Forty years ago, the Chicago Bears were off to their best start in four decades. The impressive season ended with a Super Bowl win in New Orleans.
Here’s a look back at the 1985 season, captured in 10 key moments.
Jan. 6, 1985
The Bears lost 23-0 to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship at Candlestick Park. The shutout was the first against the Bears since a 10-0 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sept. 19, 1982, in Mike Ditka’s second game as head coach. The two best teams of the regular season — the 49ers (15-1) and the Miami Dolphins (14-2) — advanced to Super Bowl XIX.
“No offense, not enough defense,” Don Pierson wrote in the Tribune. “It was not the kind of link to the past the Bears were trying to establish.”
Yet, 49ers coach Bill Walsh called the Bears “the team to beat next year,” with quarterback Jim McMahon expected to return from a lacerated left kidney he suffered Nov. 4, 1984, against the Oakland Raiders.
“I appreciate that,” Ditka said. “I apologize to our fans and to the team. We’ll be back. The 49ers are a better football team than us right now. They just beat the butt off us, that’s all.”
April 30, 1985
The Bears’ top pick in the 1985 NFL draft was a surprise to just about everybody. Clemson defensive tackle William “Refrigerator” Perry was chosen by Ditka with a “gut feeling,” the coach told reporters. An ESPN commentator called Perry a 10th-rounder.
“What are we going to do with him?” Bears defensive tackle Dan Hampton said. “They must be thinking of a trade.”
But maybe the Bears were onto something. Reports said Perry could jump and even dunk a basketball. Bears defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan said Perry reminded him of middle linebacker Mike Singletary — one of the team’s most respected players. In the Bears’ “46” defense, Ryan said Perry could play left tackle — Steve McMichael’s position — and Hampton could stay over the nose.
Still, there were concerns about Perry’s conditioning and weight, which was estimated between 350-370 pounds. Despite a celebratory trip to Carson’s, where he downed four full slabs of ribs, Perry was confident he would be in shape for the season.
“I’ve been big since I’ve been little,” he said.
Summer 1985
Safety Todd Bell and linebacker Al Harris were among a dozen free agents — including offensive tackle Keith Van Horne, and tight end Emery Moorehead and McMichael — who the Bears pursued after the 1984 season.
Bell, who made $77,000 (or roughly $238,000 in today’s dollars) in 1984, was selected for the Pro Bowl and earned other postseason honors. Harris made $145,000 (or $448,000 in today’s dollars). Both were part of the defense that ranked first in the league in 1984. Both veterans skipped Bears minicamp in May 1985. And both were still in contract talks as training camp began in Platteville, Wisconsin, in July 1985.
“Anybody who doesn’t come to camp is foolish,” Ditka said. “There’s an old saying, ‘Out of sight, out of mind.’ You can only evaluate what you see.”
To emphasize his point, Ditka said the Bears would give opportunities to Dave Duerson at safety, Ron Rivera at middle linebacker and Wilber Marshall (the team’s first-round draft pick in 1984) at outside linebacker. Otis Wilson, Bears linebacker, would also get an opportunity to play.
One by one, the holdouts signed a new contract with the team — except for Bell and Harris. The Bears withdrew their final contract offers to them in early September 1985, and no communication was made after the trade deadline on Oct. 15. As of Nov. 23, neither could play for the Bears during the season.
Sept. 19, 1985
With his back aching and his right leg infected, McMahon talked his way into the game and produced one of the most dramatic quarterback performances in team history. McMahon convinced Ditka to let him replace Steve Fuller with 7 minutes, 22 seconds left in the third quarter and the Bears trailing 17-9. McMahon threw three touchdown passes in seven throws in the third quarter to lead the Bears to a 33-24 comeback victory over the Vikings in Minnesota.
What might have be more remarkable was that none of the touchdown passes were planned.
“The first play I almost fell on my face. I felt like a fool and thought, ‘What a start,’” McMahon said after the game. “It was a blitz, and luckily Willie (Gault) was looking, so I threw it up. It was supposed to be a screen pass to Matt Suhey.”
McMahon spent the previous Tuesday on the bleachers at practice chatting with his idol, ABC-TV commentator Joe Namath, while his teammates worked out.
“That’s why I wanted to play,” McMahon said. “He was doing a thing on me at halftime about me keeping healthy, and here I am sitting down. I was glad to get in and show him I could still play.”
Oct. 13, 1985
It was a rematch of the NFC championship, but this time the Bears beat the 49ers 26-10. It was the first time since 1942 that a Bears team started the season 6-0.
Nov. 3, 1985
Walter Payton’s 27-yard touchdown with 10:31 left in the game secured a 16-10 win against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field and kept the Bears undefeated.
“He was the perfume in a game that was nasty before it started,” Tribune reporter Don Pierson wrote. “When the Bears arrived at Lambeau Field, a bag of fertilizer awaited them in the locker room with a signed note from a Wisconsin radio station: ‘Here’s what you guys are full of.’”
Dec. 2, 1985
The Bears proved convincingly to be human in the game against the Miami Dolphins at the Orange Bowl — and before a “Monday Night Football” national television audience.
They gave up 31 points in the first half to the Dolphins, the most by a Bears team in 201 games, dating back to the 1972 season opener. Ditka screamed in frustration at defensive coordinator Ryan on the sidelines.
1985 Bears-Dolphins on Monday Night Football: A perfect season evaporated
Miami rolled to a 38-24 victory, dropping the Bears to 12-1.
But while others tried to blame the first Bears’ loss on everything from too many automobile commercials to too much “Refrigerator,” overconfidence to overexposure, Ditka and Ryan preferred to pin it on the dullest and truest reason in the book: simple execution.
”I made a statement to the team that I believe: Nobody has beat us yet. We beat ourselves,” Ditka said.
”We beat ourselves,” echoed Ryan.
Dec. 3, 1985
Ten Bears nicknamed “The Shufflin’ Crew” — Willie Gault, Richard Dent, Mike Richardson, Otis Wilson, Gary Fencik, Walter Payton, Jim McMahon, Steve Fuller, Mike Singletary and William Perry — recorded the “Super Bowl Shuffle” at Park West in Chicago. Dan Hampton and Steve McMichael refused to take part in the video.
The song was written and produced by Red Label Records, with a portion of the proceeds going to charity.
“Look, if George Halas was coaching this team, you know what he’d do with the ‘Super Bowl Shuffle?’” Ditka said. “He’d take a copy of it, call a team meeting, then put it on the floor and jump all over it. But this is a different era. If I walk into a lounge the night before a game, and a player’s in there having a beer, what am I gonna do? Fine him? So he goes to his room and has a beer.
“Heck, we have beer at our team meal on Saturday nights. We didn’t have any beer in 1963. You make up all sorts of rules, and it just creates rebellion. You have to be flexible. You can’t legislate the way you used to. This team is loosey-goosey, yeah. But when it comes to play on Sunday, they’re ready. I don’t worry about all that other stuff.”
Dec. 22, 1985
Marshall decked Joe Ferguson in the first quarter, causing the quarterback to lie motionless for several minutes on the field at the Silverdome before he exited the game. Dennis Gentry had a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open the second half. Perry recovered a fumble and ran 59 yards with it to set up the Bears’ final touchdown.
The Bears beat the Detroit Lions 37-17, but there was frustration and nervousness afterward.
For the second year in a row, the defense let the Lions spoil its quest to lead the league in pass defense. The Lions’ 17 points kept the Bears from breaking the 16-game record of 195 points set by the Steelers in 1978. The Bears allowed 198.
Twice, McMahon threw interceptions near the goal line. Singletary left the game in the third quarter with a knee injury.
Ditka predicted the Bears would be the underdogs in the playoffs. “Say I’m concerned. Say I’m terrified. Anything you want,” he said.
Jan. 26, 1986
Was anyone really concerned the Bears would falter under the bright lights? They won Super Bowl XX decisively — 46-10.
“Their destruction of the New England Patriots was so complete it went beyond Super Bowl proportions and recalled only the record 73-0 victory by the Bears over the Washington Redskins in the 1940 NFL championship game,” Pierson wrote.
Perry scored a touchdown. So did Suey. Cornerback Reggie Phillips scored on an interception. McMahon scored twice. But one key player didn’t get the opportunity — Payton.
“Yes, I was surprised,” said Payton of not getting the ball in close. “Yes, I was disappointed.”
Also disappointed? The Honey Bears. The cheerleaders performed their last routine as part of the Bears organization at halftime of Super Bowl XX.
Want more vintage Chicago?
Thanks for reading!
Subscribe to the free Vintage Chicago Tribune newsletter, join our Chicagoland history Facebook group, stay current with Today in Chicago History and follow us on Instagram for more from Chicago’s past.
Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore at krumore@chicagotribune.com.
