Q. What is your reaction to the Bears hiring Lovie Smith as head coach?
A. My first reaction was one of shock because all we heard from Jerry Angelo was that he was looking for a coach who is offense-minded. But then my feelings quickly changed to elation because here is a guy who is extremely deserving of a head-coaching opportunity. . . . Lovie has a chip on his shoulder and his defenses play that way. As we all know, defense wins championships.
Q. The Patriots will be making their third Super Bowl appearance in eight years. What does that say about the Bears’ direction since trouncing the Pats 46-10 in Super Bowl XX?
A. That hit me as soon as New England won [Sunday night]. They are going to the Super Bowl for the fourth time, compared to our one. I was excited for Bill Belichick because I played for Belichick and Bill Parcells in 1990 when [the Giants] went to the Super Bowl and Belichick was the Giants’ defensive coordinator. Belichick comes from the Parcells system, which is a system that demands excellence. They have hard, aggressive practices. They don’t care if you’re the marquee player or the low man on the totem pole, you have to work every day.
Q. You are among a rare group whose members have won Super Bowl rings with two different teams. How does that feel?
A. It is the ultimate in pro sports. It happened because a group of guys came together and parked their egos long enough to achieve a common goal. We were able to do that in ’85 in Chicago. It was a team blessed with all sorts of incredible talent, but unless you can pull that talent together and have everybody focused in the same direction … we would have been just another great defensive team that didn’t get it done. The same thing happened when I was in New York with the Giants. We were a bunch of old guys who had all lost a step. Not over the hill, but we were able to get it done because we stayed together and focused on one goal.
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