The Bears are wearing their feelings on their short sleeves this season.
White T-shirts with the word ”TEAM” spelled out boldly in capital letters underscore the Bears` resolve to relegate personal concerns to the back of the team`s agenda.
The renewed one-for-all spirit presumably emanates from the top. Coach Mike Ditka and his staff wear the T-shirts. It wouldn`t be surprising if club President Michael McCaskey wears one under his starched white shirt.
”It all started in training camp,” guard Tom Thayer said this week as the Bears prepared for Sunday`s noon grudge match with the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field. ”Everybody worked together. We had good, solid practices.” Unlike the Vikings` effort to achieve team unity by sending their players to the Pecos River (N.M.) Learning Center, the Bears would prefer their family ties evolve more naturally. But subtle reminders don`t hurt.
”There is an old saying: `You get what you work on,` ” said defensive coordinator Vince Tobin. ”If you work on team unity and togetherness, you are more apt to get it.
”It is a business, but once it becomes the final cut, the 47 men really are your team . . . the Chicago Bears of 1990. It doesn`t make any difference what happened in 1989 or `88 or `85. It is only what happens in `90 that matters. Now is when you start developing camaraderie.”
Ditka has done his part thus far, compromising somewhat on his forceful coaching personality to allow his young players to develop.
The Vikings` discord came to the fore last year when some players accused General Manager Mike Lynn of racist tactics in contract dealings.
”It starts at the top. That`s where Minnesota had the problem before they laid it all on Mike Lynn`s doorstep,” said Tobin. ”He tried to change and become more of a human being with them, I guess. You can work on being a team, yes.”
If winning breeds content, then losing can breed contempt. Last year, as the Bears spun out of control and lost six straight games, some players were ready to jump ship.
Cornerback Vestee Jackson, for example, went AWOL from camp for two days after Ditka reportedly embarrassed him in a team meeting and demoted him to second team.
This season, Lemuel Stinson has supplanted Jackson, who missed most of training camp because of a contract holdout. The Bears also have a new secondary coach-Zaven Yaralian, who replaced Jim LaRue.
”I have talked to our (secondary) players,” said Yaralian. ”It is a totally different situation. I am a different coach. What was happening last year is all in the past. The way I approach the players, I`m sure is a lot different from how Jim LaRue approached them. I believe in the way I coach.
”Players are sensitive . . . like what happened to Vestee. But I don`t see anything like that happening this year.”
”Right now, Lemuel Stinson has won that position and is playing well. But Vestee is going to keep coming after it. I`ve told Vestee: `Don`t be happy playing second.` And I told Stinson: `You better watch out. Somebody wants that position back.` ”
Separating individual pride from team concerns is a delicate task.
”They do have to think as a unit and as a team. At that position, you also have to be a little bit cocky,” said Yaralian. ”I don`t think you have to be arrogant. Confidence is the biggest issue back there. Look what happened last year.
”Coach Ditka has emphasized the team and playing together. With the
`TEAM` T-shirts, he is saying the team comes first, and that is exactly right.”
Yaralian was an assistant coach at Colorado last season when the Buffaloes forged an undefeated regular season after losing starting quarterback Sal Aunese to cancer.
Their program also had become controversial in recent years from the arrests of several players.
”Talk about adversity. That was something else,” said Yaralian.
”Anytime you have over 100 kids, some are going to get in trouble. Everything that happened was put in the papers. And, of course, our quarterback was stricken and passed away.
”But the team stuck together, and we went all the way to the Orange Bowl and played for the national championship.”
Neither a national title nor the NFC Central title will be at stake when the Bears and Vikings collide Sunday. Although the Vikings would love to break serve and win on the Bears` home court.
”There is no doubt this game is very important. It`s not like the loser is going to be out of it. But it can be very important down the stretch what we do here,” said Vikings do-everything running back Herschel Walker, who will try to match the production and versatility of the Bears Neal Anderson.
”Neal Anderson is at the top of the league in backs. I`m not just going to say as a runner, but as a receiver as well,” said Walker. ”He is a guy that you have to worry about. He is the back of the `90s.”
Bears quarterback Jim Harbaugh (32 of 43 passes for 364 yards and two TD`s) will be making his first start against Minnesota. He has a career record of 4-5 as a starter.
Harbaugh needs to complete 58 percent of his passes and have at least 84 completions for the season to become the Bears` lifetime completion percentage leader, surpassing Jim McMahon (57.8 percent).
The Vikings` front four of Keith Millard, Chris Doleman, Henry Thomas and Al Noga will be there to welcome Harbaugh.
”They are out to get your quarterback. Every down, that is their whole philosophy,” said Bears tackle Keith Van Horne.
The Vikings` Wade Wilson (34 of 60 for 460 yards and six TDs), who already has been sacked seven times, will try to hit the ground running against the NFL`s top-ranked defense that features early-season sack artists Trace Armstrong (4) and Richard Dent (3).
”I feel that our best performances are still to come. We will get better. We have a real good mix, young and old,” said defensive tackle Dan Hampton.
Sounds as if the Bears` are starting to read the handwriting on their
”TEAM” T-shirts.
