Ted Phillips will have a mixed legacy in the annals of Chicago Bears’ history. On the business side, he is an unqualified success. In 20 years, he took an organization valued at around a few hundred million dollars to $5.8 billion. He also set them on course to finally achieve a century-long dream of occupying a stadium they own. The man made his employed metric tons of money. It is why the McCaskeys were loyal to him for so long.
When it comes to the football side, that is a different story. Fans have often blamed him for years of mediocrity. It is hard to blame them. Between 1999 and 2021, the Bears had five winning seasons and six playoff appearances. They won three playoff games, with two of them coming in 2006. That level of underachievement for one of the NFL’s founding franchises is unacceptable. Since Phillips was the one that hired the GMs and head coaches, he should get the blame. However, the 65-year-old felt the truth was far simpler. He told Dan Pompei of The Athletic as much.
The Bears never got the quarterback position right.
“My role has been to be a sounding board with the general manager, to provide resources to support the team,” he said. “We have relied on our GMs to put the right structures in place and have the right evaluation processes in place. The Achilles heel of the Bears for many decades has been to have the right quarterback in place who is not only talented but can lead and raise the talent level around him. In my opinion, having the head coach or general manager report differently would not have changed any of that.”
Ted Phillips has plenty of flaws, but he’s correct on this.
Despite a limited background in football, the man understood even back when he took over as team president that the NFL was a quarterback-driven league. His Bears were getting bullied by Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers every year. Phillips understood something had to be done about the position. It wasn’t for lack of trying. Between 1999 and 2009, the Bears burned four 1st round picks on Cade McNown, Rex Grossman, and Jay Cutler. Then between 2017 and 2021, they burned three more on Mitch Trubisky and Justin Fields.
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Between those efforts were guys like Jim Miller, Shane Matthews, Kordell Stewart, Chris Chandler, Kyle Orton, Josh McCown, Brian Hoyer, Matt Barkley, Mike Glennon, Nick Foles, and Andy Dalton. It isn’t like Ted Phillips had his head in the sand on this. He authorized tons of resources to be thrown at the problem. Sadly the people he hired weren’t competent enough to solve it.
When thinking about it, the Cutler trade and Trubisky selection will go down as the two moments he almost got it right. Cutler never had enough help. Trubisky could’ve been Patrick Mahomes. That one probably still haunts Phillips. Maybe Fields might be the guy to finally end the misery. That would be rather fitting if it happened two years before his retirement.
How many days are we going to have to read about Ted Phillips retiring. Of course. he failed at some things like the remodeling of Soldier Field, worst in the NFL, and countless other football ventures.
For God’s sake he was a bean counter without training. Who was going to train him? George!! Arguably, Ted did well given he puts numbers on a ledger.
Someone else said it here. He failed Step 1. Hire a competent GM. They never could do that. The only QB that could’ve done anything with more talent around him was Cutler. Hopefully Nagy didn’t ruin JF1 and set us back even longer. Good riddance Phillips. Hopefully the McCaskey’s make this Arlington Heights worth the money and can finally sell to Beizos or someone like him who’s smart enough to retain anyone doing their job and removing whoever isn’t. That’s being a fan of 38 years and the last 31 being loyal but frustrated.
Ted Phillips was not a football guy and no matter how much
Money he made for the McCaskys he was a disappointment to the Bear fans.
Failing step one says it all and is all the proof needed to show Phillips incompetence. Saying he was close couldn’t be farther from the truth..
The Bears could have drafted Aaron Rodgers with the 4th pick in 2005.
That decision alone is the defining moment of the Ted Phillips era.
He refuses to own it.