Since the start of the Super Bowl era in 1966, the Chicago Bears have now drafted four running backs who have made at least one Pro Bowl with the franchise. While impressive in itself, what makes it so fascinating is that all four players, to a man, came from the deep south of the United States. Every single one.
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Jordan Howard: Alabama
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Matt Forte: Louisiana
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Neal Anderson: Florida
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Walter Payton: Mississippi
It goes even further than that. Out of the seven homegrown running backs who have made All-Pro or a Pro Bowl and rushed for 1, 000 yards at least once while in Chicago, six of them came from southern states. Only Gale Sayers didn’t qualify and his case was a near miss, having been born in Kansas. For those who aren’t history buffs, Kansas is on the northern border of the old Mason-Dixon line that separated the north and south before the Civil War.
Missed it by that much. Regardless it’s proof positive again that this Bears team, for whatever reason, has had the worst luck for the past five decades at finding quality running backs outside of southern states.
Jeremy Langford? He’s from Michigan. Garrett Wolfe was from Illinois. Curtis Enis hailed from Ohio. Rashaan Salaam and Brad Muster were Californians. Mighty Joe Moore, the perceived Sayers heir? Missouri.
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Most of the notable busts the Bears have had over that same span come eastern, northern or western states. It’s hard to imagine geography has any actual impact on the success of players on this roster. Then again, here’s one last little nugget to chew on. Sid Luckman and Jim McMahon, the two most successful quarterback draft picks in team history? They were born in cities that are 11 miles apart (Brooklyn, New York and Jersey City).
So, yeah. No impact at all.
