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.