The 4th of July is remembered best for obvious reasons. It was the day the Declaration of Independence was signed, ushering in America as a country. However, the date itself has been the event for much more than that. In regards to the Chicago Bears, they’ve seen a few of their most notable players in team history born on that very day.
In 1931, during the height of the Great Depression, a family in Tampa, Florida gave birth to a young boy named Rick Casares. He would morph into one of the most intimidating fullbacks of his era in the 1950s and ’60s. A force in the ground game for the Bears who helped the team win the 1963 NFL championship. One of the first players in history to crack 1,000 yards rushing in a season.
Six years later in 1937, another family a few hundred miles north in New Orleans brought Roosevelt Taylor into the world. The man who came to be known as Rosey became a mainstay on the Bears secondary in the 1960s, delivering his best year in ’63 with a whopping nine interceptions.
Chicago Bears also had one other July 4th hero emerge
While Casares and Taylor are the two stars born on this day that bless the Bears, there is another unsung hero. He turns 41-years old today and is still employed in the league. A man by the name of Josh McCown. One of the great backups of the past two decades, he reached he zenith as a player in 2013 as a member of the Bears.
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Filling in for an injured Jay Cutler, he started five games, going 3-2 in that stretch with 1,821 yards and 13 touchdowns to just one interception. It was the hottest stretch of quarterback play Bears fans have seen in a long time. Some argued it should’ve gone longer but the team wasn’t able to back out of their investment in Cutler.
Still, that magical run won’t be easily forgotten. It makes one wonder. Who will that next player be to deliver that July 4th magic?