Almost Super

Super Bowl XLI on February 4, 2007, was the first Super Bowl played in a driving rain, the first to feature even one African-American head coach (let alone two), and the first in which the opening kickoff was returned for a touchdown.  

The Bears had rolled through a league-best 13-3 regular season. They scored 427 points (including 65 by the defense and special teams), while allowing only 255. Eight Bears were selected for the Pro Bowl: center Olin Kreutz, guard Ruben Brown, defensive end Tommie Harris, linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs, special teamer Brendan Ayanbadejo, kicker Robbie Gould, and return man Devin Hester. 

 

DEVIN HESTER TAKES THE OPENING KICKOFF TO THE HOUSE.

Quarterback Rex Grossman had excelled while leading the Bears to wins in their first seven games, but he struggled as the season went along. After Grossman committed 19 turnovers in the second half of the season, sportswriters asked head coach Lovie Smith whether he might make a change for the playoffs. Smith’s answer has lived on as a sound bite ever since. “Rex is our quarterback,” he said in his syrupy Texas drawl.

     Smith’s trust in Grossman was rewarded when the Bears squeaked past the Seattle Seahawks in overtime and then routed the New Orleans Saints to punch their ticket to the franchise’s first Super Bowl since the legendary 1985 season.

     When Smith met his counterpart and old friend, Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts, on the field at Miami’s Dolphin Stadium before the game, they shook hands as the first African-American head coaches in Super Bowl history. “I just told Lovie how proud I was of the moment,” said Dungy.

     Then the Colts’ Adam Vinatieri kicked off to Hester, and the sensational rookie who’d set an NFL record with six return touchdowns on the year did not disappoint. He raced 92 yards to the opposite end zone. After Gould added the extra point, the Bears led 7-0.

     Fourteen seconds had been played. Fifty-nine minutes and 46 seconds remained, but Hester (who eventually proved to be the greatest returner of all time) was done for all intents and purposes. From then on, the Colts squibbed every kickoff and punted the ball near him only once.

     The Colts’ first possession ended with safety Chris Harris intercepting a Peyton Manning pass at the Bears’ 29-yard line. Alas, the Bears failed to move the ball and were forced to punt. A 53-yard strike from Manning to Reggie Wayne got the Colts onto the scoreboard, but a botched extra point left the Bears ahead 7-6.

     The Bears fumbled the ensuing pooch kick (while Hester waited in vain at his own goal line), and Indianapolis recovered. The Colts returned the favor on the very next play when running back Joseph Addai coughed up the football to Bears defensive end Mark Anderson. On the next play, Bears running back Thomas Jones scampered 52 yards down to the Colts’ five-yard line. Then Grossman found Muhsin Muhammad in the end zone, extending the Bears’ lead to 14-6.

     The Bears did not score again until Gould booted a 44-yard field goal with 1:14 left in the third quarter. In the meantime, Prince delivered a stupendous halftime show and the Colts delivered a touchdown and three field goals against the Bears’ bend-but-don’t-break defense.

     At the outset of the fourth quarter, the Colts were ahead 22-17, not an insurmountable lead by any means. But then came the play of the game. Grossman’s pass intended for Muhammad was picked off by Kelvin Haynes and taken 56 yards for a touchdown. The Bears had now been outscored 23-3 since the first quarter. The ensuing kickoff was soon followed by the coup de grace, another interception of Grossman.

     The final score was 29-17. “A frustrating loss,” Grossman said. “There were definitely opportunities for us to take that game, and we didn't do it.” For his part, Manning was later overheard saying that the Colts “should’ve scored 70 [points].” They had controlled the ball for 38 minutes, earning 24 first downs to the Bears’ 11 and amassing 430 yards of offense to the Bears’ 265. The Bears had lost to a superior team and to perhaps the greatest quarterback of all time.

 

 

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

 

A Difficult Position for the Bears

The ancient rivalry between the Bears and the Green Bay Packers is often called the greatest in the National Football League and sometimes called the greatest in all of sports. The Bears dominated for most of the first seven decades--with the notable exception of the 1960s, during which Green Bay won five world championships.  

     By the end of the 1991 season, the Bears held a comfortable advantage in the series, at 80-57-6. But beginning in 1992, just two quarterbacks--Hall of Famer Brett Favre and future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers--have started 96 percent of the Packers' games between them. Meanwhile, 33 different quarterbacks have started for the Bears, and only Jay Cutler has started as many as 50 games.

     Not coincidentally, the history of the rivalry has tilted dramatically in Green Bay's favor. The Bears' 23-game margin after 1991 has evaporated and then some. The Packers have won 43 of the 58 meetings since 1992, and their convincing victory over the Bears on Sunday night was their 100th of the series. The overall ledger now stands at 100-95-6 in favor of Green Bay. 

 

JAY CUTLER

 

Below is the complete list of Packers quarterbacks who have started a regular-season game since the beginning of the 1992 season, with each player's number of starts in parentheses.

  1. Don Majkowski, 1992 (3)

  2. Brett Favre, 1992 - 2007 (253)

  3. Aaron Rodgers, 2008 - 2020 (185 through November 2020)

  4. Matt Flynn, 2010 - 2013 (6)

  5. Scott Tolzien, 2013 (2)

  6. Seneca Wallace, 2013 (1)

  7. Brett Hundley, 2017 (7)

 

Below is the complete list of Bears quarterbacks who have started a regular-season game since the beginning of the 1992 season, with each player's number of starts in parentheses.

  1. Jim Harbaugh, 1992 - 1993 (28)

  2. Peter Tom Willis, 1992 - 1993 (3)

  3. Will Furrer, 1992 (1)

  4. Steve Walsh, 1994 (11)

  5. Erik Kramer, 1994 - 1998 (46)

  6. Dave Krieg, 1996 (12)

  7. Rick Mirer, 1997 (3)

  8. Steve Stenstrom, 1998 (7)

  9. Moses Moreno, 1998 (1)

10. Shane Matthews, 1999 - 2001 (15)

11. Cade McNown 1999 - 2000 (15)

12. Jim Miller, 1999 - 2002 (26)

13. Chris Chandler, 2002 - 2003 (13)

14. Henry Burris, 2002 (1)

15. Kordell Stewart, 2003 (7)

16. Rex Grossman, 2003 - 2008 (31)

17. Craig Krenzel, 2004 (5)

18. Chad Hutchinson, 2004 (5)

19. Jonathan Quinn, 2004 (3)

20. Kyle Orton, 2005 - 2008 (33)

21. Brian Griese, 2007 (6)

22. Jay Cutler, 2009 - 2016 (102)

23. Todd Collins, 2010 (1)

24. Caleb Hanie, 2011 (4)

25. Josh McCown, 2011 - 2013 (7)

26. Jason Campbell, 2012 (1)

27. Jimmy Clausen, 2014 - 2015 (2)

28. Matt Barkley, 2016 (6)

29. Brian Hoyer, 2016 (5)

30. Mike Glennon, 2017 (4)

31. Mitchell Trubisky, 2017 - 2020 (45 through November 2020)

32. Chase Daniel, 2018 - 2019 (3)

33. Nick Foles, 2020 (7)

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

 

Bears First-Round Draft Picks



BRIAN URLACHER

     If past history is any indication, offensive tackle Gabe Carimi of Wisconsin has a 10.6 percent chance to eventually be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Nine of his 85 predecessors as a Bears first-round draft choice have done so, which is a pretty good success rate. Alas, at least an equal number have proven to be all but worthless. Time will tell whether Carimi gets his bust in Canton, goes bust, or ends up somewhere in between.     
     Two of the Bears' first-round draft picks were future Bears head coaches (Jim Dooley and Mike Ditka). Three were Heisman Trophy winners (Tom Harmon, Johnny Lujack, and Rashaan Salaam).
     In 1965, the Bears drafted two future Hall of Famers (Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers) with consecutive picks. From 1975 (Walter Payton) through 1990 (Mark Carrier), every first-round pick became a productive player, at least for a while, and most became stars. For the past 20 years, it has been a lot more bad than good. Brian Urlacher is the only bonafide all-timer in the group, while Tommie Harris was a star that shone briefly. Rex Grossman was not quite as good as his admirers wished him to be nor quite as bad as his detractors believed him to be.
     Below is the complete list of Bears first-round draft choices. The player's overall draft position is in parentheses, and an asterisk indicates a Hall of Famer.


Bears first-round draft picks

1936 - Joe Stydahar, tackle, West Virginia (6)*
1937 - Les McDonald, end, Nebraska (8)
1938 - Joe Gray, back, Oregon State (10)
1939 - Sid Luckman, quarterback, Columbia (2)*
1939 - Bill Osmanski, fullback, Holy Cross (6)

1940 - Bulldog Turner, center, Hardin-Simmons (7)*
1941 - Tom Harmon, halfback, Michigan (1)
1941 - Norm Standlee, fullback, Stanford (3)
1941 - Don Scott, back, Ohio State (9)
1942 - Frankie Albert, quarterback, Stanford (10)
1943 - Bob Steuber, halfback, DePauw (9)
1944 - Ray Evans, tailback, Kansas (9)
1945 - Don Lund, back, Michigan (7)
1946 - Johnny Lujack, quarterback, Notre Dame (4)
1947 - Bob Fenimore, halfback, Oklahoma State (1)
1947 - Don Kindt, defensive back, Wisconsin (11)
1948 - Bobby Layne, quarterback, Texas (3)*
1948 - Max Bumgardner, defensive end, Texas (10)
1949 - Dick Harris, center, Texas (11)

1950 - Chuck Hunsinger, halfback, Florida (3)
1950 - Fred Morrison, fullback, Ohio State (10)
1951 - Bob Williams, quarterback, Notre Dame (2)
1951 - Gene Schroeder, end, Virginia (12)
1952 - Jim Dooley, back, Miami - Florida (8)
1953 - Billy Anderson, defensive back, Compton - Calif. (6)
1954 - Stan Wallace, defensive back, Illinois (6)
1955 - Ron Drzewiecki, halfback, Marquette (11)
1956 - Tex Schriewer, end, Texas (10)
1957 - Earl Leggett, defensive tackle, LSU (13)
1958 - Chuck Howley, linebacker, West Virginia (7)
1959 - Don Clark, back, Ohio State (7)

1960 - Roger Davis, guard, Syracuse (7)
1961 - Mike Ditka, tight end, Pittsburgh (5)*
1962 - Ronnie Bull, running back, Baylor (7)
1963 - Dave Behrman, center, Michigan State (11)
1964 - Dick Evey, defensive tackle, Tennessee (14)
1965 - Dick Butkus, linebacker, Illinois (3)*
1965 - Gale Sayers, running back, Kansas (4)*
1965 - Steve DeLong, defensive end, Tennessee (6)
1966 - George Rice, defensive tackle, LSU (12)
1967 - Loyd Phillips, defensive end, Arkansas (10)
1968 - Mike Hull, running back , USC (16)
1969 - Rufus Mayes, tackle, Ohio State (14)

1970 - none
1971 - Joe Moore, running back, Missouri (11)
1972 - Lionel Antoine, tackle, Southern Illinois (3)
1972 - Craig Clemons, defensive back, Iowa (12)
1973 - Wally Chambers, defensive tackle, Eastern Kentucky (8)
1974 - Waymond Bryant, linebacker, Tennessee State (4)
1974 - Dave Gallagher, defensive end, Michigan (8)
1975 - Walter Payton, running back, Jackson State (4)*
1976 - Dennis Lick, tackle, Wisconsin (8)
1977 - Ted Albrecht, tackle, California (16)
1978 - none
1979 - Dan Hampton, defensive end, Arkansas (4)*
1979 - Al Harris, defensive end, Arizona State (8)

1980 - Otis Wilson, linebacker, Louisville (19)
1981 - Keith Van Horne, tackle, USC (11)
1982 - Jim McMahon, quarterback, Brigham Young (5)
1983 - Jimbo Covert, tackle, Pittsburgh (6)
1983 - Willie Gault, wide receiver, Tennessee (18)
1984 - Wilber Marshall, linebacker, Florida (11)
1985 - William Perry, defensive tackle, Clemson (22)
1986 - Neal Anderson, running back, Florida (27)
1987 - Jim Harbaugh, quarterback, Michigan (26)
1988 - Brad Muster, fullback, Stanford (23)
1988 - Wendell Davis, wide receiver, LSU (27)
1989 - Donnell Woolford, defensive back, Clemson (11)
1989 - Trace Armstrong, defensive end, Florida (12)

1990 - Mark Carrier, defensive back, USC (6)
1991 - Stan Thomas, tackle, Texas (22)
1992 - Alonzo Spellman, defensive end, Ohio State (22)
1993 - Curtis Conway, wide receiver, USC (7)
1994 - John Thierry, defensive end, Alcorn State (11)
1995 - Rashaan Salaam, running back, Colorado (21)
1996 - Walt Harris, defensive back, Mississippi State (13)
1997 - none
1998 - Curtis Enis, running back, Penn State (5)
1999 - Cade McNown, quarterback, UCLA (12)

2000 - Brian Urlacher, linebacker, New Mexico (9)
2001 - David Terrell, wide receiver, Michigan (8)
2002 - Marc Colombo, tackle, Boston College (29)
2003 - Michael Haynes, defensive end, Penn State (14)
2003 - Rex Grossman, quarterback, Florida (22)
2004 - Tommie Harris, defensive tackle, Oklahoma (14)
2005 - Cedric Benson, running back, Texas (4)

2006 - none
2007 - Greg Olsen, tight end, Miami - Florida (31)
2008 - Chris Williams, tackle, Vanderbilt (14)
2009 - none
2010 - none

2011 - Gabe Carimi, tackle, Wisconsin