1 Esdras 8.
A lot of people know the Chicago Bears as the Monsters of the Midway. Not me.
During my life, they have sort of been the antithesis of the Cardinals. They have one championship in the last 50 years. If it wasn't for 1985, they would essentially be the Cubs football doppelganger.
When I was growing up, the Bears stunk. From 1969 to 1975, the Bears won 1, 6, 6, 4, 3, 4 and 4 games. They won more games in 1985 and 1986 than in those 7 years combined.
In 1975 the Bears hired Jack Pardee as their new head coach. It was also the year that Walter Payton arrived on the scene.
For the first time in my life I had hope the Bears would be good. Unbelievably to me, they made the playoffs the 1977 season.
And then Pardee bolted the Bears for the Redskins. Talk about feeling betrayed. I was happy when his next stint was not successful. He then moved on to another NFL team and then the college ranks.
But he did change my expectations of the Bears' performances from one of perpetual losing to one of hope. When I heard he died yesterday, I had to make note of it somehow.
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