While the 1985 Chicago Bears remain one of the most celebrated teams in NFL history, a lot of people lament what could’ve been. How did a roster that featured five eventually Pro Football Hall of Famers only win one Super Bowl? People have tried to find excuses one way or another. Yet it always comes back to the same answer. They were weak at quarterback, and this is because of Jim McMahon.
Make no mistake. The Punky QB was undoubtedly a great leader and talented. He didn’t always throw the prettiest passes but he put the ball where it needed to be. There is no question the Bears don’t win a championship without him in ’85. That said, some players from that team also believe he’s the reason they failed to win another after that.
Dan Pompei of The Athletic conveyed those feelings in a recent article.
Team leaders, especially Hampton, questioned the quarterback’s motivation privately and publicly. “McMahon had essentially become Hitchcock, making cameos every year,” Hampton said recently. “The rest of us were doing the heavy lifting. Nobody felt great, but we played every damn game, every damn down.”…
…“McMahon got hurt the year after the Super Bowl year and was never a factor again,” Hampton said. “Mick Taylor became a rock star not because he was writing all the songs, but because he was one of the Stones. McMahon became a rock star because we had maybe the greatest defense of all time, maybe the greatest running game of all time. I’m not here to diminish his ability. Availability was his problem.”
Jim McMahon was his own worst enemy
McMahon was the toast of the town after that championship win. Unfortunately, it went to his head. Reports surfaced about how out of shape he was when he arrived for training camp in 1986. That inability to take better care of his body ended up leading to loads of soft tissue injuries in addition to other problems brought about by rough hits, clean or dirty. He just seemed so fragile and his reckless playing style didn’t help.
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In his final three seasons with the team, he never started more than nine games and had a 76.4 passer rating. The Bears made the playoffs each of those years but were knocked out. Twice by the eventual Super Bowl champions. Every time the primary culprit was bad play at the quarterback position. So yeah, it’s not hard to understand why some of the leaders on that team were bitter about McMahon.
