Dynasty Over Before it Began

It would be hard for anyone to argue that with a healthy team, the Chicago Bears would not have won another world championship in 1986.  But they didn't, so the argument is really useless.

Certainly the recurring injuries to Jim McMahon's knee and shoulder played a huge role in the team's inability to return to the Super Bowl (and made McMahon a quarterback that would never again play as he did prior to the '86 season).  However, several other issues played as large a role as the sputtering offense behind revolving quarterbacks did.

First of all were the distractions.  Virtually every Chicago Bear could find side work in the hospitality business, commercials, radio shows and speaking engagements.  Mike Ditka, Jim McMahon, Walter Payton, Mike Tomczak, Tom Thayer and others owned their own restaurants.  Ditka pitched everything from cold medicine to car dealerships to hot dogs.  McMahon, William Perry and others were the focus of national ad campaigns for fast food establishments.

It has been well documented in several books on the subject that the off-field distractions played a part in the demise of a potential dynasty.  Players envied others that received more attention (and money); even player's wives became competitive with each other.  In a 2004 documentary, then General Manager Jerry Vainisi said he was very concerned about the team focusing too much on off-the-field issues, but with the Head Coach doing more endorsements than anyone, there wasn't much that could be done.  In the same documentary, Ditka said "if you think I wasn't going to enjoy the fruits of my labor, you're crazy."

Then there was the trade for quarterback Doug Flutie, the mother of all distractions.  Ditka and Vanisi engineered the trade for the diminutive signal-caller, reportedly against the advice of President Michael McCaskey and personnel boss Bill Tobin.  Ditka and Vainisi felt they had to shore up the quarterback situation with McMahon's recurring injuries, so they traded '87 draft picks for the 1984 Heisman Trophy winner from Boston College.

The trade for Flutie did nothing but inflame the team, which felt to a man that Tomczak and Steve Fuller were capable of carrying the Bears to another Super Bowl.

 

In the '86 draft, the Bears made a steal of a pick when halfback Neal Anderson from Florida was still available at the end of the first round.  Obviously the heir apparent to Walter Payton, he would sit for the most of the '86 season but did score several touchdowns on long runs and receptions, proving his speed and skill.  Other running backs selected before Anderson, who failed to accomplish what the Bears great did included Keith Byars, John L. Williams, Reggie Dupard and Ronnie Harmon.  Following Buddy Ryan's departure to become Philadelphia's Head Coach, Vince Tobin, brother of personnel boss Bill Tobin, was hired as new defensive coordinator.  Tobin brought in a mostly new staff, and former quarterback Greg Landry joined the offensive staff as quarterbacks coach.  To the dismay of fans, Tobin favored a reading, finesse defense over Ryan's attacking "46".  But the team still blitzed relentlessly and set an NFL record for the fewest points allowed in a 16-game season. 1985 holdouts Al Harris and Todd Bell returned to the team during training camp in '86.  According to General Manager Jerry Vainisi, Bell signed for very little more than was being offered throughout his holdout in '85, making it fruitless for the player.  Quarterback Jim McMahon showed the effects of partying during the offseason, entering training camp overweight, to the dismay of the coaching staff.  McMahon said in a 1996 article that he "didn't think they made a calipers big enough to measure my body fat that year."  The Bears and Dallas Cowboys traveled to London's Wimbley Stadium for the first American Bowl preseason game in 1986.  Chicago won 17-6, and many British Bears fans were born as they gawked at players like Walter Payton and William "Refridgerator" Perry.  McMahon started opening day versus Cleveland, and Chicago won 41-31 in a high-scoring affair.  That game will be remembered for the first instant replay call in NFL History.  The Bears began the season 6-0 before losing to Minnesota at the Metrodome, ending the team's winning streak at 12 games.  Ironically they had also won 12 straight games in 1985 before losing to Miami.  Following the trade for QB Doug Flutie, the Bears released popular six year veteran wide receiver Ken Margerum.  He was a close friend of McMahon, leading to speculation that Michael McCaskey orchestrated the move to exact revenge for McMahon's criticism of McCaskey in his autobiography, published the previous offseason.  The addition of Flutie polarized the locker room, with the vast majority of players upset at the coaching staff readying Flutie to play that season.  Players felt he was ill-prepared to lead the veteran team, and coaches agreed that he was not equipped to win the playoff game against Washington.

Tampa Bay pulls one of the, if not the, biggest draft day blunder in history. They select running back Bo Jackson with the first overall pick, and Jackson opts to play baseball instead of for the woeful Bucs. Tampa loses Jackson and never gets anything in return. The Bears are expected to dominate the NFL for years to come, and don't disappoint with a 14-2 record, still best in history for a championship team. Buddy Ryan takes over as head coach in Philadelphia but can only muster a 5-10-1 record in his rookie campaign. Chicago trades draft picks to the Los Angeles Rams for quarterback Doug Flutie, hero of the 1984 Boston College team. But Flutie can't learn the Bears' offense in time, and Chicago is shocked by Washington in the divisional playoff round. The New York Giants win the NFC crown, while Denver beats Cleveland on the road with "The Drive". The Giants win Super Bowl 21 39-20.