The '85 Bears: We Were the Greatest (5 page)
Read The '85 Bears: We Were the Greatest Online
Authors: Mike Ditka,Rick Telander
In a precursor to a bit of ’85 Bears history, McMahon was replaced by Steve Fuller late in the game. McMahon’s back was acting up; it required traction in the days before and after the game.
Backup defensive end Tyrone Keys helps make life miserable for New England quarterback Tony Eason.
That would set the stage for the next Thursday in Minnesota, where McMahon was unable to start but came in to relieve Fuller with one of the legendary comeback performances of all time.
Tight end Tim Wrightman racks up yards after catching one of his two passes against the Patriots.
The Bears scored only one touchdown on four trips inside the New England 20. But for now they had to content themselves with what Buddy Ryan for much of the season would consider the defense’s best game. New England had rushed for 206 yards in its season opener; it totaled 206 yards in this game. The Bears completed 13 of 23 passes for 209 yards to go with the 160 on the ground in another demonstration that while attention rightly was being paid to the defense, there was more to the offense than just Payton left and Payton right.
Chicago 20, New England 7
SEPT. 15, 1985, AT SOLDIER FIELD
A few months later, it would be worse
Dennis McKinnon’s 32-yard reception from Jim McMahon 3:03 into the game. The TD gave the Bears a 7–0 lead in a game in which they were never threatened.
The Bears held the Patriots to 27 yards rushing.
Otis Wilson, Dave Duerson, and Steve McMichael revel in a wicked hit on New England quarterback Tony Eason, who was sacked six times and threw three interceptions.
RON RIVERA
No. 59, linebacker
“I
would love to be in a position [as a defensive coordinator] where people say, ‘These guys remind me of the ’85 team.’ I would love to have that every day, every week.”
“The one thing I loved about Mike Ditka is he was honest with you.”
“One of the first things that happened to me in 1984 was Coach Ditka always made it a point that the rookies were introduced to Mrs. McCaskey, to Virginia, and she gave us the autobiography
Halas By Halas.
Ed, as ever, was joking, but I thought he was serious when he said, ‘I hope you guys enjoy the book, and by the way there’s going to be a test on this book.’ So I read the book.”
“Buddy Ryan was one of those guys that tore you down, broke you down, beat you up to build you up. He loved you and you learned to love him.”
“Buddy said, ‘You’re slower than Buffone.’ Once I found out who Doug Buffone was, I was really hurt.”
“Guys were sniffling and crying [when Buddy Ryan told the defense he was leaving after the Super Bowl]. Real quiet. Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, [Steve] McMichael goes, ‘What a bunch of crybabies.We’re getting ready to play the most important game of our lives, and all you guys can do is whine about this?’ And he grabs a chair and throws it across the room, and it sticks in the chalkboard. If we’d have played them that night, we’d have beaten them 100–0.”
“Walter Payton: As large an individual as he was in terms of the whole scope and magnitude of being an NFL player, he was a good person.”
“I was telling a group of kids one time, ‘Everybody talks about the money, the jewelry. That doesn’t mean anything.What means something are the people in the room that you do these things with. That’s what’s special. Someday my son’s going to inherit this [Super Bowl] ring, but it won’t have the same value to him that it has to me.”
“I was an Army brat. When I was growing up in the military, there was a rank system, a class system. There wasn’t a black or white. When we moved back to the United States from Panama… I was stunned by the racism. I played flag football in junior high. We had a lot of black kids on our team, and one of the guys got cut, and this white kid from this small town looked and said, ‘Y’all bleed red blood, too?’ I was shocked. I guess I was naive.”
