The '85 Bears: We Were the Greatest by Mike Ditka, Rick Telander Page A
Authors: Mike Ditka, Rick Telander
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“negative things about our offense.” That made me smile a little. But we already had gotten the last laugh.
We had that 26–10 lead, and our defense had stopped them again, naturally, and we were running out the clock to end the game. Well, let’s pause for a moment.
“The problem was Buddy saw this as a slap in the face. That wasn’t how I meant it. It just made us a better football team.”
—Ditka on Fridge playing offense
I remembered when Walsh put that big load McIntyre in the backfield the year before, and how I didn’t much appreciate it. Plus, I like to be a little—what do you want to call it?—creative? So I called Fridge over, and we had a little conference. He was at attention and was like, “Okay, Coach! Yessir, Coach!” I told him to go in and tell McMahon he was running the ball. Just grab the ball, hold it like a sack of money, and head south. We hadn’t practiced Fridge running or put anything in the playbook about it. But the guys might have had an idea I was going to try something different. Perry went thundering off at full speed, screaming to the ref that he was reporting to the backfield and yelling to McMahon that he was now a running back. I didn’t know what Buddy was thinking about this, but what the hell. If the defense isn’t going to use this guy, I’m gonna. I knew Bill Walsh would appreciate it.
So McMahon gave Perry the ball, and Fridge crashed straight into the line. Our offensive linemen were terrified he might fall on them. Hilgenberg used a cut block on his man just to get down and out of the way. We gave the ball to Fridge on the next play, too, and it was just another huge collision. I don’t think the defenders knew what the hell was happening. I know they weren’t crazy about tackling Big Bill. Their safety Carlton Williamson said afterward he personally was “a little upset about it.”
Hey, screw ’em! It’s football. If you can kick somebody’s ass, shouldn’t you do it? It was revenge for me. Yeah, I’ll admit it. A little bit. Maybe a lot. Even though my first thought about using Fridge back there was this big fellow can really block. I’d watch him in sprints in practice, and for the first five yards or so there was all this dirt flying up from under his shoes. Looked like a roto-tiller. I didn’t like it when they used McIntyre in the backfield against us, that’s for sure. So here’s a response.
Buddy had his favorites, which is okay, because he was one of those old coaches who believes you have to earn your spurs and that rookies generally can’t play. He really believed players had to earn the right to be out there. Being the first draft choice, like Perry, meant nothing to him. But Buddy was dead wrong about Perry and his abilities. Buddy didn’t even want us to draft him. He called him “Fatso” or just “Number 72.” Fine, I’ll take the big kid. And I did.
The problem was Buddy saw this as a slap in the face. That wasn’t how I meant it. It just made us a better football team, I thought. Okay, and it was fun. I guarantee you goal-line practices became a lot more fun with Fridge back there. And I startedthinking of other things to do with him. Back then, remember, a huge player was like 275 pounds. Three-fourteen? Three-thirty? It was crazy.
So now we are all the rage. We are the sideshow. It had been building, and the Minnesota game got everybody’s attention, and McMahon and Payton and Singletary were pretty well known. But this was big. In four days we’re going to be on the cover of
Sports Illustrated.
Well, McMahon was on it, throwing a pass over a San Francisco player, above the headline, “BEARS ON THE PROWL: Jim McMahon Leads Undefeated Chicago Past the 49ers.”
“A lot of people thought it was nuts when I was hired to coach the team. But when Mr. Halas hired me, he didn’t hire me for Xs and Os. He hired me because I was a Bear.”
—Ditka
I felt pretty good. I felt I had redeemed our team from the
We had that 26–10 lead, and our defense had stopped them again, naturally, and we were running out the clock to end the game. Well, let’s pause for a moment.
“The problem was Buddy saw this as a slap in the face. That wasn’t how I meant it. It just made us a better football team.”
—Ditka on Fridge playing offense
I remembered when Walsh put that big load McIntyre in the backfield the year before, and how I didn’t much appreciate it. Plus, I like to be a little—what do you want to call it?—creative? So I called Fridge over, and we had a little conference. He was at attention and was like, “Okay, Coach! Yessir, Coach!” I told him to go in and tell McMahon he was running the ball. Just grab the ball, hold it like a sack of money, and head south. We hadn’t practiced Fridge running or put anything in the playbook about it. But the guys might have had an idea I was going to try something different. Perry went thundering off at full speed, screaming to the ref that he was reporting to the backfield and yelling to McMahon that he was now a running back. I didn’t know what Buddy was thinking about this, but what the hell. If the defense isn’t going to use this guy, I’m gonna. I knew Bill Walsh would appreciate it.
So McMahon gave Perry the ball, and Fridge crashed straight into the line. Our offensive linemen were terrified he might fall on them. Hilgenberg used a cut block on his man just to get down and out of the way. We gave the ball to Fridge on the next play, too, and it was just another huge collision. I don’t think the defenders knew what the hell was happening. I know they weren’t crazy about tackling Big Bill. Their safety Carlton Williamson said afterward he personally was “a little upset about it.”
Hey, screw ’em! It’s football. If you can kick somebody’s ass, shouldn’t you do it? It was revenge for me. Yeah, I’ll admit it. A little bit. Maybe a lot. Even though my first thought about using Fridge back there was this big fellow can really block. I’d watch him in sprints in practice, and for the first five yards or so there was all this dirt flying up from under his shoes. Looked like a roto-tiller. I didn’t like it when they used McIntyre in the backfield against us, that’s for sure. So here’s a response.
Buddy had his favorites, which is okay, because he was one of those old coaches who believes you have to earn your spurs and that rookies generally can’t play. He really believed players had to earn the right to be out there. Being the first draft choice, like Perry, meant nothing to him. But Buddy was dead wrong about Perry and his abilities. Buddy didn’t even want us to draft him. He called him “Fatso” or just “Number 72.” Fine, I’ll take the big kid. And I did.
The problem was Buddy saw this as a slap in the face. That wasn’t how I meant it. It just made us a better football team, I thought. Okay, and it was fun. I guarantee you goal-line practices became a lot more fun with Fridge back there. And I startedthinking of other things to do with him. Back then, remember, a huge player was like 275 pounds. Three-fourteen? Three-thirty? It was crazy.
So now we are all the rage. We are the sideshow. It had been building, and the Minnesota game got everybody’s attention, and McMahon and Payton and Singletary were pretty well known. But this was big. In four days we’re going to be on the cover of
Sports Illustrated.
Well, McMahon was on it, throwing a pass over a San Francisco player, above the headline, “BEARS ON THE PROWL: Jim McMahon Leads Undefeated Chicago Past the 49ers.”
“A lot of people thought it was nuts when I was hired to coach the team. But when Mr. Halas hired me, he didn’t hire me for Xs and Os. He hired me because I was a Bear.”
—Ditka
I felt pretty good. I felt I had redeemed our team from the
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