by Ditka, Mike
And yet I’m working on getting a better shake from the NFL for the retired veterans. A lot of them, more each day, are in bad shape. The dementia from brain trauma is without a doubt the worst problem. And the guys without money suffer the most.
Me, I wouldn’t change anything. I had that groin problem, and they shot me up all the time with cortisone back in the day, so deep it went to my hip socket, and I think that’s why my hip wore out. They say you should get cortisone a couple times a year, tops, and I was getting two or three shots a week. And the dislocated foot I got when a guy fell on it back in the early 1960s, that caused a lot of other things to go. I remember Dr. Fox, the old Bears doctor, put it in a cast in training camp. But I’m “Iron Mike,” so I’m out dancing every night. He takes the cast off after a month and he says, “That doesn’t look very good.” I take a step and fall down.
I don’t think he did anything. I don’t think he did anything but put a cast on it. Later a doctor said he could fix my foot, but he’d have to break about eight bones to do it. And I played the whole season on it. Never got it fixed. Fox is the guy who messed up Dick Butkus’s leg, too. But I loved the guy. What the hell, I don’t know. You didn’t sue medical people back then. I sure wasn’t going to. You’re the player. He’s the doctor. Play ball.
I was sorry about Todd Bell and Al Harris not being part of that Super Bowl season. But they got bad advice. In life, that happens. And it was true that Richard Dent was underpaid at $90,000. And he should be in the Hall of Fame, and I think he will be. But where else was he going to make that kind of money? And whether I’m right or wrong, this is about team. And we were a team. Who knows what would have happened if you go back and change a thing here or a thing there? Maybe if Todd and Al had been on the team we wouldn’t have won. That’s why you do what you feel you have to do, with what you’ve got.
It’s cold and it’s cruel, this life. But it’s great, too. It’s all there together.
Take that movie I was in. There I am playing myself, smoking a cigar, and who’s next to me? Why, it’s Will Ferrell, one of the funniest guys in the world. He came to my bar one night and he did the greatest Harry Caray you’ve ever heard. Diana and I were dying. And who’s on the other side? Why, it’s Robert Duvall, who may be a better actor even than Robert DeNiro. Why me with these guys? I don’t know. Nobody knows.
• • • • •
So there we were, champions of the world. Maybe I thought about luck a little when I popped my head up through the sunroof of that limo, there in downtown Chicago. How lucky I’ve been. But damn, it was cold. Beautiful, in a frozen way. What a place for a parade, especially one that wasn’t moving.
I hadn’t slept much, but that wind was a nice slap to the face. All those thousands and thousands of people cheering. It was wonderful. And yet, on Tuesday, less than 48 hours after we won, the space shuttle blew up. That put things in perspective. We didn’t visit the White House like we were supposed to because of that. We were about the only winning Super Bowl team that never got to do that.
But for one moment in time, one fleeting second, we were the best in the world. In that moment we were the best of all, because we had beaten down our opponents, fair and square. And if you don’t play to beat the best, to beat them all, why play?
I can say I came full circle. I feel like I started in Chicago with the Bears and George Halas, and I came back and did what I wanted to and lived up to his legacy. I’m not sure the Old Man could appreciate the significance of what him trusting me meant to me. Maybe he saw that I was a lot like him. That sounds funny even saying it. He was probably more serious than I was. I messed around a little, you know.
But that Super Bowl XX win stands alone in Chicago history. An ass-whupping. Pure and simple. It’s like what columnist Bob Verdi wrote: “The New England Patriots were lucky to escape with their Boston accents intact.”
Me, I thought somebody just invented this giant merry-go-round, and we were getting on, and we were going to ride forever. And it would be fun.
Then it all sort of ended. We continued for a while, but Buddy left to coach Philadelphia and jealousies came into play, and Wilbur Marshall went to Washington, and McMahon got hurt, and people said I did too many commercials and on and on. I’ve heard it all.
Gary Fencik Remembers ’85
Super Bowl Musings
“I’ve been taken out of a game earlier, but I don’t recall when. In Super Bowl XX, I didn’t play in the fourth quarter, so the release, the realization came on the sideline while the game was going on. We had time to observe and to celebrate, to soak it all in on the sideline rather than the locker room. Everybody played. Les Frazier ran a reverse on a punt and blew his knew out, a crazy play. No excuses. Every week you gotta be ready to play. And there on the sideline we had fifteen minutes to appreciate what we’d done, to pretty much get the disbelief out of us.
“That Miami game in Week 13, the loss to Marino and Shula, that game that kept us from going undefeated, got us back on track. The previous two weeks nobody had scored on us, and then McMahon got hurt and it all went wrong on us. A long pass was deflected off Dent’s hand for a long completion and touchdown—that kind of bad luck. ‘It ain’t gonna happen this week,’ we sensed. But it was a great thing for the Bears, got us re-focused.
“Then the next day we did the ‘Super Bowl Shuffle.’ It was all for charity and we were told we could change our words if we wanted. ‘It’s Gary here/And I’m Mister Clean/They call me Hit Man/Don’t know what they mean.’ Those are quality, huh? At any rate we did the Shuffle, and poor Steve Fuller has a bad ankle, and he’s on stage and he can’t move at all, so he’s a little uncool. I don’t know if we ever made any money on this. But I also didn’t know it was going to be a video and that it would haunt me for the rest of my natural life.”
But I didn’t change as a coach. I couldn’t. It’s my essence. The people who say outside stuff interfered with my drive are full of crap. I’m an emotional person. I get wrapped up in things. And I wanted this to go on and on. But it didn’t, and no Bears team has won the Super Bowl since. The Patriots, whom we hammered that day, have won three Super Bowls in the last 10 years. I didn’t think the Bears would go a quarter-century without repeating, I really didn’t. I guess we were kind of living a fairy tale back in the day.
It hurts me that the Bears haven’t won the championship again. There are a lot of reasons why they haven’t, and I could tell you a lot of stuff. But that’s for another day.
Besides, I don’t get mad at things any more. Not things I can’t control. Not life. Really, I don’t. I only get mad at cab drivers now and then.
Because they’re idiots.
GAME 14
Chicago 17, Indianapolis 10
Ugly, but They’ll Take It
Turns out meaningless games were not meaningless to championship-starved Soldier Field fans, who showered a 12–1 team with boos at halftime of a listless effort against Indianapolis. The Bears already had clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs but no longer could go undefeated, so they lacked motivation for the final three games the schedule said they had to play. Still, a 17–10 victory was better than the reverse.
Predictably, the Bears came out flat. Problem was, they stayed that way until a couple of time-consuming drives in the second half stuck the Colts on the shelf.
Jim McMahon returned from sick bay and started for the first time in five weeks. He said his shoulder felt fine, but he was nothing special with an 11-of-23 afternoon for 145 yards and no touchdowns.
Walter Payton came through late in the third quarter to break a 3–3 halftime tie with a 16-yard touchdown run.
Steady as ever, he extended his NFL record by gaining 100 yards for the ninth game in a row. He ran 20 times in the second half after only six in the first half because, coach Mike Ditka said, he “got nasty notes from the media saying, ‘Run Payton.’”
Fighting the effects of the flu, Payton finished with 111 yards, ye
t he said his most satisfying moment had been “a block for Matt Suhey.”
Actually, on a day devoid of big plays for the Bears, Calvin Thomas wound up scoring the clinching touchdown on a three-yard scamper with six minutes left.
Leslie Frazier and Wilber Marshall join forces to stop Colts tight end Pat Beach.
Bears defenders Otis Wilson (55) and Richard Dent move in to bring down Indianapolis Colts halfback George Wonsley during the first quarter of the game in Chicago on December 8, 1985.
That offset an ensuing 61-yard Mike Pagel-to-Wayne Capers pass on which cornerback Mike Richardson got undressed.
The defense forced concern by failing to force a turnover for the first time all season. That made Maury Buford the day’s most valuable player, as he booted terrific punts to the 4-yard line to set up both touchdowns.
“Wasn’t fancy, but it’s 13–1,” said linebacker Otis Wilson, who recorded the Bears’ only sack late in the game.
In the Bears’ last home appearance before the playoffs, even a sluggish effort was enough to propel them to their 13th victory, which tied the franchise record set in 1934.
“I’m not unhappy,” Ditka said. “I didn’t think it would be a blowout like a lot of people. The main thing is we’re going into the playoffs, and people are going to have to come here to play us.”
After enduring this stinker, fans would say the playoffs could come none too soon.
Chicago 17, Indianapolis 10
DEC. 8, 1985, AT SOLDIER FIELD
BOTTOM LINE
Sluggish Bears have enough to win eyesore
KEY PLAY
Walter Payton’s 16-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter. He rushed for more than 100 yards for the ninth straight game.
KEY STAT
For the only time all season, the Bears had no takeaways or giveaways.
Richard Dent hovers over Indianapolis quarterback Mike Pagel after leveling him in the fourth quarter.
Remembering ’85
TOM THAYER
No. 57, guard
“It starts with Joliet Catholic and wanting to play football there, playing college football somewhere, and then always shooting for the stars, and shooting for the stars was the NFL, and the Bears were always a dream situation.”
“The day we were announcing my USFL contract [with the Chicago Blitz], it was the same day as the NFL draft, and here I am, sitting in a room with George Allen, signing a contract so I can stay in Chicago, and after that announcement I drive home and pull into my driveway, and my sister says, ‘Jim Finks is on the phone. The Bears just drafted you.’ I kind of felt like I blew the opportunity to live out every childhood dream in playing for your hometown team. But on the positive end of it, I signed a three-year contract, and the Bears had my rights for four years.”
“The best thing about 1985 was losing the coin toss and letting the defense go on the field first. Those guys usually set the tone.”
“Ditka was great because he motivated by fear of losing your job. I think if you have any pride or any passion for the game of football, that’s one of the best motivations you can have.”
“Walter Payton was the toughest man I’ve ever known. He was physically fit and tough. If you go back and look at Walter’s football helmet, he wore the old suspension helmet—the one that just has the belt around your head, the one that doesn’t have that sophisticated pad system that they have today—and he never missed a game with a head injury. He never left a game because he had a concussion.”
“Every time I think of Fridge, I smile.”
“I think Keith Van Horne was as smart about our offense as our quarterbacks were.”
“Super Bowl XX, I was so young in my NFL career that I expected it to happen again. You hear people talk about, ‘Oh, you should’ve won it two or three more times.’ Maybe not, but at least one more time.”
“For me, as an ex-Bear and as a Chicago resident, I get frustrated going to opponents’ stadiums and talking to different people involved with different teams, and they don’t have that fear of the Bears coming. There’s no respect for the Bears’ swagger.”
“I think it’s my Type-A personality. Surfing in Hawaii is the best thing I’ve ever done since I quit playing football. When you pull up to the ocean and you look out and you see that the surf is 10 feet, that puts the same nervousness in your stomach that you felt before kickoff. I think that’s healthy for me.”
“What am I proudest of? Man, it sounds corny, but it’s being able to experience everything in my professional life with my family.”
GAME 15
Chicago 19, New York 6
Buddy System: Class in Session
Everyone knew that the Bears were dominating with their defense. But, ever the skeptic and bothered by mediocre performances the previous two games, coordinator Buddy Ryan turned classroom proctor. In the week leading up to the Jets game, Ryan gave his players three written tests on the game plan. It proved the value of cramming for finals. The Bears limited their 11th opponent to 10 or fewer points and allowed zero touchdowns for the fourth time as they hammered the Jets 19–6 in East Rutherford, N.J. Their stamp was clear when sizing up the Jets’ third quarter. New York’s five drives netted 0, 6, 2, 4, and 4 yards. “Our defense took the game away,” Mike Ditka said.
Especially Richard Dent. The lanky defensive end punctuated that superior third quarter by climbing on the back of quarterback Ken O’Brien, at that time the NFL’s leading passer, and knocking the ball out of his arm on sacks that ended consecutive possessions. Dent also abused New York left tackle Reggie McElroy so much that he was driven out of the game.
As the Bears won 14 games for the first time in franchise history, the offense was not outstanding. But in the cold, windy weather, it got the job done by controlling the ball for an incredible 39 minutes and 36 seconds. Tight end Tim Wrightman’s first career touchdown reception and four field goals by Kevin Butler provided more than enough for the stellar defense. Butler’s second field goal was his 26th of the season, breaking the club record Mac Percival set in 1968. His last one broke Bob Thomas’ team record of 11 in a row. That 21-yard chip shot came with just 17 seconds left in a contest that already had been decided, though Ditka denied he was rubbing it in. “We were just going for the record,” he said.
Linebacker Jim Morrissey closes in to tackle a Jets receiver.
Tight end Emery Moorehead looks for running room after a catch.
However, Walter Payton no longer was going for a record. His streak of 100-yard rushing games ended at nine after the Jets held him to 53 yards on 28 carries. New York stopped him for a loss or no gain 11 times. “They were the best defense we’ve faced,” center Jay Hilgenberg said. Payton did catch a 65-yard pass that set up the field goal on which Butler passed Percival.
So the Bears went into a hostile city, played in nasty weather, contained a potent offense … and weren’t satisfied. “No question we’ve got to play better,” Jim McMahon said. But how to stay motivated? Said defensive lineman Dan Hampton, “You don’t need any motivation except pride.”
Chicago 19, NewYork 6
DEC. 14, 1985, AT GIANTS STADIUM
BOTTOM LINE
Ryan’s students get it right again
KEY PLAY
Jim McMahon’s 65-yard pass against the wind to Walter Payton in the pivotal third quarter. It set up a Kevin Butler field goal that gave the Bears a 13–6 edge.
KEY STAT
Butler accounted for all but six points with field goals of 18, 31, 36, and 21 yards, plus an extra point.
Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon sits on his helmet while warming up for practice at the team’s indoor training facility on December 10, 1985.
Remembering ’85
JAY HILGENBERG
No. 63, center
“We accepted it as an offensive line that if we win, all the credit’s going to go someplace else, but if we lose, it’s going to come at us.”
“We had a great defense
, no doubt about it. The week of practice I’d have at Lake Forest a lot of times was harder than games.”
“But if you look at that season, the early games, teams were scoring some points on us. It took a few games for the defense to start shutting it down, but once they did, they were devastating to offenses.”
“The nice thing about Ditka is you always knew where you stood.”
“Head coaches, that’s their role: they’re supposed to yell and scream and do all that. When Ditka came in, he got rid of guys who were just happy being professional football players. He wanted professional football players who wanted to win. He changed the whole culture.”
“When he Jim McMahon was healthy, I tell you, he was into football more than anybody there was. He loved football. He was very smart at it. It was always nice to read the papers during training camp to see what was going on with him and Ditka. I remember being mad at Jim a couple times because all he was doing was getting Mike angry, and he’d take it out on us all the time.”