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The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The Bears have won nine NFL Championships, eight prior to the AFL–NFL merger and one Super Bowl. They also hold the NFL records for the most enshrinees in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the most retired jersey numbers. The Bears' NFL championships and overall victories are second behind the Green Bay Packers, with whom they have a long-standing rivalry.
Super Bowl XX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1985 season. The Bears defeated the Patriots by the score of 46–10, capturing their first NFL championship since 1963, three years prior to the birth of the Super Bowl. Super Bowl XX was played on January 26, 1986, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.
William Anthony Perry is an American former football defensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons, primarily with the Chicago Bears. Nicknamed "the Refrigerator", he played college football for the Clemson Tigers, where he was named ACC Player of the Year, and was selected by the Bears in the first round of the 1985 NFL draft. Perry gained popularity during his rookie season as a member of the 1985 Bears team that won the franchise's first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XX. During the season, Perry occasionally played fullback in goal line situations and set the then-record for the heaviest player to score a touchdown at 335 lb (152 kg). He remains the heaviest player to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl and has the largest Super Bowl ring at size 23 or more.
Michael Keller Ditka is an American former professional football player, coach, and television commentator. During his playing career, he was UPI NFL Rookie of Year in 1961, a five-time Pro Bowl selection, and a six-time All-Pro tight end with the Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles, and Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL); he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988. Ditka was the first tight end in NFL history to reach 1,000 yards receiving.
James David "Buddy" Ryan was an American football coach in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL). During his 35-season coaching career, Ryan served as the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1986 to 1990, and of the Arizona Cardinals from 1994 to 1995. Ryan also served as the defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears from 1978 to 1985, and of the Houston Oilers in 1993. Coaching multiple Hall of Fame defensive players throughout his career, Ryan is considered by many to be one of the greatest defensive minds in the history of American football.
Michael Singletary, nicknamed "Samurai Mike", is an American former professional football player and coach. He played as a linebacker for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football for the Baylor Bears, Singletary was selected by the Bears in the second round of the 1981 NFL draft and was known as "the Heart of the Defense" for their Monsters of the Midway defense in the mid-1980s. He was part of their Super Bowl XX championship team that beat the New England Patriots. Singletary was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1995 and into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998.
James Paul "Jimbo" Covert is an American former professional football offensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons with the Chicago Bears. He played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers, earning consensus All-American honors. He was selected in the first round of the 1983 NFL draft.
Otis Ray Wilson is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Bears and the Los Angeles Raiders. He won a Super Bowl as a member of the 1985 Chicago Bears. He is also the father of former Cincinnati Bengals running back Quincy Wilson. He is married to Tina Glover Wilson.
The 1985 season was the Chicago Bears' 66th in the National Football League (NFL) and their fourth under head coach Mike Ditka.
The 1983 season was the Chicago Bears' 64th in the National Football League, and their second under head coach Mike Ditka. The team improved from their 3–6 record from 1982 to finish at 8–8, but to failed to make the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. Jim McMahon was the quarterback, who completed 175 of 295 pass attempts. The Bears 1983 NFL draft class was ranked #3 in NFL Top 10's greatest draft classes.
The 1982 season was the Chicago Bears' strike shortened 63rd season in the National Football League, and their first under head coach Mike Ditka. The team failed to improve on their 6–10 record from 1981 to finish at 3–6 and failed to make the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
The 1984 season was the Chicago Bears' 65th in the National Football League the 15th post-season completed in the NFL, and their third under head coach Mike Ditka. The team improved from their 8–8 record from 1983, to a 10–6 record, earning them a spot in the NFL playoffs. The Bears went on to lose in the NFC Championship Game 23–0 to the eventual Super Bowl Champion San Francisco 49ers led by Joe Montana.
The 1989 Chicago Bears season was their 70th regular season completed in the National Football League. The Bears were looking to win the NFC Central for a sixth consecutive season, but instead finished with a 6–10 record and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1983. The Bears’ offseason moves prior to this season had consequences for years afterward as the pieces from Super Bowl XX’s team slowly began to leave or retire.
The 1992 Chicago Bears season was their 73rd regular season completed in the National Football League (NFL). The Bears were looking to get back into the playoffs for a third straight year and improve on their 11–5 2nd place finish in the NFC Central Division. The Bears started the season with a 4–3 record but ended up losing eight of their remaining nine games, including six straight, and finished a disappointing 5–11, tied for last in the NFC Central with the Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bears' poor record resulted in Head Coach Mike Ditka being fired on January 5, 1993 after eleven seasons. Dave Wannstedt, who was serving as the Dallas Cowboys' defensive coordinator, was hired to take his place. Ditka teams went 106–62, and made the playoffs in seven out of 11 seasons since 1982, including a win in Super Bowl XX in 1985, with what is considered the best defense of all time. He would return to coaching in 1997 as a head coach of the New Orleans Saints.
Robert Herber Parsons was an American professional football punter and tight end who played twelve seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Chicago Bears from 1972 to 1983 and later played with the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League (USFL).
Alex Groncier Gordon is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) from 1987 through 1993. He played college football for the Cincinnati Bearcats. Gordon was initiated into the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity at Cincinnati, through the Psi Theta chapter.
Leonard Cornilus Floyd is an American professional football defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia and was selected by the Chicago Bears in the first round of the 2016 NFL draft.
The Ricky Williams trade was a trade between the New Orleans Saints and Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL), which occurred prior to the 1999 NFL draft. Mike Ditka of the Saints wanted to move up in the draft order from the twelfth overall pick to ensure that he would be able to select Ricky Williams from the University of Texas at Austin. To do so, his team traded every pick it had in the draft, plus two of its first three picks in the 2000 NFL draft, for the fifth overall pick, with which it selected Williams.
References
- ↑ "1987 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
- ↑ "Bosworth, 1985 Sooners honored Saturday". Fox Sports . October 3, 2015. Retrieved September 9, 2016.
- ↑ Kiley, Mike (August 10, 1987). "Bear Rookie Linebacker Makes An Impact On Ditka". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved September 9, 2016.
- ↑ "Bears Bits". Chicago Sun-Times . December 8, 1987. Archived from the original on October 8, 2016 – via HighBeam Research.
