'85: The Greatest Team in Football History (2016) - full transcript

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[Barack Obama speaking...]
Making your mark on the

world is hard.

If it were easy,
everybody would do it.

But its not.

It takes commitment.

And you experience plenty
of failure along the way.

So the real test is not
whether you avoid this failure..

Because you won't.

Its whether you let it
harden you or shame you

into inaction.

Or whether instead you
learn from it and choose



to persevere.

Well, I had just
moved to Chicago.

At the time Chicago
was really divided.

Harold Washington, a black
mayor, had just been

elected.

The city, at least the
city council, was divided

along racial lines.

And a lot of people felt
as if this was the city

that no longer worked.

It'd been called the city
that worked, but now

things seemed full of
gridlock and division and

argument.

Our entire sports
experience in Chicago was,

they were terrible.



It was one failure
after another.

As a sports fan it was
really forbidden because

your season would end
very prematurely.

Our sports experience in
Chicago was defined by The

Cubs losing in 1969.

If you were a cubs fan you
would be mathematically

eliminated from
the pennant race.

Sometimes AS early as late July.

In 1967 the White Sox had
to just be alive to cross

the finish line, and they
couldn't do it and lost to

cinders and by the
Blackhawks blowing a

2-nothing lead in game 7
at the Chicago stadium

against Montreal...

By the White Sox in '83
losing to the Orioles when

they were in the playoffs.

To be a Chicago fan was...

you really had to
struggle, you know?

The White Sox won once in
'59, The Blackhawks in

'61, The Bears in '63 and
then that was pretty much it.

One embarrassing collapse
after another of Chicago sports.

The early 80s, even a
little before that, the

Bears just weren't relevant.

Not nationally and I don't
really even think locally.

Even the diehards
looked the other way.

And those Bears...

those Chicago football
teams were often a bunch

of jokes.

They were a team in
kind of a disarray.

The late 60s weren't good,
the 70s were kind of bad

and they were coming into the
80s starting to build things.

Well I mean, being a Cubs
fan I'm very used to

disappointment. [laughs]

You felt like you wanted
to deck somebody just

because we got
eliminated already.

So you know, you follow
'em, you see who the new

squad was, who the new
coach was, and who the

players were and you
just hope for the best.

When I came to town in '81
the bears were just coming

out of another season
that wasn't very good.

You know, I came to
Chicago in 1980.

They were actually booing us.

I said "Walter, aren't
we the whole team?"

And Walter said "Well, you
know, this is what happens

in Chicago when you don't win."

They weren't winning.

So everybody literally
outside of Payton was not

on an equal footing.

The fans were booing and
our coach got fired, and

everybody hated us.

Everybody had to
earn their strides.

And Ditka had only gotten
here in '82 as the new

head coach, so winning
wasn't really happening in

Chicago at that point.

Well I got here in '82

we weren't very good.

Thank God that was only a
strike year that year...

I only had to play 9 games.

Our own fans would dump
beers on your head.

They were brutal.

I mean, they would pour
beer on us as we were

going to the locker room.

My first couple of years
there they were brutal in

the papers.

You'd go to the
restaurant, they were

brutal.

Well sure, the fans
were unbelievable.

There were as angry as
The Bears football team.

It's because we were bad.

So we'd leave our helmets on.

So then they built a
canvas cover over the

tunnel.

And I remember walking
from a game we lost...

the fans lit the canvas
tarp on fire, so that they

then could throw
things at our heads.

You know, burn a hole.

And so they then put a
steel one up, and then you

just hear stuff
bouncing off of it.

I couldn't look myself
in the mirror and walk

around, and be alright
with being mediocre.

That's who you're letting down.

The old man you're gonna
see in the mirror when its

all said and done.

What did you do?

Guys that would say 'Oh
I'd love to go back and

play one more game, ' those
were the guys that look

in the mirror
knowing they didn't do it

right the first time.

You'd come out of church
in the state of grace,

you'd had communion and
The Bears were already

down 13, 14 points,
and you're like daamn!

They lost in such
dramatic fashion.

Like, they were terrible!

They were the worst
team you've ever seen.

God?

Whats the deal.

And it was '84, I think we
lost to the 49ers in the

championship game.

On the plane trip back Dan
Hampton walked up and down

saying "this ain't
gonna happen again."

"We're not gonna lose like
this again."

How many years of failure?

From 1963 to 1985.

22 years of failure in
sports and this team

exorcised all the demons.

The fans, I think, for The
Bears have always been the

same - so passionate.

Everybody in the city
loves The Bears so the

fans are very passionate
but they were also

starting to get a little
jaded perhaps, thinking

okay were tired of seeing
all these other teams win.

There were some good talent.

Walter Payton was there.

This guy was in place
since the mid 70s and he

was just a phenomenal
player and people were

recognizing that.

And you thought, okay you
got him, you got some

other good draft picks,
Jim Covert, Willie Gault...

this seems like elite athletes.

When I got here it was
almost like The Bears were

a second class citizen.

Jim Finks who was the
general manager at that

time was putting
up a plan together.

Hampton came in, I
came in in '80 and

Mike Singletary, Keith Van
Horne, Jim McMahon...

they started putting
this thing together.

A lot of the guys that
were coming in...

we were winners.

And we like winning, and
we didn't wanna accept

losing.

[narrator]
Neil Armstrong had taken

on head coaching duties in 1978.

Posting a win/loss tally
of 30 and 34 after four

seasons.

After Armstrong led
Chicago to a disappointing

6 and 10 record in 1981,
Bears, Brass and fans

alike hoped change at the
top would be a catalyst

for much needed progress.

In the early days it was tough.

I mean, getting up to come
to work, there wasn't

really nothing to come to.

I mean, some guys
literally had their truck

or car packed at the last game
in Soldier Stadium.

[Bryan McKaskey] Coach Ditka was
a special teams coach with the

Dallas Cowboys at the
time, and he wrote a

handwritten letter to my
grandfather and said,

"I'd like to be the next head
coach of the Chicago Bears."

I thought really
that I left here under not

the best circumstances
and kinna unfinished

business...

and thats what I told
them in the letter.

I said I wanna come back
and I said I wanna coach

The Bears.

You'd be proud of what I do.

You put Mike Ditka
at the head of it.

And its like oh boy if
somebody can chorale all

this energy and these
different kinds of

personalities, man you
might have something just

unbelievable.

[narrator]
In January of 1982, Mike Ditka

became only the 10th head coach
in Chicago Bears history.

There was so much talent
on the team, but sometimes

talent collides unless
it's coached with discipline.

Mike Ditka was the
12th man on that team.

I noticed an immediate
change when coach Ditka came.

[Steve McMichael]
The practice...

he came out as the head coach.

You know what he told us
after the practice was over?

'Boys I've got some good
news and I've got some bad

news.

The good news is, give me
3 years, we're going to be

in the Super Bowl. The
only thing is... Half of

you guys won't be there
when we get there. Some

of you guys in this room
are not gonna be here.

The bad news is half of
you ain't gonna be here to

see it.' They'd
never heard that.

They were playing football
and my job was to win the

Super Bowl.

A lot of guys started
looking around and...

wow, that was a powerful day.

And I remember that
because I checked that

roster, and boy, there
were a lot of guys who

heard that first speech
and they weren't in the

locker room down in New Orleans.

I felt very good because I
felt that okay there is a

guy that sort of gets
whats best about The

Bears.

I though to myself, 'I
don't know coach Ditka,

but I like him.' And I was
very confident that he was

going to make a difference.

You only have one goal
when you coach or you

play, and that's
to be the champion.

To be the best you can be.

And you can do that as a team.

Its really a rewarding feeling.

And when you can be the
architect of that team

that is even more significant
than when I played.

And you could just feel
the vibe from 1982 on that

we were gonna get going
in the right direction.

Guys started going in and
out of that door real fast.

He'd probably like nothing
more than smashing you in

the face and getting 4 yards.

Thats who he was, thats
how he coached, and it fit

the personality of their
talent all around the team

so well.

He was all pro and he came
in as a rookie, so you

thought okay here we go.

Now we got a guy that's
really that good but he

was unusual and he had
that single bar, you know,

his first year as a Bear
he broke some kind of

record as it tied in.

When you see the
footage, you know, the famous

footage of him just not
getting knocked down -

thats pretty much who he was.

If you sit around and
laugh and you worry about

the people who resent what
you're doing, you're not

gonna do very much.

Ditka was tough and you
could tell that that

toughness was what they needed.

I say this all the
time...'apologies to

everybody I've offended.

But hell thats too many
people.' And we started

acquiring the guys that
really made a difference.

The guys that wanted to
win, wanted to do the

extra work, wanted to be
there, and wanted to be a

part of something very special.

And I think the '83 draft... if
you look at the amount of

guys that played and made
an impact on the team,

I think it was pretty good.

Overall I think it was
the '83 draft that kinda

brought in the nuclear 17.

Ditka was exactly what
the doctor ordered.

When Ditka showed up I was
like okay he's sort of in

the same through-line of
talent and integrity and

bareness as George
Allen was, you know?

He was like that.

So it felt really good
with Ditka right away.

And he came and from day
one he just said, 'guys,

its gonna be blood,
sweat and tears.

Your blood, my tears, and
its gonna be one way.

Its gonna be my way.'

[ominous music in background]

[narrator]
Buddy Ryan had long since

won the respect
and loyalty of his players.

And While Ditka's arrival
in Chicago brought new

hope to Bears fans, with
it came concern from the

Bears defensive unit over
their leader's future and

the fate of what they
had built together.

When a coach comes in he
brings in his own staff -

offensively and defensively.

So we got a petition
together on the defensive

end to keep Buddy Ryan in place.

Back when Mike first got
with us the defense had

written a letter to coach
Halas asking that they

retain Buddy Ryan.

He was their coach at the time.

[narrator]
George Papa Bear Halas, or

'Mr. Everything' as he
was also known, was a player,

coach, and the iconic
owner of the Chicago Bears.

He was a respected
cofounder of the National

Football League, and was
swayed in 1982 to make a

key decision for the Bears.

So that was certainly an
endorsement and I know my

grandfather came out to
address the team - which

was very unusual.

Everybody was going woooh...

and we looked at the door
and there's George Halas.

Little George Halas
in his overcoat.

He came in and he went to
the front of the room and

Neil armstrong got out of
the way and he said, 'can

I have all the coaches
leave the room.' And we

were all like 'Holy shit.

What's going on here?'

And so the doors closed
and he basically started

talking and he pulled the
letter out and said, 'you

know, when I started this
league 70 years ago I

dreamed that it would
be filled with men of

integrity and vision...

and I never thought that
my team would be so

worried and caught up with
the goodness of the team

to write a letter to
demand that their coach be

retained.' I mean,
it was fantastic.

And Halas came to Halas
Hall and said yes, we'll

keep him.

So Mike had to
accept Buddy Ryan.

And he said I'm gonna
sign Buddy to a new 3 year

contract with all the
assistants, and I want you

to know that I'm proud of
you as a team for what

you've done.

[Otis Wilson]
I don't want to make it

seem like it was two teams going
on, but the offense was the

offense. Buddy Ryan
set the tone for everybody.

Defensively we go on into
the field and we stay

there till Buddy is like
'hey, this is our game

plan, and if you don't
know what you're doing,

you're going to be
standing here on the

sideline next to me.'
Buddy was in the army in

the Korean war...

so you had to earn the
respect of Buddy Ryan.

"And if you're standing
here too long, that little

grocery bags job back
there in Lake Forest

grocery store...

you're gonna have that
job." After that, when you

were part of the team -
part of the defense - then

he was very protective
of his players.

[coaches howling]

[narrator]
While Buddy Ryan fathered his

players as if they were family,
he also worked them relentlessly

as any drill sergeant
would their troops.

[Dennis McKinnon]
But there was fighting

every single day. Offensive
line, defensive line.

Offensive period, you're
supposed to let the

offense do what they do
and not really respond.

The defense didn't go for that.

They were bringing
it in every play.

So it was intense.

Thats all we did was hit
and do our practice.

The first couple years,
until he got the right

people in place, a lot of
hitting, a lot of sorting

things out.

[narrator]
Chicago Bears practices meant

running further and
hitting harder than other

NFL clubs of the
time. There was no lollygagging

around there was no ass-kissing,
there was no brother-in-law

as I used
to call it in practice.

When its my period you
make me look good so when

its your period i'll
make you look good.

That don't happen on
Sunday during the game.

So you better practice
how the game is gonna be.

And thats how you learned
how the game is gonna go.

I think there was a lot of
animosity between Buddy

and Mike because I think
Buddy thought he was gonna

get the head job.

No, I never saw them go
after each other although

the sort of understanding
was that they were two

separate teams.

It was like having
two head coaches.

Buddy was in charge of the
defense and Ditka was in

charge of the offense and
sometimes they would cross

on the field and
wave each other.

The Buddy Ryan - Mike
Ditka conflict was a real

one and a huge one.

Its the best...
Its the best story.

Its almost Shakespearean.

We don't agree on
everything but hell I

don't agree on everything
with my wife either.

Your offense and
defense have to match.

He don't have to listen
but I tell him.

You know what it is?

It really is Jagger and
Keith Richards...

And they had the perfect head
coach.

He run the offense to fit
defense and Mike Ditka was

the guy that run
that offense also.

Ditka is Jagger.

He's kind of the more
vocal, the more famous,

the more moody...

[both laughing] - [Ike] Right?

During practice he'd be
yelling back and forth.

I get along with
everybody. As long as

they do things my way.
[laughter in background]

We would sit there during
the games and kind of

laugh - because they'd be
nose-to-nose yelling at

each other.

'And we were like 'these
are our two leaders?' and

we're still winning.

Buddy Ryan is Keith Richards.

Hes the more nitty-gritty
nuts and bolts designer of

the group.

Buddy Ryan had been
grandfathered in.

He came along with the
team and he was a great

defensive coordinator.'
- [Bill Murray] They were both

supremely confident in their
own skin, you know.

And they didn't need
one more friend.

They needed someone to
run the defense and the

offense and to run the show.

You know, Buddy had
certain privileges that

most coaches wouldn't have.

I don't think any of us
would ever really know how

Mike Ditka felt about
Buddy or how Buddy felt

about Mike Ditka.

I think underneath it all
they really respected each

other and thats about
all you could ask.

Mike Ditka was the
offensive guy and there

were times where Buddy's
team was so separate from

Ditka's team that you
might have as well had

different uniforms
for these guys.

They might have as well
been in different cities.

If we didn't do something
right or if somebody did

something wrong, Ditka
would come down there and

say something to Buddy and
Buddy was like "hell,

well go score some points
and leave me alone."

"I'm in the heat of the
battle right now"

Buddy Ryan had 46 defense -
something new, something

creative, hard to
understand, and then you

put great talent with it...?

Thats when you get total
unbelievable production.

[crowd cheering]

The defense was even
greater than anybody

anticipated.

I mean, maybe Buddy?

Maybe they knew.

But there's no way you
could think that a team is

going to literally make
opposing players afraid.

I guarantee you yo cant
argue this fact...

We were the defense that
struck the most fear into

the opposing team before
the game had even started.

And then we learnt really
what the spark was among

them.

They were competing with one
another - not the other team.

It was Richard Dent
competing with Otis Wilson

They wanted to get there
first and to get the cheers.

Dean and Michaels normally
got it started up...

'I got a 100 on the first
one to get to the quarterback.

[referee whistles]
[groans on impact]

'That's all
you got? That's all you got?

Hey, I got 200' We wanted
to take the quarterback out.

I'm not supposed to say that,
but that was our mission.

I got 500! That's Ham...

'I have 500. What if I get
two - thousand baby. Thousand!'

You know, I'd sit at the
meetings and they'd be

talking about all this
stuff but I just kept

hearing this name
- Richard Dent.

All the time.

And that was the main focus
of our offensive line.

And I said oh, I hear
this Dent a lot...

let's make sure to
take care of Dent.

[groans on impact]

It got to the point where
you could see quarterbacks

that were terrified and
you understood why they

were terrified.

They should've been.

Dave Duerson used to
come up from the safety

position, get close to the
center and bark like a dog

at me as I was calling signals.

They've always been like a
defensive specialist team

because when its cold
weather you gotta smash

the other guys, you know?

Smashing the other guys
keeps your blood flowing.

And when you're outdoors
it keeps your feet warm.

Shame on the offensive
coaches for telling them

to make this little...

pat the ball, drop back.

You're gonna get annihilated.

I mean he'd really
go hur-hur-hur-hurh!

That barking... [barking]

The head-butting...

It was insane.

They were just crazy.

They were so athletic -
Wilber Marshal and Otis

and Singletary...

It was terrifying
to another team.

I wouldn't warm up with
the team before the game,

but when the teams go
against each other run

plays, I would go stand at
the 50 yard line and stand

there and just stare
at the other team.

That kinda explains all
the things about their

personalities.

They got to a point where
they were invincible.

They were invincible.

There wasn't any...

We were dominant than
anybody in NFL history.

They were just about as
good a defense than I'd

ever played against - and
maybe that ever played the game.

I think every body knew
and nobody even argued the

fact that it was a unique
scheme but the physical

abilities of the players
was unbelievable too.

It was hard to focus on
one particular guy because

there were truly so many
outstanding athletic people.

The Bears have the best
athletic defense of all time.

No one could touch them.

Every one on that team
was an absolute beast.

We had 3 all pros rushing
and passing, we had 3 all

pros line backers, and
then we had a couple of

all pros at safety.

And then we had two
very good corners.

So what are you gonna
do as an offense?

Where are you gonna go?

It's gonna be harder for
the other team to beat you

if they don't have the ball.

So we had the ball a lot

because our
defense gave it to us...

and then we kept
it when we got it.

I don't think they
were cocky at all.

I mean, they just get
after the quarterback and

put pressure on the
quarterback, knock him

down, take the ball away
and that was their style

of play.

My guess is that we could
probably control the

football 35 minutes to
36/37 minutes a game.

No one knew that Ron
Rivera was a line backer

back then because you had
guys like Mike Singletary,

and Otis Wilson, Richard
Dent and Dan Hampton

picking guys up and just
tossing them aside.

They were the best defense
which made them a hard

hitting team and our
politics at that time as

you remember - because of
the city council wars, as

we were known then if you
go back to our politics -

we were the Beirut-on-the-lake.

And so here they are, hard
hitting, just like our

politics which were also
capturing the nations

attention at that time.

You know when you have
that many leaders on a

football team sometimes
its going to be fragmented.

But it kinda unified
the whole thing on the

defensive side of the ball.

When I came here the
cabaret wasn't bare.

Don't think the cabaret
was bare at all.

There were a lot of good
football players on this

team, and there were a lot
of guys who didn't belong

on this football team.

And my job was to
figure out who was who.

So the one thing we didn't
have after I found out

after my first year
of going 2, 3 or 4

quarterbacks - we
needed a quarterback.

[triumphant music]

[narrator]
Jim McMahon was not considered a

prototypical NFL quarterback,
free from BYU's restrictive

culture Jim McMahon would
immediately challenge the

Bear bras and stretch the
boundaries of player decorum.

[Jim McMahon]
I just remember sitting

outside Halas'
office waiting for hours...

just sitting there.

And I'd just flown for 3
hours and now I'm sitting

in this guy's office for
a couple of hours doing

nothing and I finally ask
the secretary what's going on.

She said 'oh Mr. Halas
is taking a nap'.

So I said 'well wake him up.'

I've got shit to do.' You know?

With the NFL and rules he
was kinda one of those

anti-establishment type of guys.

That first meeting with
him wasn't all that fun.

I just got drafted
3-4 hrs before that.

He'd already had a
contract for me saying

this is the most we've offered
a rookie, and this and that.

He told me I was too
short, I had a bad arm,

couldn't see very well...

that I should go to Canada.

That was his words to me.

I looked at it and just
kinda watered up and I

said 'I'm not signing
this.' So I said 'why the

hell did you even
draft me then?'

And I got up and walked out.

You know a head band and
advertising something...

I think he was toying
with the NFL and rules.

And then I ended up
signing that same little

piece of paper that I
wrinkled up and threw back

at him so...

Love him. He's crazy!

Certainly he's crazy but I
had a great relationship

with him and he was very
loyal to his teammates.

McMahon, you know, a
quarterback who looks like

he came out of some teen
movie. Like he's Sean Penn

in Fast times at Ridgemont High.

[laughs]

Jim McMahon was almost
like some kind of movie

star that was the quarterback.

Everybody wanted to be
with the cool guy and that

was Jimmy.

He was dizzy with confidence.

What quarterback has acted
and played like Jim McMahon.

There's not many
of 'em, you know.

Man, he was different.

No team in the NFL had a
quarterback like Jim McMahon.

If I called a running play
to Payne, there was a

reason I called it.

I wasn't trying to
throw a touchdown pass.

We were notorious, you know.

We're gonna run Walter to
death and every team in

the league knew it so
they'd crowd the box.

So I said "why run into a brick
wall when you don't have to?"

People don't realize now most
quarterbacks' helmets have

microphones - so they're
talking upstairs.

In our day we had runners that
run into the game with the play.

But by the time the 3rd
got to the huddle, the

defense might've
changed their front.

So Jim Mac would normally go to
the line with the either or...

Two plays - not the play
he was called from the sideline.

He thought I was doing
things just to piss him off.

I told him...

I said "look I'm trying
to win the ball game."

Sometimes he'd aggravate
me when you called play

and then he'd change
it all the time.

...stuff you said it
ain't right sometimes.

8, 9 times out of 10 Ditka
has sent the plan and he's

change the play.

And so a lot of times
I wouldn't call it.

And he's be right.

Sometimes he changed it right,
sometimes he changed it wrong.

He changed it wrong up
in Minnesota, went for

touchdown the other way.
And he'd get pissed off

and you know...

play would work though.
He changed a lot of them

right that went for
touchdowns our way...

so I didn't profess every
call I made was perfect,

but we did it for a reason.

He got frustrated with
Mike a little bit because

he wanted him to be
like Roger Staubach.

You know he'd watch 20
hours of film a week and

Jim wouldn't like that.

So we'd be in film
sessions and then he

would say you see
that news and Jim would say 'I

got it, I got it' He tried
to give you this idea that

he wasn't studying film
but he knew what.... he

knew he excited a lot -
he knew it was going on.

He had no fear in his eyes
and I think the other team

didn't know what to do with him.

The highlight of the
season for me was the game

where McMahon came in and
threw three touchdown

passes one after another I
can still see it now and

it was as if the
message went out...

these guys have it.

Something big is
going to happen.

He was like no other One
of the smartest guys I

ever played with.

I've seen some
quarterbacks who could

throw the spiral thinking
around like a halfback.

I think he was the
last of a dying breed.

...but they were not in
their heart of hearts winners.

You could tell McMahon
wobble down in the field

but he was a winner and
the guys were magnets to

McMahon's leadership.

I know that feeling of
kind of being vulnerable

and like you just can't
possibly get in trouble.

It's like you can't get
arrested at your uncle the

sheriff's wedding...

you know that kind of
feeling it's like we can

do anything we want here.

He has an innate ability
to lead men know he's a

leader.

Well he's all I wanted in
a quarterback maybe he

wasn't Johnny Unitas
but he was our guy.

Jim was a great
quarterback, here...

He didn't have all
the physical skills.

He didn't have the build
that you want but he knew

football and he
was a competitor.

I just loved it man...

- ...anybody got headbutts at
the offensive line like he did.

- [Mantegna]It's the team play...
- [Wendt] Yeah.

- [Mantegna]that's what made them
- [Wendt] Yeah.

[Joe] so great

Somehow he was the right fit
for that for that Bears team.

He was a quirky personality.

He was she was very very
different and for a guy

who you think plays the
quarterback in lead

position maybe that's why
it worked with a head

coach like Ditka and a
defense like the Bears.

[narrator]
For the first time in years

football fans in Chicago

had realistic Superbowl hopes.

To this day I think he's
you know, barefoot on the

golf course somewhere...

in like overalls, cackling.

Cut to a picture of him
doing that please...

[Applause and cheers]
[Drumbeat Music]

The Bears have always been
about tough defense well

okay you can beat up the
other team and still lose.

This was starting to look
like a team that maybe

could beat up the other
team and also win.

We were learning how good
we could be that year.

The Bears hadn't won a
division in a long time

but I didn't realize it
and almost every guy

rededicated themselves at
offseason to be ready.

Like in the five minutes left
in the fourth quarter I'm

cutting my tape off my
hands, I'm excited - can't

wait to get on the plane
have a beer celebrate and

I look over and Jim
Osbourne a guy that was in

his fourteenth year
was over there.

And he had tears in his
eyes and I'm thinking hey

Ozzy are you hurt?

I think finding the right
guys who could make this

offense run make this
defense now become intimidating.

And I said 'what
are you crying for?'

He goes 'man I'm happy.'
He goes, 'this is the

first time we ever won the
division. We were very

young. We didn't expect
to be in a conference

championship in '84.

So not expecting and
then believing that you

belong...

there's a transition that
took place that year.

And I thought to
myself holy shit...

he's played here 14 years
and they've never won the

division?

And I look and there's
the Gatorade thing.

And I said 'hey here's
what we're gonna do...'

And he goes 'okay you get
it and I'll run up and

I'll hold Ditka so you can
come up behind him and

dump it on him.

And the reason we did it
the first ever Gatorade

dump was because we wanted
to commemorate something

that hadn't happened
in a long time.

I'm gonna go getting the
story how that started

with us I'm not sure Harry
started it with us...

it could have been another
player and Harry took it over.

The year after we won the
Super Bowl when the Giants

won it, well at the end
of the game they did it to

Parcells and so the whole
world thinks they started

it.

So it doesn't matter if
the Bears did start it...

we're getting credit
for doing it there's no

question.

But we have documented
proof that we did it two

years prior up in
Minnesota and you know

what, I think our deal was
probably just as big as

the Giants' win
in the Super Bowl.

[narrator] Chicago capped off a

hope-filled season with an

embarrassing loss to
the eventual Super Bowl

champion 49ers.

After the 23-0 shutout,
safety Ronnie Lott

remarked 'next time
bring an offense' as the

Bears exited the playing fields.

That sardonic advice would
not soon be forgotten by

Ditka or his players.

I took that personally
I really did.

I thought when we went out to
play San Francisco that we could

beat him with our defense.
I really did. And I was wrong.

It's a real blemish
for that team and...

it's not the score, it's just...

losing.

You can make an excuse and
say Jim McMahon was hurt

but we needed to have way
more production than what

we did so I know a lot
of the offensive players

especially the offensive line
took that as personal insult.

On the plane back from San
Francisco I went up to

everybody look
them in the eye...

come July make your
mind up right now.

And we can't wait till
then to say okay we're

going to do it we got to
start them right now and

and everybody to a man
looked me in the eye and

said 'yeah, let's do it.'

He was fired up.

And he got the rest
of them fired up.

So the off-season after
that game was terrific.

Our whole goal in that
training camp was to get

to the Super Bowl.

And I told them in
the locker room.

After that game I said
'this one's on me'.

I said 'this was my
fault.' That was our

focus.

An entire training camp
our entire focus going

into the preseason games
and then into the season

is that we're going to the Super
Bowl and we're gonna win it.

I said 'the next
time we played these guys,

we will be ready.

And coach Ditka made
sure that we knew that.

...in '85 everybody had to
have that goal, and when

we came up one game short
of the Super Bowl we

decided that we're gonna
get there this year.

♪♪

[Mike Singletary]
When I first got to Chicago

I really didn't know running
backs at all.

Everybody told me "man wait till
you meet this guy Sweetness."

I wasn't enamored, I
wasn't excited because

I only wanted to hear about
some of the guys on the defense.

We had the greatest
player in the game.

The greatest running
back of all time.

There will never ever ever
ever be a better running back

than Walter Payton.

Every little kid who want
to play the game that's

what they wanted to
be was Walter Payton.

Guys at a certain point
were kind of shying away

from hitting him.

He was a barker, he's
lower his head and hit you

so hard...

he was a great receiver, a
great teammate one of the

toughest guys that
I ever played with.

I've never seen anybody like.

The guy doesn't quit.

Everybody should realize
like the Greeks did about

Hercules that Walter
Payton was a demigod.

One time I come in
and Walter was doing

repetition deadlifts
at 525 pounds...

and I said 'Walter!'

He had a little hamstring
problem and I said you got

a hamstring problem.

That muscle is involved
in that exercise.

He said 'ah its okay I
don't feel nothing'.

Born here on earth to
do exactly what he did.

They listed him at five
ten and a half he was

probably five nine 205
he had the vertical of

Michael Jordan.

When it was time to score
they gave him the ball he

shot up through the roof
and landed on his head.

No one has ever done that since.

He's got a motor
that never stops.

I mean not only is he
talented but you know,

he's got a heart.

Walter Payton one of the
great gentlemen of the game.

And so sweet and soft-spoken but

unbelievably tough and just a
beautiful running back.

My rookie year watching
him in a game and I was

blown away by how
fantastic he was.

How tough he was.

I think it was my rookie
year - might have been my

first start - I had called
a play that wasn't in the

game plan that week.

And I gave it to Suhey
and it was I think it was

third and seven...

he got nine yards and
Walter pulled me aside and

he says 'keep doing
what you're doing.

You're making us better.

That's really the only
thing he ever said to me

on the field.

He had a resolve that he
wasn't gonna be beaten, he

wasn't gonna be tackled,
and you know, that's

impossible - you are gonna be.

But he felt like he couldn't be.

I remember he was in a
contest with OJ Simpson to

win the title running.

And OJ won that Sunday in
Chicago and Walter Payton

cried. He was that into his art.

Anytime I meet a running
back whether it's Tony

Dorsett, Eric Dickerson,
who was the best?

They all say Walter Payton.

Just a legend among the
players even while he

played.

There's not many guys that
are legends while they

play...

he was one of them.

You know, he missed one
game in 13 years so that's

a football player.

He either spanked you on
the ass, which is good, or

he'd give you a look
which was not good.

So you didn't want the look.

Walter with the calming
force on that team.

Period.

People in Chicago
in love Walter.

Walter was the heart and
soul of the Bears for

10-15 years.

He worked really hard.

He exemplified what
Chicago was all about.

Blue-collar hard worker.

And I think the end of the
day it was really about

highlighting who 34 was.

Sweetness was so well
liked and appreciated for

all his skill and effort
when the Bears weren't

winning, that there was
a sense of hey this is

great, he's got a
team around him.

The total package of the
great athlete the great

[crowd cheering]
mentality and a great brother.

And if you weren't rooting
for your own team you were

rooting for him so you
took notice of the things

on a winner now...

and he might get that
Super Bowl he might get to

the big game.

[narrator]
Walter Payton was a respected

community activist, a team
leader and one of the most

prolific running backs
the NFL had ever seen.

He obtained legendary
status even prior to his

retirement from
the sport in 1987.

[ominous drumline music]

Here comes refrigerator.

Just the name carried
an impression.

...blocking out the sky
as the defenders tried to

stop him as he
dove into the line.

The fridge was this
brilliant athlete.

We had fun watch him use
his weight in the way we

played good defense calls
and run the ball every now

and then.

There are very few guys at
that time that were, you

know, as they said a
biscuit over 300 pounds

and yet had a vertical and
they could move anywhere

on the field.

- [Barinholt] So to see a big
- [Stassen] Yeah.

[Barinholt] young guy out there
just throwing guys around and

laughing and smiling.

A guy who looks like he
shouldn't be able to move

but has these feet that
allow him not just to be a

great defensive player but
also start to run stuff

into the goal line.

I always related
to him because I always had a

- big gap in my tooth.
- Big gap? yeah.

I was watching him run sprints.

And man, the first five yards
he came out and that dirt

will fly out behind his
feet and he'd boooom...

Jeez what if I put him in
the back field in front of

Walter?

He was a bulldozer.

I said well if he can
block, why can't he run?

So then I say okay we'll
give him the ball.

Same thing, bulldozer.

So what I said is if he
can block and if he can

run, I said maybe he can catch.

So we threw him a
touchdown pass...

we did all of that.

Then finally I said well
if he can run, he can

block and he can catch,
maybe he can throw!

He couldn't throw.

[laughs]

The first time he ran that
touchdown in, I lost my

mind.

He really was a
refrigerator and he would

just...

it would take two or three
guys to stop him just

pushing forwards.

They put him in the
backfield and that was

kind of unheard of at that time.

It was so pervasive I
remember my parents they

went to England for a
vacation and they had a

cab driver and he was like
'where are you from?'

And they're like Chicago.

He goes 'oh, The Fridge.'
Did you realize American

football is popular
in England now?

Oh yes we've heard you talk
about the Fridge, right sir?

[all laugh]

Like not Reagan or Al
Capone or Babe Ruth but

the one person he
knew was the fridge.

In the beginning it
was very simple...

I'm putting this guy in.

I mean, I had a great
fullback in Matt Suhey

are you kidding
me? he'll block anybody.

This guy weighed 300
pounds - with that kind of

force it didn't matter...

he can move three
people out of there.

Just put Walter behind
him, it was good.

Maybe it was just another
way to use a talent that

we had.

[narrator]
William 'The Refrigerator' Perry

was lampooned by the

press and used as a
pawn in his own coach's

battles.

At the end of the day he
was just another capable

athlete who would make his
impact felt throughout the

'85 season.

Get out of here...!

They took a fun orthodox

approach with a very
hard-nosed old-school coach.

Mike Ditka was...

he was he was the most
interesting man in the

world before there was the
most interesting man in

the world.

On a national scale he was
Chuck Norris, Walker Texas

Ranger and he was broth
and he was grouchy and he

was mean but he was
lovable that embodied all

of the other personalities.

You can take this to
the bank my friends...

"Live from New York,
its Saturday night."

[Wendt] This Bears team
has given us so many

memories, 310 sports bars,
289 DUIs.

- [Mantegna] That's right...
- [Wendt] and the night is young.

- [Mantegna] Yeah that's
right and I'm only on my

eleventh beer.

Like my third day in
Chicago I went to Wrigley

Field by myself and I
think I'm having a great

time Those SNL guys that
George Wendt and Smigel

and Michael Myers did...

they exist in the parking
lot outside Soldier Field.

So I would go to other
Chicago games...

I started noticing a look.

A lot of the intense
fans they've all got the

aviator shades and then
they have these really

thick walrus mustache.

Mike Ditka is responsible
for so many mustaches in

the Chicagoland area.

You know from a comedic
perspective it's fun to

look at them as crazy and
sports obsessed but it was

all a part of what
makes Chicago great.

Conan O'Brien and Bob
Odenkirk and Robert Smigel

kept trying to pitch it
and it just laid there and

never really worked.

Joe was interested and so
Lauren goes okay if he

wants to do it.

Bob said what if we did
something sort of parodied

the sports writers on TV.

I figured well I'm from
Chicago, maybe people in

Chicago will get a
kick out of it...

Hello, welcome to another
edition of Bill Swerski's

super-fans.

I'm Bob Swerski sitting
in for my brother Phil...

...and we did it and it
was great but what I found

out the next day was, you
know, people were calling

from Chicago said you
can't believe it - on the

radio it got cut, they're
re-running the skit constantly.

[Stassen] The superfans
sketch felt like the first

time Saturday Night Live did
something like provincial

outside of the New York area.
- [Barinholt] Yeah...

[Stassen] You know, and it
was cool it was Chicago and...

[Barinholt] It was cool they
were showing us as were are.

Kielbasa, inhaling... having a
hard time.

You okay Ted?

Hey hey he's just having
a heart attack..

If the Greeks had tailgating
this is what it would have

sounded like...

'Oh golly we're gonna have
some lamb here today.'

That sort of temperate
kind of casual voice and

the love and respect they
have for their meats and

their sausages...

We thank Ditka and God...

- alright, is that okay? I mean
- All that sausage...

[studio audience laughs]

- it's a family thing i think...
- Ditka

So when the
explosion of the game occurs,

[crowd cheering]

the ribs rip open, you see
the real warrior inside that

person that it's only
domesticated bison, fine

sausage bison, fine
grill, you know?

There was this arrogance
to the fans they like to

drink they like to strut
around cocky even though

their teams really sucked.

Listen if they're your
team they're your team,

you know, when they suck
and then when they're

great and I feel like, you
know, the Chicago fans are

very loyal.

There was this one guy in
particular he not only had

the shades and the stache
but he was wearing a hula

skirt and a coconut bra
everybody else is going

Bears Bears...! Whatever
- they're just you know

yelling at the camera the
way all sports fans do

this guy's not saying a
word she's just completely

focused, just... it's
like a mission he's on.

He's got a hula.
I'm just writing dialogue in

my head the only thing I
could imagine him doing is

bears, bears, bears, bears...

There were so many
characters on the team and

I think Chicago is one of
these towns where you have

hard-working people they
look you in the eyes and

they aren't afraid to be
exactly who they are and I

think the Bears took
on that identity.

I can't think of it came
they had more disparate

personalities than that group.

Guys who did things that
were unusual in that you

couldn't understand how
they all got along, how

they all were together,
guys who were half-crazy,

bookish guys who were
conmen, guys who were...

everything in the world
and its like whoa!

This is crazy.

The Bears all contributed
to a kind of theatrical

production where everybody
has a solo part.

A cast of characters who,
first things first is

football but then they
turn the joy of football

into a kind of...
they spread the joy around.

It could have been
a reality show just

following this team
around the arguments, the

personalities that came out.

I can't imagine the
reality show based on the

Chicago Bears it would
have been incredible.

It would have been
x-rated, it would have

been attended and
watched by everybody.

When were we going to
see something like that?

They worked hard they
played hard and they just

truly weren't afraid
to be who they were.

They were crazy I was
crazy when I was a player

off the field too.

They were crazy,
but that's okay.

That's a team that to pull
one guy out is probably one of

the most difficult thing to do.

It made for interesting
route because everyone was

on their toes and we
wanted to win in spite of

each other sometimes.

We wanted to win in spite
of the coaches sometimes.

They let their hair
down but that's fine...

there's no problem.

But when they came back
to work they were ready

to go to work.

And they knew it because
we practiced hard.

We probably practiced
harder than anybody in

football probably in
the last 20 years.

They were so original in
their own way and yet they

blended together to have
such great success.

It was not only great
players on the field but

great personalities off
the field and that's what

made 'em kind of Chicago's
team and they became

America's team.

We all felt better because
it was the one thing...

In church on Sunday,
locker room on Monday morning...

It was the best.

Now do you and Mike Ditka
have that agreement

whereby if you choose to,
you can override his?

We have a lot of agreements.

[audience laughs]

Is Jim McMahon nuts?

[audience laughs]

We had people coming from
all over the world to

watch us practice from
China, from Russia, from

Japan, from Germany, all
over the United States,

everyone wanted to see us
practice and I think it

became like a huge circus.

We were truly a carnival
act on the road.

We'd go in to
Indianapolis, we'd go in

to Miami and there'd be
2,000 people in the hotel

lobby.

Couldn't walk around town
it was like you were

chum in the water and
the Sharks were friends of

you. We were rock stars, really.

I mean we were the
biggest rock stars.

You're gonna put us on the
stage with U2 or fucking

dellux or whoever you wanted to.

And as a family we
couldn't even really go

out to eat.

We couldn't do a lot in
the public because the

people would run up to my
dad it would become like

this big huge scene.

When I first came to
town you were anonymous.

There was internet back
then - none of these

social media platforms.

Now your Instagram baby.

They went somewhere and
they would shut the place down.

They call them fanatics
that's where fan comes from.

They were in full flourish
and I loved every minute of it.

Reasoning went through the roof
everytime we were on TV

We were so loud anywhere
we went even on the road

and majority people in the
stance weren't home team

fans - they were visiting
fans from Chicago cheering

the Bears on.

I made a lot of money on
merchandise and sold.

We were the number
one in every sport.

Understand the impact.

Well I don't think anybody
minds getting endorsements.

[all singing]
'come on in... its playoff time-

We are here to win.'
Walter Payton obviously

had a lot of different
endorsements including

those Roos shoes.

Fridge was doing
Cadillac commercials.

I like the headroom.

I got a Nike poster on a
billboard and then it was

right at O'Hare and so anytime I
came back from my

parents at Barrington
I'd see myself.

People were ecstatic...

bring on this party.

We've got something the
world has never seen.

At least the world of the
NFL and it's Chicago with

the miserable winners and all...

it was just there was
this joyous feeling...

Hey look at me I look
good out there...

- What about this...
- Oh wait a minute.

My mom's gonna be proud.

...Crain's Chicago business
had this cartoon where I

was driving the Cadillac,
Walter's throwing out

chicken bones because he
was doing Kentucky Fried

Chicken and in The Fridge
was just down in this

position.

So it's kind of like hey
these guys are a little

out of control...
Is it getting to their head?

[dramatic music]

[Ditka]
You know, there's no question

we were
the better football team.

You can analyze it
any way you want to.

We are the better football
team and we created the

things that happened
for all of you...

Our defense created
turnovers, our special

teams created turnovers.

We don't have to apologize
to anybody for that.

We were 12 and 0, already
clinched the division and

home field advantage
throughout the playoffs...

you know, and our goal
was to go undefeated.

[commentator]
It's off to the Orange Bowl

where the Dolphins

were desperately trying to
protect Miami's perfect

record of 17 and O
set back in 1972.

Coach Shula didn't talk all
week about the fact that

they were the '72 team and
we needed to beat the Bears

to preserve that record so
it really didn't come up

much but we knew it as players.

Give Miami credit, you know...
they were certainly

fired up because they
didn't want to lose the

title of the undefeated team.

I knew going into that
game that they could be a

tough one.

[narrator]
Although the '85 Bears

enjoyed more than their

fair share of success
and limelight the season

wasn't always fun and games.

[crowd cheering]
[thumps and groans from impact]

Into every life a little
rain must fall, and for

the '85 Bears at downpour
landed on the turf Miami's

historic Orange Bowl.

[Singletary] Miami was a wake-up
call.

It was a wake up call that
we had the privilege of

receiving.

We really did not
play well that game.

They said no matter who
you are, no matter how

great do you think you
are, blink and you're

done.

I was sobbing like a
grandmother on my hands

and knees in a bar.

It was a tragic moment.

It was a long ride
back to Chicago.

I think that that kind
of reset some egos.

There's a lot of things
that went their way.

Dan Marino is a great
player, quick release, the whole

works and all...

Going into that game I
knew they were they were

going to come after us and
I felt like we matched up

really well.

Jim Covert and Dan
Marino were roommates in

Pittsburgh I remember Jim
talking to Buddy saying

'Dan Morino when he lets
the ball go on three

steps, five steps, your
linebackers are gonna have

trouble covering his
receivers and you're gonna

need to maybe change some
things up -but Buddy

wasn't gonna do that.

Now I'm not trying
to to be humble or anything...

I'm just telling you, we
were out-coached that day

and they spread our
defense out, which was

what you had to do if
you're gonna try to be

successful against it.

I give the Dolphins all
the credit they just were

prepared, they
played a great game.

Marino was awesome.

My take on Miami was...

It was a gift.

All of us were a little
bit cocky because we were

pretty good and that kind
of brought us back to

earth.

I think if we win in Miami
we lose in New Orleans.

Every team of destiny that
has won the big game will

tell you there is a point
during the season that

refocused them.

They're authentic
champions and they had

that special something
even when they were down

they got up again...

because on the ground,
there's no place for a

champion.

♪ Groovy music

"we are the best,
shuffling crew.

Shuffle on down, do it for you."

The Super Bowl shuffle.

Well it's pretty it's
pretty great groove.

I thought they were crazy.

You know, and if you get
in your head you're in

trouble.

The reason I thought they
were crazy because it was

pretty you know,
egotistical to say that you were

going to the Super Bowl
and we hadn't gotten to

the Super Bowl yet.

They had scheduled to film
the Super Bowl freaking

shuffle the day after
we got back from Monday night.

Now we get in at 3 o'clock
in the morning on Tuesday

and they start filming
that thing at 7:00.

After we got our tail whipped.

They're gonna be bragging
about 'we're going to the

Super Bowl...' Oh
I was mad at 'em.

Willie Gault was the
spearhead guy behind that.

I worked with Dick Meyers
to come up with lyrics of

each guy, told 'em what
each guy's nickname was

and everything else and
got the lyrics turned in

and then went to
Mr. Myers' house which he

had a studio in his house.

He was trying to do
something to raise money

in Chicago the proceeds of
the rap video go to the charity.

And then I had to do this
job of trying to convince

these guys to do a video.

On the plane, tried to talk
to everyone in the video

and tried to make sure they
got there on Tuesday

because if we didn't do
it we had the facility

already paid for, all the
crew already there, and

you know, we had to do it then.

If we didn't do it then
it'd never take place.

We had no idea that we
even had a commitment to do

a video.

Ten of us were in, a lot of
them said let's put in the

car the Florida whores -
they wanted no part of that.

They asked me to be in it
and I said I can't be in it.

When he approached me
about it, you know, being in

it in some way shape or
form I don't think in a

rapping part but I just
didn't believe in it.

I was not really invited
to do that, it wasn't

really my style.

I wasn't asked to
participate, if I had been

I would have said no.

Who didn't go?
McMichael didn't do it?

Because he's like...

[squeaky impression]
"yes I'm not gonna do it -

because its stupid!"

Mad at them, they went
ahead and did it.

Some of the guys did it
at the Park West and then

McMahon and Payton did
it at that household.

They didn't think that
they should do it because

we had lost and they
thought maybe its bad luck

if we do it.

You know they later
got mad again...

So in the afternoon Walter
could see the rest of the

guys what they did the morning.

He called me up on the
phone, he goes 'are you in

this' I said 'no i'm not
in that' He goes 'good'.

We were embarrassed, we
were frustrated, we were

searching for answers and
sometimes in life there

are no answers.

Sometimes you just got to
go out there and start

swinging again.

The dance and the
Super Bowl video was a

statement.

When we shot on Sunday we
didn't go home as victors

on Monday morning.

I mean winning is what we do.

It wasn't even arrogant.

It was just cool.

It was so cool.

My school had multiple
assemblies during this

season where just every
grade got up and formed a

- [Stassen] Super Bowl shuffle...
- [Barinholt] yeah i did it...

[Stassen] this wasn't decided to
be more important than

education.

[Stassen] It was like,
"now first grade go!"

- [Barinholt] Yeah yeah yeah.

[Stassen] second grade...
More of you, Fred.

[Barinholt] We won't be learning
geography today.

Do Otis Wilson's verse, go!

Jeremy, go!

I think it shows their
clarity of intent I think

they knew what they needed
to do when they were ready

to do it. Anybody with the
audacity had to either be

knocked out and
slapped down or win it all.

It's just, everything
about it was unique

because yes at the root
of it was an incredible

amount of arrogance
that's what they had.

You almost saw it
in their faces.

You saw it in their
arrogance that we're not

gonna, you know, we're
not gonna walk away

embarrassed like we made
this video and then

couldn't back it out we
are going to back it up.

If confidence is there
and you're not the best

it's really just
foolishness, but the Bears

knew they were
better than anybody.

They knew that and
they weren't wrong.

And they backed that up.

They believed that they
were going to the Super

Bowl if you don't believe
you're going super you

aren't going to the Super Bowl.

It's not complicated.

Other teams didn't even
react really poorly to it.

They didn't even go like
'these guys a bunch of

jerks.' There was
a calm about it.

A confidence about it
where you went oh my

jeez...

they really are
going to kill us.

They knew they had the
right players the right

chemistry and the
right coaching.

People say oh that was
egotistical I don't give a

damn what people think.

It was the ultimate
intimidation I thought

We were nominated for
Grammy. We gave money to charity,

we helped a lot
of people and we became

rockstars in a sense.

So... we came back that
very next day and did the Super

Bowl shuffle that was a gift.

You see guys are actually
trying their dance steps.

I didn't know what we had
to do. First off I can't

dance anyway and it was
obvious that neither could

Gary Fencik or Steve fuller.

We're listening to guys
singing that can't sing, guys

trying to dance that
couldn't dance we're

laughing we're having a ball...

Fencik had a little
bit of an American Bandstand

move to it but he
was vicious in it too.

[crowd cheers and whistles]
[players rumbling]

We weren't searching for
answers we just got back

to doing what we do.

And we let things go we
didn't try to over analyze

or emphasize anything and
then let it go guys we

still got each
other let's go get.

♪ Music

What it created was a
lot more resolve on our

football team that we weren't
gonna let it happen again.

It allowed us to kind of
take a step back and say

guys if we don't go to
the Super Bowl and we've

created this thing here in
a tenth game of the season

we gotta make this thing
now become a reality.

After the loss to Miami
our football team

really...

the confidence grew
and grew and grew.

So week in week out you
know, we were on it.

And then boom boom boom.

[crowd cheers and whistles]

[players rustling
against each other]

I noticed through the
grindstone..

[crowd cheering]

We were chopping it...

we were rocking!

[crowd cheering]
There was purpose...

[crowd cheering]

They just picked
the town up and...

I never really thought
anyone would ever put a

Bears helmet on those
lions and in front of the

Art Institute, you know?

I never thought that would
happen in my lifetime.

Both personally and I
think for the city as a whole,

suddenly we start seeing
this team that not only is

great, not only has this
defense that can shut

everybody down but is full
of these personalities.

That was pretty special
for the city of Chicago

and the Bears and football.

Everyone had a sort of,
'you know we're getting

ready for war here,
you know, this is it.

Here they come.' It was
almost like we were

fighting like Sparta
against you know, Athens

or something like that it
was us against the giant.

The pregame warmups were
over the field and here in

time for the opening kickoff.

The weather was trying to
get really nasty and it

was starting to
become Bear weather...

[players groan and
grunt from impact]

[crowd cheers]

woooooooo...! I think what
stands out was that they

thought the Bears might
stumble on offense...

would Jim McMahon be enough..

[crowd cheering] And then LA...

how great was it to be LA
in the playoffs...? Many

people thought that the
Rams and then the running

game of the Rams with Eric
Dickerson could break

through anything.

And we prided ourselves
on the run game.

The heart of the defense...

in the middle - Steve
McMichael, Dan Hampton and

myself - we're facing a
team that could come to

our home and they're
saying, we're hearing, that

they're going to run
up and down the field.

It ain't happening.

They had Dickerson and
they didn't just stop them

- they stunned them stone
cold and then it was as if

they turned a superstar
Hall of Fame running back

into an average back.

It was like an animal kill
it really was like actual

bears mauling smaller
beings like a ram.

Like a bear mauling a ram.

To this day no team has
shut out division and

conference championship
in the same year.

I mean it was ridiculous.

It just really was the law
of the jungle you know...

when the ball was stamped.

I mean those were like an
ode to everything that the

Bears had come to stand
for in their time.

We're not gonna be stopped we're
gonna win the

Super Bowl.

That's how the Bears
should win - the way they

won those two playoff games.

Late in the game it starts
snowing and it's just like

a storybook ending
to the season.

That sent an impressive
message and then you just

figured nobody could
stop the Bears.

[players rumbling
over each other]

As a Bear fan we expected it...

[laughs]
of course they should uphold us.

They're the best defense ever.

For four years I've been
waiting to go and it was

finally a reality.

So we knew were headed
to the Super Bowl.

Those games, those
shutouts against Los

Angeles and New York
to Giants and Rams...

they were basically...
those were art.

They were football art!

These were good
teams, quality teams.

The defense had
given up no points.

People were ecstatic.

To be in LA and New York
back-to-back in the

playoffs and shut 'em out...

shut 'em out and beat
'em up you know, that was...

that was livid.

It was bring on the Super
Bowl, bring on New Orleans

bring on this party we've
got something the world

has never seen.

[crowd cheering]

John, tonight Bourbon
Street is being renamed

Bear Street...

There was one story.

The Bears were going
to the Super Bowl.

It was going to be in New
Orleans and we were gonna

marshal an army.
- The next five days is Bear

country. And when Sunday comes
and we win, we'll give back

the city of New Orleans
and we'll go back to

Chicago to party...

yeaaah....! [cheers]

People were excited but
they couldn't get enough

of the Bears.

I'm from Chicagoooooo!

[indistinct yelling in
background]

Home of the Bears!

Bozooo!

There's probably no team in
history that had as much

fun as those guys playing
football, winning and

interacting with the fans.

I mean they were great.

I think Chicago fans are
greatest fans in the

world.

So far Ditka's playing it
right. The last 10 pages of

the sports section
was all Bears.

It was just, you know,
they couldn't get enough

of it.

So it was just like a big
circus leading up to the

fireworks at the
end of the week.

How do you feel about
being out here with all

these Chicago fans?

- Good party crowd...
- Okay.

We love it.

Yeaaaahhh...

[cheers]

You'd have 12 storylines.

Every one of those
personalities - where

they're going, how they
like Bourbon Street oh

look at the crazy people.

We'd just, you know, tell
all the fans to come to

our spot so they all come
up to the bar at the hotel

and it was like, you
know, free for all.

You you you you.

Let's go.

New Orleans is perfect
because that's a 24 hour

party scene on Bourbon
Street to French Square,

they like firstly insist
you take a cup of liquor

on your way out of the bar.

You're supposed to carry
them around, nothing ever

closes...

you're putting the Bears,
the Chicago Bears down there?

I think in New Orleans
there might have been

20,000 fans who
didn't have a ticket.

They just wanted to
be with the team.

These meatballs,
homemade potato salad...

down here, roast beef, I'm
telling you the Fridge

would love the place...

I could just see like
McMichael on Bourbon

Street on his 15th hurricane
saying "all right let's

take it over to the blues
bar." We'd go all the way

to the end of the
street and start...

and have a drink at every
bar before the week is

over.

I would've hated the New
England Patriots to be in

New Orleans and feel like
you know they're like step

kids at a wedding or something.

Patriot and former
University of Illinois

quarterback Tony Eason was
eating Italian with some

of his teammates here
at Tony's pizza within

earshot of the Bears hoopla.

I've never seen so many
people on Bourbon Street.

I've never seen so many
people in Chicago on

Bourbon Street.

Nobody wanted them there,
nobody cared about 'em,

every bar had Bears stuff up.

Every bar had the
Super Bowl shuffle play.

Well the first night
my mother's waiting...

I'd say we're going all
the way down to the end of

the street there's a bar
on the left, we're going in.

I didn't know it was
a transvestite bar...

[laughs]

We walked in and she saw
what was going on she said

"you gotta get me out of
here I'm a school teacher"

- so we went to the next one.

It was like Friday night
before the game and it's

like midnight, one o'clock
in one of those bars you

know on Bourbon Street and
I'm in there with a bunch

of like esteemed NFL
players from around the

league and they were all
in there asking 'what

about this McMahon he
seems like he's insane and

this and that.' I
was having fun...

we got to thinking got in
on Monday afternoon and

Monday Tuesday Wednesday
we didn't have any curfews

- It was quite fun
down on Bourbon Street.

And he would ricochet
through, and then he'd

ricochet back through
and he would bounced off

different people and you
would see other people

that he had crashed
into or bounced off of.

And I said no no no no
he's okay. He's really kind

of sly like a cat you know?

And as I'm telling this
group of guys, this story,

unbeknownst to me McMahon
is walking in the bar at

one o'clock with these
eyeballs on springs that

are going in and out like
this and he's got two

beers in each hand and I
look around behind me and

I see him and I go, 'okay
forget it he is insane...

[laughs]

Nothing I can do to change
your opinion about that.'

They're all having a
fantastic fantastic time

and they knew what
they were going to do.

Most of us for the most
part stayed out of trouble.

We have an update on what
Mr. McMahon said in an

interview today.

I understand he said most
of the ladies he ran into

were sluts, he said most
of the people he ran into

were stupid.

And the punk EQB who's
outspoken, who's brash is

rumored to have dissed
the women of New Orleans

Thursday morning I got
woken up by some irate

fans screaming yelling
they're gonna kill me.

And the local sportscaster
Buddy Diliberto was the

one who broke the story.

I didn't know who it was.

I slammed the phone down.

It rang two minutes later
and my roommate Kurt

Backer saying who keeps calling?

I said well there's a
bunch of fans and they're

pissed off of me for something.

So in the restaurant Buddy
Diliberto said it was

overheard that Jim McMahon
made comments about you

know how the city was not
very clean how the people

weren't very smart and how
the women were were loose.

And Dick finally came up
to me said did you really

call all the women sluts?
I said what are you talking

about, Mike?

And he said well
supposedly you were on a

radio station this morning
calling all the women of

New Orleans sluts
and this and that.

You're here for the
biggest game of your life...

let's just stay focused on
what our goal is and win

the Super Bowl and
that's what I told him.

And I said what time was this?

And he said 6 o'clock.

I said dude I didn't get
back to my room till 5.

I said I was not waking
up at 6 to talk to no reporter.

He came and told me...

I thought it was
a decent answer.

But if they want to
believe it let 'em...

I don't care...

If it's not true...

but suddenly the rumors spread.

So the rest of the week
I was getting death threats

and our practice field was
the old Saints facility

which there was a big
apartment complex that

overlooked the field...

so I couldn't wear my own
Jersey, the guys didn't

want to stand by because they
thought I was gonna get shot.

So that was my whole focus
the rest of the week was

to not get killed...

It wasn't what, you
know, the Super Bowl should

have been like the
Super Bowl week...

it was for the first three
days but after that it

sucked.

Management of WDSU TV
has reviewed the facts

surrounding comments made
by our sports director and

certain comments
attributed to Chicago

Bears quarterback Jim
McMahon last night.

We have no basis to
believe the statements

about New Orleans
attributed to Mr. McMahon

were ever made.

The night before the game
we have a team meeting and

Buddy would always say
a few words and then he

would leave and then we
would have to watch one

reel of film...

we always did it.

Buddy Ryan that night...

something was different
in his speech, there were

tears in his eyes and
he said no matter what

happens tommorrow you guys
will always being my heroes.

That's when I knew
but he was leaving.

I was like oh gosh and I
started crying a little bit and

next to Singletary I go,
'I can't believe he's

leaving .'

And Singletary's eyes got
like this and he looked at

me and goes 'oh my god
he doesn't know.' I tell

people that it enraged me
so bad he was leaving that

I got up and threw the
chair into the blackboard

and like a movie special
effect that stuck in

it... booow!

I mean it was unbelievable.

Well that fired up Dan Hampton
he got up and clubbed the

projector...

the old millimeter
projector just broke and

shattered.

The jig is up all these years...

you know why I threw that chair?

Why it pissed me off and I threw
that chair in that blackboard?

I turned around and the
meanest guys you're ever

gonna see on a football
field... there wasn't a dry

eye in the house...

they were all squalid.

You know it's cathartic in
a way I was sad because I

knew in less than 24 hours
it was gonna be the most

important game of my life
and I knew that you know,

we were gonna have a
different defensive

coordinator the following year.

So I remember being
with Dan Hampton and Steve

McMichael the night before
the game and the whole

event with the projector
had just happened and they

said they were they saying
'well here's what just

happened - they told
me was happening...' I

thought, 'well that's
focus.' Monsters of the

Midway had tears in their eyes.

I stood up and I look back
at him and this is how the

jig is up...

I said 'we got the biggest
game of my life tomorrow

you bunch of crybabies...'

...and threw the chair
into the blackboard in

that rage.

[cheers] [marching band music]

Before the circus leaves
town you're gonna see the

three-ring thing that's
right in front of

everybody and sure enough
that's what it was.

...the singing in New
Orleans, it was electric.

[crowd cheering]

[players rumbling
against each other]

[screams and cheers]

It's funny the game to
me is an actual blur.

It was as if it was
over before it started.

Mutilation.

[crowd cheering]

We weren't gonna be denied.

It didn't matter who we
played, we weren't gonna

lose that game.

We felt that from the
newspapers to the sports

casters to the
politicians, we were all

one...

from battle ground
to common ground.

New England, tough luck,
better luck next year...

That's the way it is.

The Patriots had no chance.

I mean the Bears was an
avalanche of Chicago doing

whatever they wanted to do.

We were the better
football team.

If they kept playing this
forward it would've been

about 200 to 10.

Well usually when that
happens the better

football team wins.

I think the greatest thing
about the Super Bowl,

every guy on that squad
got a chance to play.

Everybody.

They were good,
don't get me wrong...

but our defense took all
the starch out of their offense.

Coach took out all the
starters in the third

quarter, you know, because
we don't get there without

each other and that's what
it's really all about.

Like I said it's been a
long time coming and we're

gonna celebrate.

It's over, we've finally
done it, we're at the top

of the hill and
congratulations Chicago

you deserve it.

[Cheers in background]
[speaking indistinctly]

You're always the
second fiddle...

[fans roaring]

So now he's got a weird
little frontpage story

around the world and
that was by a tremendous

amount of hard work
and dedication and an

organization that
deserves some credit.

Who's left? London?

You know, whatever, we'll
take on anybody.

You looked up and they
were celebrating and

carrying off on the shoulder.

Buddy was just a great
coach that did a great job

and he did a great
job for us then.

He really did.

Greatness to me is when
you are able to bring

desire to play for one another.

That kind of pride and
love it's a very difficult

thing to find and so
it really comes unfair

because there's so much in
sync and there's so much

chemistry when they get
together it's an explosion

and I think when you look
at the '85 Bears that's

what you see...

that's what was in the huddle.

...that's what took us
from one game to the other...

that's what took us
to the Super Bowl.

Look I think we're one
of the best teams to have

ever played in this game before.

We gotta admit.

[Reporter]
How does it feel in your hands?

Notice how I sort of... I keep
hefting it?

That's a beautiful trophy
and it feels just good...

When champions win...

the people put the
champions on their

shoulders - he is the
champion - but you're just

a champion until the
next ball game...

but heroes put the people
on their shoulders...

we were on the shoulders
of the Bears It's a great

time in America.

The Bears won the Super Bowl.

[crowd cheers and whistles]

As a fan watching the
game and as somebody who

watches football for a
living, I remember thinking

as the score crept up...

Walter hasn't scored.

At that time I don't think
anybody even thought about it.

You know, I mean it wasn't
like if we would have

thought about it all the
offensive line would have

said give me the ball
thirty times in a row.

That still stings We
realized very quickly

afterwards it was a huge
deal to him, a huge deal.

Walter had a child's pride
and a child's ego and a

child's drive in a good way.

Not childish, but a childlike...

and it really hurt him and
I know that might be Mike

Ditka's biggest regret.

It was kind of my
fault in a sense.

I didn't think it
was that important.

I mean when you put 46
points on the board, to a

lot of people...

I didn't think it was that
important and I found out

it was to Walter and that
bothered me afterward.

You know I was at the game
it didn't seem like a big

deal at all to me as an
observer. We all know who

Walter Payton was we all
knew he was an instant

hall-of-famer...

...and the best running
back in NFL history never

scored in a Super Bowl.

I mean, to me that
was a tragedy.

I don't think...

at the time we're just
doing our job and we're

just trying to get the
job done and bought for

whatever, but I think
there were so many

opportunities for him
to score touchdowns.

I don't know who
masterminded that but you

know, that should
have never happened.

Later on in life it was
one of the things I had to

say to him that you're the
greatest running back in

the NFL but I just caught
a touchdown in the Super

Bowl and you didn't.

And his response
wasn't very nice.

I just hated that that
attached itself to Walter.

If you look at it on film
when we watched the film

afterwards, it's
interesting because you

know when when Walter would...

when we'd fake it to
Walter on a play action,

half the defense would
go over there and their

number one game plan was
to stop Walter Payton.

And we all knew he
was a decoy too.

You know if Matt Suhey was
going to take the ball

because there's five guys
watching Payton so be it.

You know, appreciate just
your role there Walter.

There's nothing I could
have done about it, I

really couldn't.

I guess yeah there's
something I could have

done about it - I could
have called the the

running play to him four
or five times once we got

down there...

I just wish I could think
what I'm feel now but I

can't I just want the fans
to know that I really

appreciate them standing
by me and all the love

that they've given me and
showed me through getting here.

He was sad, you know he
wanted that for himself

and I wish he would have
told us that, that he

wanted that but he was
such a private person that

he never would
have said anything.

I'm so glad and proud of
him that he came out and

he talked even though he
was upset because things

aren't always gonna go
your way and he taught me that.

Walter Payton had done
so much to get the Bears

there and he'd done so
much to condition players

to win.

He conditioned players to
play and his point was

when you get knocked down
you're measured up by how

fast you run, by how fast get
up and even though you're down

sometimes, the ground is
no place for a champion.

Still some people aren't
over the touchdown in the

Super Bowl.

To me that's not, you
know, that big a deal I

mean he is great a player
as he was, he finally got

the ultimate team prize in
winning the Super Bowl and

and he has his teammates
and Ditka and the '85

Bears to thank for it.

I wish I could have
been a little better and

understood it a little
better because of course I

would've handed it to him.

It didn't matter to me.

And you could just sort
of see his face and it

just...

I sort of never got over it.

By me being a
perfectionist, didn't take

away from the game,
something else takes away

from it.

But like I said, I don't
wanna talk about it right

now because
we won. I wanna be happy.

..and my son here got the chance
to see me play in my first

Super Bowl and we won it.

That's all that matters.

[interviewer]
Did you and him discuss it

afterwards?
- Yeah we talked about it.

[interviewer]
What was that discussion?

- Well he was hurt by
it, because I think it means

something to score a
touchdown in the Super Bowl.

I mean it does and
you know, I scored one when I

was a player so I gave
it to Walter so he had his.

♪ Music fades out

[cheers] [marching band]

There was 45,000 people
lined up in the streets at

a parade in a sub-zero weather.

It showed you how
dedicated those people

were.. how our fans were
and how excited they were

and they'd do the
same thing this year.

If the Bears won the
Super Bowl and it were 20-30

below zero, they would be there.

Because that's who they are.

This is a big deal for
Chicago and it was really

big.

I was one of the guys
doing the pro ball and we

didn't go back for the
parade and that's one of

my biggest regrets.

[loud cheers]
It's been a great day!

We're number one!
We're number one!

We're number oooone!

And I just wish we would
have said we're going back

for the parade and we'll
get there when we gotta

get there.

[Applause]
Hey you just make your plans

for
Pasadena 'cos that's where we're

stopping
next year. On more time...

[loud cheers and screams]

would just like to say thank you
for your support, its a whole

team at city effort.

[Applause and cheers]

We brought the
championship home to Chicago.

Thank you.

[narrator] The Bears had won the

Super Bowl, a proud city

had paraded their victors
and two decades of sports

failure was replaced in
an instant with newfound

pride and swagger.

[news reporter 1]
This is a live picture...

let me repeat because this
story is a breaking story.

This is launch control at
t-minus 2 hours 28 minutes and

counting, here comes the
51 all flight crew boarding the

elevator.

[news reporter 2]
You can finally hear the

excitement here
at the Kennedy Space center...

[narrator]
On January 28 1986 just two days

after Chicago's heralded victory

-[radio] 3,2,1 and liftoff!

Liftoff of the 25th
space shuttle mission...

[narrator]
...NASA launched its space

shuttle Challenger.

[indistinct radio announcement]

[indistinct radio announcement]
Challenger, go at throttle up.

[blowout]

[crowd screaming]

[President Ronald Reagan]
Today is a day for mourning

and remembrance.

Nancy and I are in pain to
the core about the tragedy

of the shuttle Challenge.

We know we share
this pain with all of the

people of our country.

This is truly a national
loss. It's all part of the

process of exploration
and discovery - taking a

chance and expanding
man's horizons.

The future doesn't belong
to the faint-hearted.

[newscaster 1]
There are two separate

fumes
of smoke in the shuttle uh...

we can't tell which one
the shuttle is now.

They've separated...

[radio broadcaster]
...flight controllers here

looking very carefully at the

situation. Obviously
a major malfunction...

[radio broadcaster 2]
Flight's auto.

Our SO reports vehicle exploded.

[radio broadcaster 3]
There's absolutely no

sign of the Challenger.

[President Reagan]
..their dedication was complete.

The crew of the space
shuttle Challenger honored

us for the manner in which
they lived their lives.

We will never forget them
nor the last time we saw

them as they prepared for
their journey and waved

goodbye, and slipped the
surly bonds of Earth to

touch the face of God.

[narrator]
Chicago's Super Bowl celebration

was understandably cut
short as Bears fans joined

fellow Americans in
mourning the tragedy that

fell upon our seven
brave astronauts.

♪ Music fades out

The Bears somewhat
epitomized our sense of

coming together and just
the city coming together

around ultimately, where
black, white, brown found

common ground.

The Bears is the common
ground and that's the

thing about athletics that's

so magnetic.

They all came from
different backgrounds

perfect example of
what a team should be.

Different backgrounds,
different schools, love of

the game that had to
join together in one purpose,

one focus and when
theball was snapped...

they were all one and
they were bigger than life.

The team has been back to
Super Bowl one time but it

hasn't won so that
triumphant, defiant team

coming back to the city
after winning something

like that...

we haven't seen with the Bears.

I don't think there is a
member of that team that

that people don't celebrate.

Their memory is going to
be exalted until something

else comes along to take
its place and nothing

really has come close.

We weren't just football
players - we were

entertainers too.

We were all over this
town, radio, TV, gaffing

and making jokes...

And it was one of the
first times that you saw

people off the field.

You know, we didn't have
our helmets on and you saw

these characters and they
were real and they were

interesting and they were fun.

Hail the damn
Super Bowl shuffle.

I still have people to
this day come up to tell

me I loved you in the
Super Bowl shuffle...

and I wasn't in the damn thing.

They obviously liked what
they did and we had a very

dynamic head coach.

I mean today I know that
most Bear fans know the

offensive line for the '85
team and they don't know

the team today.

You know, everybody was
just their own individual

person and you know we
were lucky enough Mike let

us, for the most part
he let us be ourselves.

And so slowly what you saw
with these bears was not

only championship caliber
football but you also saw

them bring the city
together in a way that I

really think had enormous
impact on the Renaissance

of Chicago.

You know the myth...

it's the myth that
gets larger than life.

♪ Music fades out

[narrator]
All teams, all families,

no matter how great must

eventually suffer some loss.

While a defeat on the
playing field can be

difficult to accept,
nothing is harder to

absorb than the loss of
a brother, a teammate, a friend.

The football world has
been rocked this week by

the sad death of a former star.

The Super Bowl-winning
safety Dave Duerson took

his own life convinced
that the despair he faced

was caused in part by the
damage he suffered on the

football field...

and as Sharon Alfonze
reports he wanted other

football players to think
hard about the dangers

they face.

I think when people look
back on this Bears team

with all the personalities
and players who gave their

heart and soul and their
bodies to the success of

this team that the tragedy
is Dave Duerson and how

his life later ended.

Dave was a very bright player.

Dave was from Indiana -
a rural town in Indiana.

Notre Dame, all-american,
all-pro defensive back...

and a series of forces
began to collide on him.

[commentator] ...the first four.

This one's for Giles...
intercepted by Duerson.

[reporter]
Teammates say Dave Duerson was

also
exceptionally smart and kind

which is
why they were shocked when

last week the 50 year
old killed himself with a

gunshot to the chest.

And I think at the
time when you think of the

80s we didn't have
the advances in medicine

and science that
that we have now for players.

I think when a member of
this greatest team ever,

arguably, all the sudden
decides to kill himself

and you know doctors say
this is what he had I

think it just crystallizes
the problem even more.

Mr. Duerson committed
suicide on February 17th

2011 he left a note and
text message asking for

his brain to be studied
reading, "please see that

my brain is given to the
NFL's brain Bank." He had

expressed concerns about
his mental health and he

shot himself in the chest
presumably to preserve his

brain for studies.

So yet another '85 Bear making a

contribution beyond the
playing field to science

and to longevity and Dave
Duerson would be a big

factor in changing the
nature of the game.

No more bell ringing, no
more playing this and no more

playing out of your head...

all of this kind of goes
back to how Dave Duerson's

situation has been handled.

Buddy Ryan was laid to rest
today in Lawrenceburg Kentucky.

The man who invented the
46 defense and helped the

Chicago Bears win
the 1985 Super Bowl.

You know there were so
many great parts of that

team you know... sure
the defense, Walter Payton,

Mike Ditka, the Fridge...

but I said you cannot tell
the story that they're the

greatest team of all time
without starting at Buddy Ryan.

Buddy was a big 'ol team wall.

He knew that no matter how much
of a genius he was, he knew

that no matter how strong
Hampton was, he knew that

no matter how smart
Fencik was, it really did

not matter if we did not
come together and played

as a team.

If you ask each and every
one of these players

they'll all echo the same
sentiment that no matter

what success they were
able to have, not only in

football but in the walk
of life, so much of it was

drawn from their
experiences with Buddy Ryan.

[narrator]
James David Buddy Ryan

changed the defensive
end of the game forever.

He will be missed by many
on and off the field.

There's a moment where we
were sitting at his office

and we're sitting there
and we're opening up these

bags of a mail from all
over the world. And I

turned and looked at
him and he was just...

had this look on his face
like, 'I had no clue...'

I go 'what do you
mean you had no clue?'

He goes, 'I had no clue that
I impacted all these people.'

You know, Walter
meant so much to me

throughout my life.

I always remember the
picture he took of my

grandmother. Payton's just
got this big genuine smile

and I was like I always
look at that thing...

that's probably the
50,000th picture that man

has taken and he just it
couldn't have been happier

to be with my bubby and be...

so when I recently had
my second daughter

we named her after him and
just because he really

does represent hard work
and you know kindness and

he just reminds me of one
of the happiest times in

my life which is watching
him play when I was a kid.

So yeah we named my
daughter Walter, Payton.

We named her Payton.

The kind of blue collar
mentality of Walter Payton

that was so Chicago.

Even before they got the
great team he was the guy

bucking the Oz and
I knew he was a real winner.

I knew what getting to
the Hall-of-Fame meant to him

and for him to have his
son induct him into the

Hall-of-Fame and that
moment that we shared on

the stage after I got done
and he hugged me... it was a

different type of hard.

Our top story is the
health of Walter Payton.

His friends, his teammates,
fans all call him 'Sweetness'

but there is
no sugarcoating the fact

that Payton is now facing
the challenge of his life.

At a news conference today
Walter and his doctor

explained that the Bear
great has been placed on

the waiting list for
a liver transplant.

To people that really
care about me, just continue to

pray. And for those who're
gonna say what they wanna

say, may God be with you also.

[Jarret Payton]
He was an unbelievable dad and I

actually get really upset
because I only got 19 years.

That's why life is so
sweet that you have to

kind of cherish every
single moment that you

have with people that you love.

In some ways that team was
like a comet across the sky.

It's a sports tragedy that
the Bears didn't repeat

when you think about how
long the city of Chicago

and fans had to wait for
them to finally get a

Super Bowl title, they do
that seems like they have

all the pieces in place to
repeat or at least be back

for more and it doesn't happen.

Even today if Buddy was
here I would say 'Buddy,

why don't you just
sacrifice being a head coach

for like two more
years.' We were just hoping

that team could have
stayed together a couple

more years because they
had all the right stuff.

I think it's one of
the great disappointments

in the history of
Chicago sports after one of the

greatest successes.

I guarantee you we
would have had three

championships in a row.

But in my opinion yeah if
Buddy Ryan had hung around

I think the Bears
would have been back.

We didn't look long-term
as an organization on an

investment on some great
group of guys that you

would never see together
again and because of that

our reign was short.

You never followed a guy
for trying to go to a head

coaching position from
an assistant position.

I'm very disappointed
that there was no dynasty in

'85, '86 when we won...

because at the time we won
the Super Bowl we were the

youngest team ever
to win a Super Bowl.

We averaged 24.5 years of
age which had never been

done before.

Why didn't we win more
Super Bowls? you know I...

I scratch my head and
wonder that myself.

The first thing we did
wrong was we dismantled a

lot of our football team.

When we won that first one
you figured we were going

to win two or
three or four more.

When you start taking key
pieces of the puzzle that

we put in the win and you
start getting rid of them...

We'd end up being like the
Steelers or the Patriots

in the sense of putting
together just a series of

great teams.

I wasn't for that, I've
said that and I'll say it again.

I think it's simple we
didn't have Jim McMahon

And we played three or
four games a week and our

practices were not easy..
[thumps on the ground]

We had pads on all the
time we were doing live

drills, live hitting
drills I mean it was... it was

just like a game.

If Jim McMahon would
have stayed healthy and

answered the bow
every game we would've

definitely won a
couple more Super Bowls.

It wears you out...

I think that's why we
didn't win anymore ball

games. You know a bunch
of stuff happened that you know

happens in sports
sometimes, a little bit of

bad luck.

I think the reality is
everybody wants a little

more, a little bigger
piece of the pie, a little more

money and you have to
try to control it - the guys

are out writing books
or doing shows and not focusing

on what got him
there in the first place.

We built that team around
those people and all of a

sudden they're not there
there...?

There was nothing like
salary caps so there was a group

of teams that could
dominate... so to me that's

the number one reason.

There's no other
single-season team that

you're like... that you
think of as a dynasty but the

'85 Bears you're like, to
the casual observer I'm

like 'they won a couple
Super Bowls right?'

well no we just won the
one but we were really good.

It was unfortunate that it
went away so quickly and

there were injuries and
Buddy left and you know

stuff kind of...

it just kind of went away
but that thing glowed for

years it still glows well
what are we talking about.

Sometimes things are
like a magnesium flare.

In other words they ignite
and it burns red-hot for a brief

period and then like
a flare it just kind of

tends to then disappear.

Just as David did with
Goliath and Samson did with the

Philistines they
had that special almost a

spiritual quality.

It's a shame that
team didn't win more.

It's inexplicable that
team didn't win more,

didn't win a playoff game.

What we could do was still
out there and I don't

think we ever accomplished it.

It's inexplicable, but the
way they just laid waste

to people - it's a source
of pride, it's a source of

pride for anybody who grew
up here during the lean years.

We really thought we had
the dynasty in the making.

They traded off some players
and the next year that did not

sit well for us but
it's a great team.

I think it makes you
appreciate when a team

does come together how
they have the kind of

success that that
'85 Bears team had.

If the Bears couldn't...
that's part of their tragic

and beautiful flaw

that they... it was like this
flower just boom boom and

that was it.

It wasn't coming back to
next year but for that

moment it was the most
amazing flower, the most

amazing display, most
amazing NFL team that I've

ever seen and the best.

[narrator]
The Bears had fallen short

in their quest for a dynasty.

While some of the '85 team
moved on, the pride of

their historic
accomplishments had earned

a permanent home
in the second city.

It was a great experience
to play here in Chicago

and finally win the Super
Bowl and how we did it was

pretty unique.

I think they're the
greatest team of all time

because of the
way they dominated.

Well the 1985 Bears were a
unique team for a lot of

different reasons.

I would say that the Bears
of '85 '86 are number 1, 2, 3...

1 through 8 all-time best teams.

The team was so good.

It was so good - 91 to 10
was the score in the playoffs.

...because you have to
consider the Bears of

December, you have to
consider the Super Bowl

shuffle Bears...

It was like fighting Mike
Tyson back in his heyday.

The fight was over
before it even started.

In the month of November
they outscored their

opponents 120 to 13.

Gotta consider the
preseason Bears...

They just beat 'em to a pole...

and we went through
offenses like that.

They all gotta be included.

These guys stand there
alone like kind of

monuments to a great past
that literally has not been

duplicated.

Who says who's the
greatest? I mean you can't

say it but to be one of
the great teams that

played in NFL history yeah
I could agree with that.

I would say that.

On the biggest stage in
the world there's been no

other team that has won by
that many points - no one

even comes close to them.

They have arguably the
best defense and the best

running back of all time.

When I look at the Bears I
look at greatness from a

whole 'nother level.

They were like the worst
team you've ever seen and

then they became the
best team of all time.

Not the greatest team. I'm not
gonna say the greatest team...

all the years I've been
associated with the NFL

just that '85 Bears
defense was the best unit

on the defensive side
without question in my

eyes - without question.

I know there's numbers
that support other ones,

no no no no. The Bears.

When you went out there
you could get embarrassed.

They could win the game
by themselves for real.

Whether or not we were the
best or the greatest, who knows?

That's for everybody
else to decide.

When I see John Madden
he always said...

gives a little smile and
says 'you guys are the

greatest team we ever saw.'

And so if he says we're
the greatest, who am I to

argue with him?

I'll do it like the president...

[Obama impression]
'It is a bid deal.'

[laughter in background]
'I love that team...'

'I was growing up
in Hopper Arkansas.'

'We used to watch
them all the time.'

'I love the Chicago Bears.'
I absolutely do I agree

with President Obama.

Single best team
to play football.

The Bears won games in a
dominant fashion I mean

they didn't just squeak by...

they trashed, they beat
you up, they stomped on

you, they walked away,
we're the Chicago Bears,

we're that good.

That's how they won games.

So whether they would beat
the '72 dolphins or not...

on head-to-head I don't
know but I think the Bears

defense would shine above
everything else in that

matchup and you would say
that's the best thing in

this football game.

I can say without
equivocation that the 1985

Bears, the Super Bowl
champs, the one in January

of '86 were the best
single-season team that I

think has ever been in the NFL.

President Obama welcomed
the Chicago Bears Super

Bowl 20 championship team
to the White House today.

They won the title 25
years ago but weren't able

to visit the White House
because the space shuttle

Challenger exploded just
days after their victory.

[President Obama]
Ladies and gentlemen

the greatest team in NFL
history, the 1985 Chicago Bears.

[audience applause and cheers]
[barking in background]

Richard dent told me hey
you know I've been talking

to Barack Obama you know
we're gonna get to the

White House and I
was like 'what?'

This is as much fun as I
will have as president the

United States right here.

This is one of the perks
of the job right here.

After this team won the
Super Bowl, it never had a

chance to celebrate here
in the White House.

The moment for the Bears
to visit the White House

was postponed and the
years went by but shortly

after I took office
someone at the NFL

realized hey there's a
Bears fan living in the

White House. And so today
I'm proud to say to the

players, to the coaches,
to the staff of the 1985

Bears, welcome to the
White House for this

well-deserved and
long overdue recognition.

[applause]

The fact that Walter Payton
wasn't there, Dave Duerson

wasn't there, I
think made it a little

melancholy but I think
everybody who was there

was reminded of what a
cultural force they had been.

To be able to hear
President of the United States

talk passionately
about your team and then

looking out over, you
know, towards the

Washington Monument - it
was a gorgeous day -

it was just a great experience.

To work in the White
House, you know you'll run

into world leaders,
four-star generals, whoever,

just on your way to the
restroom so you try to act

like you've been through it
before, you act professional -

but you know when the '85
Bears came to town I just

kind of dropped all that
and I ran across to the

White House gift shop,
bought this ball grabbed

this sharpie for my
assistant I went outside

and just started asking all
the guys they would sign this.

We were excited because he
really welcomed us with

open arms he told us the
entire house was ours, we

could do what we want to -
just don't tear things up.

With zero pretense of
being professional

whatsoever and they were
all super nice and they did.

And he's talking about aw
I know Richard, I know Otis...

and he looked
at me and he goes...

and I thought he
forgot my name. Oh gosh.

And we were just taking
pictures of everything and

pictures near this
painting and pictures in

this library and pictures...

I mean it was a lot of fun
- and he goes I know Fencik

and I go alright!

If the white house goes up
in flames this will be the

one thing that I save
out of my office.

Some of you may remember
that back in 2004 when I

was running for the Senate
some people were trying to

draft Ditka to run against me.

I will admit I was
a little worried.

He was very comical, had a
good time meeting him and

he knew who I was he said
'Willie Gault man you

lucky you still could run
and you were one of the

fastest men ever...'
so it was great.

We had a great time it was
great just to see all the

people there and get
together with the guys again.

You know by the time we
visited I think one of the

moving things was the fact
that you know Buddy Ryan came...

Coach Ryan's 46 defense
changed football forever.

Nobody had ever seen
anything like it, nobody knew

what to do with it,
and with the talent he had

on the defensive side
of the ball there wasn't

anything other teams
could do about it.

Buddy Ryan was in pretty
bad shape at that point

but he had really been the
engineer of that defense

and you could tell how
moved he was to be able to

participate.

This was the defense that
set the standard and it is

still the standard.

This team changed
everything for every team

that came on after,
on and off the field.

They changed the
laws of football.

They were gritty, they
were gutsy, they were

hard-working, they were
fun-loving, sort of how

Chicagoans like to
think of themselves.

I think everybody who was
there was reminded of what

what a cultural force they
had been not just for

Chicago but ultimately for
the country as a whole.

And Chicago has always
been a die-hard football

town but this team did
something to our city that

we've never gotten over.
We love the Bears.

At the end of that trip
wow we really appreciated

the moment a lot more than
we would have if we had

done that six months after
the original Super Bowl.

Knowing that my
grandparents were farmers

and their parents were
slaves, to be able to get

to a white house
and meet that first

African-American president
I was proud beyond belief

and even though you know
how busy the man is and

within a very tight window...

just proud to be
at the white house

Congratulations to all of
you, thank you for helping

to bring our city together.

Stick around guys and
enjoy yourselves but as I

mentioned back there don't
break anything and keep

your eyes on McMahon.

[laughter]

Better teams come along
that had better talent,

but none had had the
heart of the '85 Bears.

It had been great for
football and I think it'd

been great for the
city of Chicago.

It was good for the
country and for, you know,

a young kid who was just
starting off in a career of

public service it was a
great diversion and a way

to keep me going and so I
sure expressed how much I

appreciated them.

I think it just made the
city, you know, the whole

second city thing I don't
think he ever heard of it

anymore after that.

I think people used to
believe that that was true

and I think that that was
such a dominant event that

I've never thought of Chicago
as a second city ever again.

I don't think a lot of
people ever did again.

I think what they did
said, 'be careful, because

we can do anything. Anything.'

[interviewer]
If the team had stayed together,

do you think you would have

won more championships?

[laughs]
There's no doubt about it.

Absolutely no doubt about it.
None.

♪ Music fades out

♪♪

♪ Upon big shoulders Chicago
rise ♪

♪ They are the south league crew
from '85 ♪

♪ They are the champions
* They got the stuff

♪ To win the Super Bowl
* You gotta be tough

♪ Gonna go from town to town...

♪ You just can't keep
a great team down... ♪

♪ You gotta shuffle on
* You gotta shuffle on

♪ The shuffling crew,
is on the attack ♪

♪ The Bears are back
* The Bears are back

♪ You gotta shuffle on
* You gotta shuffle on

♪ In every tackle,
In every set ♪

♪ The Bears are back
* The Bears are back

♪ It's a party
* Played just for you

♪ Like in the colors
of waltz and blue ♪

♪ That Chicago spirit
just can't be tamed ♪

♪ With you the force of will
at every game ♪

♪ On the rise and glory bound

♪ They're gonna shuffle in to
your town... ♪

♪ You gotta shuffle on
* You gotta shuffle on

♪ The shuffling crew,
is on the attack ♪

♪ The Bears are back
* The Bears are back

♪ You gotta shuffle on
* You gotta shuffle on