Tribune.
     Even Bears head coach Mike Ditka is amazed. “Our defense, what can you say?” he asks. Richard Dent, Dan Hampton, Wilber Marshall, and Otis Wilson are everywhere—the Bears come in waves that make it look as if they are playing with more than the requisite 11 men. Their frenzied pass rush accounts for six sacks, causes three interceptions (two are returned for touchdowns), and twice knocks Dallas quarterback Danny White out cold. “I put the wood on him,” Wilson remarks.
     “It was just a matter of playing the kind of defense we’re capable of playing,” says middle linebacker Mike Singletary. “We’re still getting better.”
     Defensive tackle and part-time fullback William Perry provides some comic relief when he picks up ball-carrier Walter Payton at Dallas’s two-yard line and throws him into the end zone; he is flagged for illegal use of hands. “I didn’t know you weren’t allowed to do that,” he says. Even without Perry’s help, Payton gains 132 yards to put him over 1,000 for the ninth time in his career, a record. Ditka awards a game ball to every man on the roster and promises a gold-plated one for backup quarterback Steve Fuller, who gives another solid performance in place of Jim McMahon, who is banged-up.
     One of the game’s story lines is the meeting between Ditka and the man who coached him as a player and gave him his first job as an assistant coach, the Cowboys’ Tom Landry. “[Ditka] downplayed it,” said safety Dave Duerson, “but it was written on his face.” As the game unfolds, Ditka seems a little sheepish to be giving his mentor such an awful beating. He calls off the dogs early in the fourth quarter, replacing most of his starters. Even so, the Bears score two touchdowns with third-string quarterback Mike Tomczak at the controls, on a 17-yard run by one reserve, Calvin Thomas, and a 16-yard run by another reserve, Dennis Gentry.
     At 11-0, the Bears have equaled the best start to a season in franchise history (the 1942 Bears went 11-0 for the regular season but lost the championship game). The Bears have also clinched the NFC Central Division title; it’s the first time in league history that a team has clinched with as many as five games remaining.