“Monday Night Football” was doing just fine before Oct. 21, 1985, but it can be argued, at least in Chicago, that that particular Monday evening put a unique and permanent stamp on the football institution.
It was on that night that 325-pound rookie defensive tackle William Perry, inserted into the Bears’ lineup at fullback, blasted two holes large enough for Walter Payton to score sideways and, as all of America howled, plowed 1 yard himself for a touchdown in a 23-7 victory over the Green Bay Packers.
“I don’t believe the Packers loved seeing William get all that publicity,” said fullback Matt Suhey, removed for Perry on those plays. “There was no love lost between the two teams anyway, and that game really set the stage for more to come.”
The Bears and Packers have played only six Monday night games in their 165-game series, each winning three apiece and the Packers taking the last three leading up to this Monday’s meeting in Champaign.
For the Bears, it is the first “Monday Night Football” appearance since the 1997 season, when, coincidentally, they lost 38-24 to the Packers at Lambeau Field and also dropped an overtime decision to the Miami Dolphins in a backup Monday night game rescheduled because of a television conflict with Game 7 of the World Series.
The ’97 game, the season opener that year, was notable for several reasons, not the least of which was Bryan Cox’s three personal fouls in the fourth quarter, one for throwing his helmet near the end of the Bears’ defeat.
“For me, personal things stood out that day,” said Raymont Harris, who was in the midst of coach Dave Wannstedt’s experiment of using him at fullback and Rashaan Salaam at tailback, with the two combining for 163 yards rushing and 56 yards receiving that night. “Outside of the loss, it was the first time I had broken a long run [for a 68-yard touchdown]. But, yeah, the helmet-throwing thing was big.
“I remember Bryan was crucified in the media, and it was probably well-deserved because it was extremely immature. It made [Cleveland’s] Dwayne Rudd’s helmet-throwing look tame. I remember Bryan came to the sideline and Dave was trying to talk to him and he was screaming at Wanny and everyone said, `Look, Wannstedt has no control over him.'”
The Bears fined Cox $10,000 and the NFL fined him $5,000 for the incident, but Harris said the end result of the Bears’ last appearance on “Monday Night Football” was more disheartening.
“It’s not like we were on `Monday Night Football’ all the time,” Harris said. “We probably only got on in the first place because of the rivalry with Green Bay. It’s definitely a chance to show everyone what you can do, and I don’t remember the Cox incident being that much more embarrassing than being beaten by Green Bay for the [seventh] straight time.”
It was also the Bears’ third straight Monday night loss to the Packers. They had dropped games in ’94 and ’95, both in Soldier Field, by scores of 33-6 and 27-24, respectively.
The ’94 game, played on a nasty, cold and stormy Halloween, did not even live up to its pregame hype, the retirement of Gale Sayers’ No. 40 and Dick Butkus’ No. 51 jerseys.
With both teams dressed in replicas of their 1920s uniforms, Bears quarterback Erik Kramer was yanked at halftime for Steve Walsh, the Packers’ Edgar Bennett rushed for 105 yards, quarterback Brett Favre ran for a career-long 36-yard touchdown and the Bears lost their seventh straight Monday night contest.
The following season, mired in mediocrity in three years under Wannstedt, the Bears seemed to sum up the futility on another Monday night loss to the Packers as a second-half rally fell 2 yards short of the Bears taking the lead in the fourth quarter.
On that night, Favre, who led his team to a 24-7 halftime lead, threw for 312 yards on 21-of-37 passing, including a 99-yard pass play to Robert Brooks.
“We came out with the jitters,” said linebacker Vinson Smith. “Because of `Monday Night Football’ and the Packers.”
The Bears used Jim Flanigan as an eligible receiver in the third quarter, and he caught a 2-yard touchdown pass to narrow the Packers’ lead to 13 points. But it was barely a blip compared to the offensive switch of a decade before.
Inspired or, perhaps more accurately, spurred on by 49ers coach Bill Walsh’s use of Guy McIntyre in the backfield in the ’84 NFC championship win over the Bears, Bears coach Mike Ditka used Perry at fullback in a 26-10 victory at San Francisco the week before the Monday night game against the Packers in ’85.
It caught no one by surprise when Perry cleared the way for two Walter Payton touchdowns, but it hardly mattered. “I felt like I was stealing on that second TD,” Payton said afterward. “I walked into the end zone.”
Bears guard Tom Thayer had a slightly different perspective. “I just remember it was a right-side play, right over Jay [Hilgenberg], myself and [Keith Van] Horne,” Thayer recalled. “I just remember saying I’d better give a good block or else I’m going to get hit right in the back by Fridge.
“There was not a lot of maneuverability to Fridge. It wasn’t like Walter, who was going to find the hole. Fridge was going to take the ball straight ahead, continue straight ahead, and he was going to run us over if we didn’t get some type of movement at the point of impact.”
After the game, Payton wanted to make sure no one forgot that his pal Suhey could have done the job as well, but Suhey said he was not offended by being taken out for Perry.
“How could you argue with it?” Suhey said. “He was a great athlete, and that was a legitimate use of him in the offense. It definitely made sense for that particular game.”
And it definitely annoyed the Packers, who came out in their second meeting of the season with the Bears and tried to inflict as much pain as possible with a flagrant late hit by safety Ken Stills on Suhey and an over-the-bench hit by cornerback Mark Lee on Payton, who rushed for 192 yards and a TD in a 16-10 Bears win. Perry also added a TD catch in that game.
“If you played today the way we did back then on every play, you’d get fined,” Suhey said. “But it was part of what made for a great rivalry. On the field, we had a true dislike for one another.”
That aspect of the rivalry may have faded somewhat, but the added factor of Monday night makes the Bears-Packers that much more enticing.
“It’s one of those games that should be played on `Monday Night Football every year,” said R.W. McQuarters, who will miss this one with a sprained knee. “Everyone who watches football will watch that game. Everybody who doesn’t like football will watch that game.”
These Packers are considerably more experienced in Monday night games, having played in 12 “MNF” games since the Bears’ last appearance in ’97. In fact, only two Bears–Chris Villarrial and James Williams–have played a Monday night game in a Bears uniform. Only 20 on the 53-man roster have played on Monday night at all.
“We probably have more guys on this time who are Monday night first-timers than any other team in the league,” said defensive end Bryan Robinson, a first-timer himself.
“To us, it’s like one of those bowl games in college where you know all your family and friends are going to tune in. It’s one of those things where we might play even a little bit better because we know the eye in the sky and even God is watching. Monday night is the best show on Earth.”
