The 1985-’86 Chicago Bears took a dive into Super Bowl XX and transcended the sports world and entered pop culture. The famous “Super Bowl Shuffle” song featured the NFL's best team, Jim McMahon and Walter Payton became household names and William "The Refrigerator" Perry was immortalized by his own G.I. Joe figurine. Rich Cohen recalled the experiences of his past during the successful Bears season in the book Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football.
The Chicago football team featured Hall-of-famers, Mike Ditka as the head coach, Walter Payton as the starting running back, Richard Dent and Dan Hampton as the defensive-end tandem, and Mike Singletary as the linebacker. The Bears would go on to win 1986’s Super Bowl and finish the season with a 15-1 record and a breath of fresh air to the city of Chicago.
“They basically had this idea of rushing so many people that they just overwhelmed the offensive line and they were helpless,” Cohen said. The Bears' ferocious defense targeted opposing teams' quarterbacks, and intended to knock QB's out of the game. It's a style of play that's in direct conflict with today's game that has been influenced by modern understanding of concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
Cohen said the Bears were outstanding players with big personalities, and they were more accessible than today's players. “It was about hanging out with your friends in the locker room,” Cohen said.
Cohen tracked down several former Bears to learn more about the team and where their lives have taken them. Some went on to successful coaching careers, while others struggled.
The transition to regular life is difficult for some retired NFL players. Some retired Bears suffer from depression and developed drug-abuse habits. Many have health problems related to their playing days - often a result of repeated concussions. Other athletes fail to develop a professional career after retiring, in the case of Jim McMahon. Memory issues are difficult to detect and hold retired athletes back. “You can only find out you have it through an autopsy,” Cohen said about CTE, a disease that is caused by repeated head trauma and leads to dementia and other neurological issues.
Cohen, a Chicago-native, was a teenager when the Bears took the world by storm. McMahon was his idol, and he even dressed and acted like the quarterback. Cohen said people develop an allegiance to sports teams at an early age because it is easier for children to comprehend fandom than large, more abstract notions like a country or religion.
“You identify with your team, your team is like your country. And when your team plays, you’re at war and when you lose, you mourn,” Cohen said.