Our Super Bowl was played against the Giants and then the Rams, because we knew once we got to the Super Bowl, it was an avalanche. No one was going to stop us.
It was an amazing anticipation of all the expectations. Boom. It’s done. It’s over. We’ve done it.
A lot of times people become overwhelmed and intimidated by something that explodes, and the next thing you know, it’s on national TV. It was like Ditka took it in stride, saying, “OK, that’s great.” It’s almost a Machiavellian way of using the Fridge on the “Monday Night Football” game. It’s almost like he orchestrated it.
Buddy fostered an us-against-the-world mentality, especially on the defensive side.
The moment of truth was the Miami game, and you know about them(1) grabbing each other in the shower and starting fisticuffs.
Actually, Ditka was right. Ditka was right in saying, “Hey, whatever you thought, it ain’t working. You’ve got to change.”
Twenty years later, that still is the gold standard. When I played, everybody talked about the “Steel Curtain” and the “Doomsday Defense.” Now, 20 years later, they talk about the Bears’ defense.
You’re not going to run it on us. When you try to throw it on us, it’s just a matter of time before we start tearing your quarterback down.
You have to give a lot of credit to Jim Finks in that he was able to build a roster of talent that Ditka was able to utilize.
I had five operations on each leg when I played, and when I finished, I had both of them done again, so that’s 12. I’m 48. I’ll need some type of artificial joint when I’m 55 or 60. I couldn’t run out of the house if it was on fire, but at the end of the day, I’m glad I was able to do what I was supposed to do.
When I was in 6th grade, I’d fallen out of a tree and fractured both of my legs. I had played football, and I was obviously pretty gifted at it. But after I fell, they had to put pins and plates in my ankles. The doctor said I needed to do something else. I started playing saxophone in the band.
My daughter Dakota is 10. I have a stepson, Michael, who’s 13. Gina, my wife, and I had a baby boy, Daniel Robert, two years ago. Baby Danimal is a truck. He’s 50 pounds already. He’s lean-built. A big little fella.
I was very goal-driven, and the goal, obviously, is to go to the Super Bowl and win it. We had it within our grasp, but we didn’t close the deal, especially in ’86 and ’87.
It’s too simple to say,” Oh, well, our quarterback was never healthy,” but I find it hard to believe that New England would’ve won three of the last four without Tom Brady.
My problem with him(2) was everybody had their own individual goals or objectives. I can’t blame him for not having the same goals or objectives that I did. Every game was important, and every season is the most important. Jim had other ideas about how to go about it. He was looking at the long road, wanting 15-year career.
A lot of it came from the mentality of our team. McMichael and I and Ditka, we were Cro-Magnon. I think in a way that’s what made that team special. The future doesn’t belong to anybody. Today is the day.
I’ve got a Hall of Fame ring, and I’ve got a Super Bowl ring, and everybody says, “Which do you like the most?” I said, “Well, there’s only 120 Hall of Fame rings in the world, but that’s the only Chicago Bears Super Bowl ring there is.”
1-Ditka and Ryan. 2-Jim McMahon
