Speaker 1: We got some more fans treatment in here. I like it.
Speaker 1: Good morning, we got the Hall of Fame mental linebackers
Speaker 1: minus one Brian Erlacker regrets his unavailability under the weather
Speaker 1: so could not make it. Otherwise, I think for the
Speaker 1: first time the three of these guys would have been
Speaker 1: together at the same time. Good morning, Mike Singletary, Good morning,
Speaker 1: mister Butkus. How are you guys? You guys have microphones.
Speaker 1: Tom Thayre's gonna lead us off. But before you do,
Speaker 1: I got a little prepared statement about what the middle
Speaker 1: linebacker meant and Bears football. So, first of all, all
Speaker 1: three of these guys that we were going to interview
Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame middle linebackers defined by intelligence, toughness, instincts,
Speaker 1: and dedication, all with iconic hits, interceptions, forced fumbles, fumble returns,
Speaker 1: carrying on the legacy of the cornerstone position and Bears
Speaker 1: football lore. It started here, it continues here. Bill George
Speaker 1: advised by George Connor to back up after quarterbacks kept
Speaker 1: throwing the ball over? Is that and he didn't like it?
Speaker 1: That became the position that is uniquely Bears, uniquely monsters
Speaker 1: of the midway. I think everyone who would agree. Yes,
Speaker 1: there's been a lot of great positions, but middle linebacker
Speaker 1: defines the toughness of this football team big time. Mister Buckas,
Speaker 1: I've always wanted to ask you this question. I have
Speaker 1: a dog as names Ernie. I go to the dog park,
Speaker 1: and every time I go to the dog park, I
Speaker 1: hear someone yelling bcas. Did you ever meet Sylvester Salone
Speaker 1: before they made the movie Rocky when he came out
Speaker 1: with the dog named Bucas. Yes. I met um Sly
Speaker 1: over there at Universal one day and he was walking
Speaker 1: through it and then I says, Hey, what's with the
Speaker 1: dog man? You know? And I says, uh. He says, well,
Speaker 1: he's he's gonna be in the other one too, so
Speaker 1: he's gonna put him in two movies. I said, where
Speaker 1: is the residuals at man? You know? And he's a
Speaker 1: slap so he's not the only one I've had. You know,
Speaker 1: a number of people come up and do that. That's
Speaker 1: a unique thing about the Bears is that we have
Speaker 1: so many great players in the history of the Bears.
Speaker 1: You can tell people you can just say one name.
Speaker 1: You can say single Tarry, you can say Bucks, you
Speaker 1: can say Erlak or Plank Fencic, and everybody knows who
Speaker 1: you're talking about. So it's always something that you kind
Speaker 1: of wonder in the in the history of you know,
Speaker 1: here this this great movie, and it's kind of an honor,
Speaker 1: I would say, it's it's a huge honor to be
Speaker 1: to have such a well known name that they can
Speaker 1: name a dog after you, and you know, you go
Speaker 1: on and win Picture of the Year. Well, um, you
Speaker 1: know the guy who was before before us, Bill George.
Speaker 1: Back in those days, the exposure that those players were
Speaker 1: getting it was cannot even match you know what what
Speaker 1: goes on today. So you know, there's so many avenues
Speaker 1: now there's even more a lot more exposure than when
Speaker 1: I was even playing. Uh, you know, with the stealth
Speaker 1: homes and everything else. So you know, when you when
Speaker 1: you win nowadays, it's I mean, everybody in the world
Speaker 1: knows about it, and you know, and if if you know,
Speaker 1: just like when you guys want to won, you know,
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl, uh, you know, Saturday Night Live it
Speaker 1: did go and everybody, all these other opportunities come. It's
Speaker 1: just it just shows you what the fan base the
Speaker 1: NFL has. It's just really enormous and as I look out,
Speaker 1: you know, you look at the jerseys and everything else.
Speaker 1: Even in my era, that really wasn't a big deal.
Speaker 1: So it's doing a hell of job of marketing, I
Speaker 1: guess because it's uh. And so if you're a current
Speaker 1: player and you know you're good, you're all pro or whatever,
Speaker 1: sky's the limit. Everybody in the world knows about you,
Speaker 1: you know. Sometimes that's you know, you'd like to have
Speaker 1: your own privacy too. So I'm glad I didn't have
Speaker 1: cell phones when I was playing. I tell you that
Speaker 1: or anything else that's out there. Mike, I'm sure you
Speaker 1: would agree, because you you had your fun. Obviously you
Speaker 1: love playing it, but you were a serious football player.
Speaker 1: It was it was a job that you attached yourself too,
Speaker 1: professionally from the moment you got here, isn't it? Well?
Speaker 1: I think, um, football is for a lot of people.
Speaker 1: People when you ask them, you know what do you guys?
Speaker 1: Do you know? Well we entertained well for me. For
Speaker 1: the fan, it's entertainment, but for me it's it's serious business.
Speaker 1: Because every game that you played, it's no guarantee that
Speaker 1: you're going to come off the same way you went
Speaker 1: on and the offseason work, all of the amount of
Speaker 1: time that goes into the commitment to film study, all
Speaker 1: of those things make a tremendous difference, and you have
Speaker 1: to do your work and earn the right to to win.
Speaker 1: You know, Mike, one thing I always when people ask
Speaker 1: me about you, I say, Mike Singletary was the most
Speaker 1: well prepared professional athlete I ever played with. And it
Speaker 1: was your diligency and always being in shape in your
Speaker 1: commitment to film study and to being educated about the
Speaker 1: next opponent. And you know, you capitalized on the newness
Speaker 1: of the technology and how much of that help help you.
Speaker 1: And then, mister Buckets, the technology that we had in
Speaker 1: our in our time, would you would have liked to
Speaker 1: use that throughout your career or was it more of
Speaker 1: seeing attack? Oh? I would have liked to have that
Speaker 1: technology because as it was, you know, we would certain
Speaker 1: there's certain players and I don't care who they are.
Speaker 1: I mean, like Johnny Unitis. We had we had a
Speaker 1: definite tip on him when he dropped back the pass,
Speaker 1: he'd always looked to the left, to the right and
Speaker 1: work and go back to the left wherever he looked first.
Speaker 1: And then he'd look away, he'd always go back, and
Speaker 1: the son of a gun still beat I mean, we
Speaker 1: intercepted three passes in the first half and he still
Speaker 1: beat us by a touchdown at the end of the game.
Speaker 1: So we would watch films and I was like one
Speaker 1: of the first and I think I still have the
Speaker 1: old sixteen MILLI contraption, and I used to pick up
Speaker 1: a lot of things because back then, everybody, you know,
Speaker 1: I don't care what who it is, You'll always fall
Speaker 1: back to what your feel normal. I mean, what's normal
Speaker 1: for you. And there was simple things like centers. You know,
Speaker 1: if it was a pass, they'd use one hand on
Speaker 1: the ball, and if it's a run they use two hands.
Speaker 1: Well you're watching the film and you see this happen,
Speaker 1: and you see a couple of games, and you see how, well, hey,
Speaker 1: this is holding true as simple as that as a
Speaker 1: center having one hand or two hands on the ball,
Speaker 1: and on the pro level, yet they still do it.
Speaker 1: And we were able, you know, I'd say, hey, look
Speaker 1: at the guy's got one hand. It's a pass, and
Speaker 1: then he'd run the film and sure enough it was
Speaker 1: a pass. So and I imagine today, with the technology
Speaker 1: they have today, you can find out what hand they
Speaker 1: scratched their ass with. You know what I mean really,
Speaker 1: because like I say, I don't care who it is,
Speaker 1: that you have natural traits and it's hard to get
Speaker 1: away from them. So if you can catch that and
Speaker 1: figure it out, it gives you a tremendous advantage. Mike,
Speaker 1: with the technology, did it did it increase your traits
Speaker 1: or did it make you a more intelligent football player
Speaker 1: according to the offenses that you faced in the coaching
Speaker 1: that you were getting. I think, you know, one of
Speaker 1: the things about technology is as the player, you always
Speaker 1: have to come back to football. I think a lot
Speaker 1: of times coordinators get themselves in trouble because they rely
Speaker 1: too heavily on the tendencies and just go, oh, okay,
Speaker 1: well they do this all the time when they line
Speaker 1: up in this formation, they're gonna run this play. And
Speaker 1: what happens is if the team goes off that track,
Speaker 1: then you feel like, oh my goodness, what do I
Speaker 1: do now? And so I think it you really have
Speaker 1: to do your homework and kind of backtrack and be
Speaker 1: prepared and watching a certain amount of games that you
Speaker 1: can cover your your tail when when things don't work
Speaker 1: out the way you think they do. Did it ever,
Speaker 1: did you ever overthink it because you studied so much
Speaker 1: and you put so much time with the coaches and stuff.
Speaker 1: Did you always almost have to control yourself? There's a
Speaker 1: saying of linebackers don't go until you know. Did you
Speaker 1: ever almost have to hold back because you have the
Speaker 1: speed to get where you needed to get. I think
Speaker 1: at the beginning of the game, I went on what
Speaker 1: I knew, I went on what I saw in film,
Speaker 1: and I just believe that they can't deviate too much
Speaker 1: from what they've been doing in that path three or
Speaker 1: four games and in the game if it didn't follow
Speaker 1: suit for whatever reason, then it was like, Wow, now
Speaker 1: I got to really settle down and play football and
Speaker 1: find new tendency because they're breaking them this week. They're
Speaker 1: changing it. Explain how you hit? Explain how I hit? Yep,
Speaker 1: because there is a quote I found about you, and
Speaker 1: you explained how you uncoiled like a snake and delivered it.
Speaker 1: Hit because of your size and how you utilize your
Speaker 1: size and leverage, and we're we're watching you on these
Speaker 1: highlights right now. I think, for me, you know everything
Speaker 1: I learned about tackling I learned in the seventh grade
Speaker 1: and the coach, and really it was from playing guard
Speaker 1: and not little linebacker as an offensive lineman. Can you
Speaker 1: repeat that. I know, I hate to say it. I
Speaker 1: don't say it, I'll go loud, but it was from
Speaker 1: playing offensive guard. The coach told me to make sure
Speaker 1: that I had my neck in, my shoulders, my back flat,
Speaker 1: and my eyes always have to see what I was hitting.
Speaker 1: And so as long as I did that and you know,
Speaker 1: bring my arms through. My hips had to come through
Speaker 1: the whole nine yards every time you hit, then the
Speaker 1: chances are you're gonna come out healthy, You're gonna come
Speaker 1: out good, and the guy that you're hitting is gonna
Speaker 1: feel the blow a lot more than you. And so
Speaker 1: that's something that I worked on. I think today what
Speaker 1: happens a lot is guys don't work on it. They
Speaker 1: don't develop muscle memory. You know, it takes time to
Speaker 1: develop that muscle memory to tackle the same way every time.
Speaker 1: And when you don't do that, then sometimes your head's
Speaker 1: gonna be down, your head's gonna be to the side,
Speaker 1: and that's where a lot of the concussions and things
Speaker 1: like that come in. But if your faith he's up,
Speaker 1: your eyes hope and you see what you're hitting. Your
Speaker 1: neck is in your shoulders. Chances are you're gonna come
Speaker 1: out okay. It seems it seems like every there's two
Speaker 1: positions to every great player, mister buckets. So I heard
Speaker 1: Jeff was telling me that you said you were going
Speaker 1: to play middle linebacker for ten years and then you
Speaker 1: were going to play offensive center for another five. Did
Speaker 1: did know in the center position help you be a
Speaker 1: better middle linebacker? Oh? I don't know if it was
Speaker 1: that big of a big of an advantage. Uh. You know,
Speaker 1: at Illinois we played both ways, and you know that
Speaker 1: was really a cult by a Gibbern who was our
Speaker 1: line coach, that I could have played center also. Um,
Speaker 1: but I don't think it was all that big of
Speaker 1: a deal. Um. I just you know, I just remember
Speaker 1: about the tackling deal. I just remember my day's back
Speaker 1: at CBS and I was a fullback and what really
Speaker 1: bothered me as a running back and getting tackled was
Speaker 1: when someone would almost like bear hug you, and they'd
Speaker 1: you wrap your arms up so that when you're starting
Speaker 1: a fall, you could not use your hand to break
Speaker 1: the fall, or if you did, there's a fifty fifty
Speaker 1: chance the ball would pop out. So I always remembered that,
Speaker 1: and that's how I used to tackle in college, was
Speaker 1: that i'd put my head to their chest and alleviate
Speaker 1: the air if they were quick enough to make a
Speaker 1: move right or left, So I always aimed for the center,
Speaker 1: and if it was completed that way, then I could
Speaker 1: really bury them and put them on their back. If
Speaker 1: they made a quick cut and i'd hit him on
Speaker 1: the side, i'd get them down. But I always felt,
Speaker 1: if you can intimidate the runner, I don't care who
Speaker 1: he is or what level. Nobody likes to get hit
Speaker 1: that often. Somewhere along the line, I always thought that,
Speaker 1: you know those back those days, back in high school,
Speaker 1: you keep hitting somebody hard enough, the ultimate goal is
Speaker 1: to get the turnover. And you know, for well, I
Speaker 1: don't know how many years I had the record for
Speaker 1: recovering fumbles that I had caused, and except going uh
Speaker 1: the damn Minnesota and there played for fifty years, broke
Speaker 1: my record. But that was that was the deal. It
Speaker 1: was to punish somebody because you know, you could see
Speaker 1: it in the back size and I'm sure my kids
Speaker 1: in his career backs are looking at you and like,
Speaker 1: ohh and that was it. You know, everybody said I
Speaker 1: was like an intimidator or whatever. I was just going
Speaker 1: going by what bothered me as a running back in
Speaker 1: high school. I did not want to be hit and
Speaker 1: put on my back, and that's what I tried to
Speaker 1: do all the time. And well a lot of circumstances
Speaker 1: that doesn't happen. I know, we all agree, you can
Speaker 1: never get tired of watching Dick Buckets highlights, even you, Mike, right.
Speaker 1: I mean, honestly, Tom and I the other day we
Speaker 1: put it on. I put it out when he was
Speaker 1: up at Hollis Hall, and I'm like, will you get
Speaker 1: just look at how damaging of a tackler he is.
Speaker 1: You just blew through people. I mean, it's it makes
Speaker 1: you stand up and go wow. And you had a
Speaker 1: lot of nicknames. Oh, you had a lot of nicknames.
Speaker 1: I don't know which one you like the best, but
Speaker 1: you go through time and everybody had a comment or
Speaker 1: a depiction of dick Buckets. So the enforcer, the animal,
Speaker 1: the maestro of mayhem, the robot of destruction. How about
Speaker 1: just flat out good old Dick Buckets, because that to
Speaker 1: me sounds the best. But you were the you. I
Speaker 1: mean you had to know because you were the most
Speaker 1: feared tackler in football. Well, the only reason I was
Speaker 1: the most feared tackler in football was because evidently no
Speaker 1: one got the message. Nobody else tackled that way. I
Speaker 1: mean this one. What do you what do you think
Speaker 1: when you see that? You know? When I first saw that? Uh,
Speaker 1: I ask everybody when they come up and have me
Speaker 1: signed that picture, I said, you can have the autograph
Speaker 1: free if you can name the ball carrier. Wow, let's
Speaker 1: test you. Who do you think the ball carrier is?
Speaker 1: I'm going, uh, and I'm going I'm going to a
Speaker 1: guy on the right. This this picture is really I
Speaker 1: mean clear. I mean the other one is the actually
Speaker 1: eight by tens it's it's I you know. Let me
Speaker 1: just tell you. I've asked about a good two people
Speaker 1: say to be conservative, and maybe three. Guess the guy
Speaker 1: in the back. You can see the ball, so we
Speaker 1: know who it is here? Right? Huh? Right here? Right? Well? Yeah,
Speaker 1: but who is he? Oh? Who is he? Who is
Speaker 1: who is he? I don't know who is it? What
Speaker 1: the hell am I? No? Not Taylor? I see that's
Speaker 1: the obvious. It's not Paul Horning. Is that a question
Speaker 1: or are you asking? That's that would be one of
Speaker 1: my answers in a high school task. Just I write
Speaker 1: something down and hope I got it right. No, any Grubowski, Anderson?
Speaker 1: Who Anderson? Grbowski? Grbowski, that's Jim Grbowski. Well what do
Speaker 1: you think when you see that? Mike Oh? To answer
Speaker 1: the question? Three seconds after that shot, I was like this, Yeah,
Speaker 1: but you got five guys pushing on you. That's a
Speaker 1: wine Mike Singleton. That's some serious wingspan right there. A
Speaker 1: middle linebacker. Yeah it is. It's that's an armful. So interesting.
Speaker 1: What did you have against the Lions in one game?
Speaker 1: He knocked out the center, the fullback, the quarterback, and
Speaker 1: the half back in the same game. Yeah. Well, you know,
Speaker 1: and I was the first couple of years I was
Speaker 1: a snapper for extra points and the punts and all
Speaker 1: that stuff. So you'd come out early for pregame warm
Speaker 1: ups were at Wrigley Field and play in Detroit, and
Speaker 1: so I'm snapping warming up and the old man comes
Speaker 1: walking by and he says, hey, did you well? He
Speaker 1: called me kid. He says, hey, kid, do you do
Speaker 1: you know what that Flandagan said about you, and I'm
Speaker 1: like what, he just turned and walked away, as what
Speaker 1: do you say? He just skept on walking. So I'd always,
Speaker 1: you know, go after Flant again. The set of the sets,
Speaker 1: the center. And there was one game one year where
Speaker 1: they were, you know, we were they were beating us
Speaker 1: by a couple of touchdowns and they're on our like
Speaker 1: two yard line and they're trying to run the clock outs.
Speaker 1: So I just would call time out, you know, Bradovitch
Speaker 1: and a buffoon, and what the hell, come on, let's
Speaker 1: get out of here, you know, as now I want
Speaker 1: gonna crack at that Flan again, you know, and I
Speaker 1: just wanted to take another side. Poor guy. He was
Speaker 1: a good guy, but he never knew what the hell
Speaker 1: is what it was all about. Because you know, back then,
Speaker 1: after I was taken off to being a snapper, I
Speaker 1: figured out that on fourth down, of course, we're always playing,
Speaker 1: so on fourth down, I'd be moved over and when
Speaker 1: that center snapped for the punt, I just Barry is ask,
Speaker 1: you know, because I knew it that was your vulnerable everything.
Speaker 1: So then they started devising plays, and see what happens
Speaker 1: when they've got to start messing around on how to
Speaker 1: how to keep me from hitting the center it throws
Speaker 1: everything else off also, So there was always, ah, there
Speaker 1: was a rhyme of a reason that I did a
Speaker 1: lot of things, and a lot of it came naturally,
Speaker 1: and a lot of it I made up. You're very
Speaker 1: quotable because you're very You're a very good interview. Uh.
Speaker 1: You've got you know, your acting background, You're you're an
Speaker 1: entertainer at the same time as a football player. But
Speaker 1: everybody had a quote about Dick Butkus and one of
Speaker 1: your teammates, Duck Buffone, the late Duck Buffone, who, uh try,
Speaker 1: one of the most underrated Chicago Bears around, A rugged
Speaker 1: player that says a lot right there, Thank you lord,
Speaker 1: he's on my side. Uh. When you used to hear
Speaker 1: these quote or these things said about you, what do
Speaker 1: you think of it? And what do you think of
Speaker 1: it now all these years later? Well at the beginning, um,
Speaker 1: you know, being called an animal and everything else, I
Speaker 1: always thought they were questioning your intelligence. And I really
Speaker 1: didn't care for that, you know, because that's the way
Speaker 1: it was back then. You played you know, if you
Speaker 1: played football, you were dumb and all that business. And
Speaker 1: for nothing's further than the truth. I mean, so, I
Speaker 1: don't know, it's just it's kind of a compliment or whatever.
Speaker 1: It just tells me that it's kind of it's a
Speaker 1: reassurance that people are understanding what I'm doing on the field.
Speaker 1: Like I always said, the fans in Chicago, they're smart fans.
Speaker 1: They know what the hell is going on, rather than
Speaker 1: like you go to La to Kyle Sam and it's
Speaker 1: you know, who's who's to be seen and all that stuff.
Speaker 1: But um no, I guess it's a you know, it's
Speaker 1: a tribute to be an animal. Sure, I guess. I
Speaker 1: don't know. I give it a nice I'm over past
Speaker 1: that stuff now. Mike, your introduction to the Bears, Um,
Speaker 1: I remember reading the paper. I was a younger, and
Speaker 1: they just drafted this Mike Singletary middle linebacker. And when
Speaker 1: you look at the size, you know, sixty three two
Speaker 1: forty five, and then you see six five two fifty eight,
Speaker 1: and then you see the size of Mike Singletary. What
Speaker 1: was your introduction to George Hallis and then what was
Speaker 1: your your introduction to Buddy Ryan in terms of the
Speaker 1: eye test? And then what you were able to accomplish
Speaker 1: Was it the same as your first meeting with those guys? Well,
Speaker 1: I think when I when I first got to the Bears.
Speaker 1: You know, of course, my introduction to Buddy Ryan was
Speaker 1: a little short, fat guy, you know, being five eleven
Speaker 1: and I came in, I was like thirty five, and
Speaker 1: you know, after begging Buddy to allow me to play
Speaker 1: on the Nickel defense, yeah, I had to get down
Speaker 1: to twenty five and that's what I finished my career playing.
Speaker 1: But you know, it was I had in my mind
Speaker 1: what I wanted to accomplish when I came here. I
Speaker 1: had a vision of what I felt I could do,
Speaker 1: and the great tradition being in a defensive city with
Speaker 1: the exception of Walter Payton being the great running back.
Speaker 1: But it was I just, um, I always felt that
Speaker 1: Chicago was the place for me, the perfect place for
Speaker 1: me because of all of the traditions that came before me,
Speaker 1: the guys like Dick and Edol, Brad evinch and Bill George,
Speaker 1: some of those other guys that it really made me
Speaker 1: feel at home when I got here. You didn't start
Speaker 1: your first game. How impatient were you before the first start?
Speaker 1: And I ask everybody I was asking the quarterbacks that
Speaker 1: question also because you're not a I as, I don't
Speaker 1: see you as being a patient guy. How was that
Speaker 1: when you're sitting on the sidelines, knowing what you had
Speaker 1: within your ability? It was very frustrating. Lee Coons was
Speaker 1: the starter my rookie year, and um, you know, I
Speaker 1: would go up to Buddy and it was maybe seventh
Speaker 1: game before I started, and so I'd go up to
Speaker 1: Buddy and the first game, all the way through that
Speaker 1: seventh game is Buddy, Buddy, you gotta let me play.
Speaker 1: I know I can go out there and play. You
Speaker 1: just say, Son, go sit down. We're trying to win
Speaker 1: the game. Go sit down. And so that was very frustrating.
Speaker 1: And by time I had a chance to get out
Speaker 1: there was it was a good feeling, a chance to
Speaker 1: express myself. You're what, what what about your first start? How?
Speaker 1: How was that? Was it? Air free? Was it at
Speaker 1: film session the next day? Because I talked to everybody?
Speaker 1: How you know, in our offensive meetings, Coach Diffic would
Speaker 1: run the projector and your meetings, Buddy Ryan run the projector,
Speaker 1: and they weren't always really complimentary. How was that first
Speaker 1: film session with your peers? The first film session after
Speaker 1: my first game, we were playing against Kansas City, the
Speaker 1: Kansas City Chiefs, and the Kansas City Chiefs had a
Speaker 1: running back named Joe Delaney and Joe Delaney was tearing
Speaker 1: up the league. He was gaining like one hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty to two hundred yard the game, and Buddy would
Speaker 1: just run the film back and forth and say, what
Speaker 1: do you think you're getting your first start this week?
Speaker 1: Can you stop this guy? And so he's running the
Speaker 1: film back and forth. When we finally got to play
Speaker 1: the game, Kansas City loved this trap play they had
Speaker 1: and on trap play, Dick, you know, you gotta hit
Speaker 1: it when it's there, and they ran it one too
Speaker 1: many times and I caught him just right and I
Speaker 1: hit him, and you know, he was out of the game.
Speaker 1: He came back in a couple of series later and
Speaker 1: he ran the same play, and that time I knocked
Speaker 1: him out of the game for you know, the rest
Speaker 1: of the games. And when I got on the bus.
Speaker 1: When I got on the bus, but he didn't say anything.
Speaker 1: When I passed by him, he just touched me on
Speaker 1: the leg and said, you showed me something today. That
Speaker 1: was it. That's all he ever said. That's a great compliment. What, Dick,
Speaker 1: what do you remember your first start? And then who
Speaker 1: ran the projector when you guys were doing evaluations of
Speaker 1: your performance. George Ellen was our defensive coach at that time.
Speaker 1: And can you believe we played for the same coach
Speaker 1: that was my first head coach in the USFL, George Allen. Well,
Speaker 1: George was here my rookie year and then that was it.
Speaker 1: He went on the Los Angeles Rams. I had lunch
Speaker 1: with George every Friday my rookie year. And this so
Speaker 1: other guy, Verne Buell, who was, you know, back doing
Speaker 1: the draft in those years, we had babysitters. When you'd
Speaker 1: go to the All American weekends the league both leagues started,
Speaker 1: you know, bidding for players. So Verne was hired by
Speaker 1: George Allen to keep an eye on me and keep
Speaker 1: the American League guys away. So we would. When I
Speaker 1: got with the Bears, wad to have lunch every Friday
Speaker 1: at the Golden Ox on Clydeborne there and really kind
Speaker 1: of took me under my wing, and I really learned
Speaker 1: a lot from him, and his whole thing was his practices.
Speaker 1: I don't know when it was with you when you
Speaker 1: were with him, but he would have a list to
Speaker 1: go over the defensive team, and it could be in
Speaker 1: three questions, three questions and answers, or it could be
Speaker 1: twenty five. He always believed that, you know, and I
Speaker 1: think it really helped me because the whole thing was
Speaker 1: avoiding making mistakes two times in a row. Okay, you're
Speaker 1: a rookie, you're starting, You're gonna make some mistakes, but
Speaker 1: don't make them again. And that's why I really loved
Speaker 1: the guy. And when he went to the Rams, he
Speaker 1: actually was going to trade all his draft choices for
Speaker 1: me to the Bears to get me to go to
Speaker 1: the Rams, and Callie would never do it. And then
Speaker 1: when I was, I was down, and I mean I
Speaker 1: was finished. When Georgia was with the Redskins, he flew
Speaker 1: me into Washington. And this is how George Allen thought.
Speaker 1: This was like around January in nineteen seventy four, my
Speaker 1: knee was totally gone. I had gone to about six
Speaker 1: other doctors and they all said it's over for you.
Speaker 1: So George Allen calls, and he snakes and in the
Speaker 1: DC and he gets his doctor and he said, now,
Speaker 1: this is January of seventy four, he said. The doctor,
Speaker 1: he says, do you think that can be ready next January?
Speaker 1: In the filatoffs, he was thinking a year ahead already.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's the kind of confidence and whatever. So
Speaker 1: then he had me go with a one other doctor,
Speaker 1: and of course that doctor just said after they looked
Speaker 1: at the x ray, he said, look, you go ahead
Speaker 1: and play. You're gonna have a chance of fusing your
Speaker 1: legs stiff because it's over for you. And then I
Speaker 1: told him, I said, George, I don't want to you know,
Speaker 1: I want to stay here. I'm hoping that maybe start
Speaker 1: coaching here with the Bears, get a job. And he
Speaker 1: just told me to be careful, and he was right,
Speaker 1: because there was no job, and then I'll leave here
Speaker 1: with a bad, bad taste on my moss, our taste
Speaker 1: because but then I realized that that's just the business.
Speaker 1: Football is the business. You hear current players, you know,
Speaker 1: talking about it today. It's business. Well, thirty million dollars
Speaker 1: versus a twenty five thousand, I guess it is a
Speaker 1: big business. So what were your interactions and first impressions
Speaker 1: of George Hollis both of you. Well, my first impression
Speaker 1: with George Hollis was for me. It was I've reached
Speaker 1: the ultimate. I mean, I always wanted to play football,
Speaker 1: and as I got closer to beingcoming a pro football player, Um,
Speaker 1: you know, I was drafted by Denver and the Bears,
Speaker 1: and then Denver was going to trade the choice to
Speaker 1: New England to the Jets. But so I but I
Speaker 1: stayed with the Bears, And I mean I thought, how
Speaker 1: could how could anybody who's playing football not want to
Speaker 1: play for this guy. Here's the guy sitting here that
Speaker 1: started it all. So I was I was blessed. I
Speaker 1: don't care how much money I would have made somewhere else.
Speaker 1: It was for me to play for this guy who
Speaker 1: started the league was something else because that was my
Speaker 1: life at the time. Mike, I think for me, my
Speaker 1: first my first opportunity to meet George Hollis was when
Speaker 1: we wrote him the letter after my rookie year to
Speaker 1: keep Buddy. And so George Hollis came to the room
Speaker 1: and the meeting room and looked at all of us
Speaker 1: and said, you know, this is the first time I'd
Speaker 1: ever had a team of guys write me a letter
Speaker 1: about keeping a defensive coach. And he went on to
Speaker 1: talk a bit about football and his philosophy and what
Speaker 1: he felt, and it was very interesting. I probably had
Speaker 1: a chance to see him maybe two or three other
Speaker 1: times after that, but it was very obvious when you
Speaker 1: saw George Hallis that you were looking at You're looking
Speaker 1: at history, you were looking at someone prominence, You're looking
Speaker 1: at the guy that that basically started the whole lead. So,
Speaker 1: m it's pretty pretty amazing. Hey, Mike, did Ditka reminds
Speaker 1: you of Hallis at all in any way? Or were
Speaker 1: they separated by so much time? But you know, in
Speaker 1: preparation for this event, I tell everybody the one common
Speaker 1: thing about the Bears from the forties, fifties, sixties to
Speaker 1: the twenties is toughness. And when I went in the
Speaker 1: meeting room the first time with Dica, I was intimidated.
Speaker 1: When I used to see mister Buckus walk around in
Speaker 1: preparation for the broadcast of the game, I was intimidated,
Speaker 1: but I wanted to impress. I mean, so, what was
Speaker 1: your first inter reaction or interaction with Ditka? I was?
Speaker 1: I was so excited the first time he walked in
Speaker 1: the room. I mean, I had no idea who coach
Speaker 1: Dicker was. I just heard our guys talking about him.
Speaker 1: I heard our players talking about him, and the first
Speaker 1: thing I heard was kind of alarming. Said, who did
Speaker 1: they hire? They hired coach Dick. Oh my goodness, we
Speaker 1: don't want that guy. This guy's crazy. And I thought,
Speaker 1: oh my goodness. But when I first heard him, when
Speaker 1: he walked in the room, it was to me Coach
Speaker 1: Sticker had the opportunity. He had the opportunity to be
Speaker 1: the greatest coach of all times because he had the fire.
Speaker 1: Now I don't I don't know how George Hollis coach,
Speaker 1: but I can imagine that the fire and intensity and
Speaker 1: passion that Coach Dicka zooted that first day set the
Speaker 1: tone for exactly what he said, three years from now,
Speaker 1: we're gonna be in the super Bowl. And that was
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty two, eighty five. We were there, and it
Speaker 1: was because of that vision. Didn't he didn't he say,
Speaker 1: I got some good news and some bad news. We're
Speaker 1: gonna go to the super Bowl, but a lot of
Speaker 1: you guys aren't going to be here. Yes he did, Yes,
Speaker 1: he did. He said it. And the very next day
Speaker 1: he saw the door revolving of guys that sat in
Speaker 1: that room after Coach Dicka had talked and they were like, Ah,
Speaker 1: this guy's crazy. Oh that guy, he didn't know what
Speaker 1: he's doing. You know what, you didn't see him very long.
Speaker 1: That door was revolving so fast. We were getting players
Speaker 1: that were buying into his vision, buying into the bare
Speaker 1: mentality of toughness and intimidation and just share a will
Speaker 1: to win. That's what he talked about, talked about the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl and we had a chance to live it,
Speaker 1: which led to that NFC Championship game to get there.
Speaker 1: And let's roll some highlights of that because Eric Dickerson
Speaker 1: was a thorn in the bear side for a bit
Speaker 1: and Buddy Ryan said, hey, listen, fifty yards, three fumbles
Speaker 1: and your big stop here. Talk about that game and
Speaker 1: about this play. Well, the interesting thing about that game
Speaker 1: is the Rams and Eric Dickerson were just coming off
Speaker 1: a great week that past week against the Cowboys, and
Speaker 1: Eric Dickerson I think had maybe two hundred yards against
Speaker 1: the Cowboys, over two hundred yards. And so I'm sitting
Speaker 1: in the room that night and one of our players
Speaker 1: come in from talking to one of the Rams players, uh,
Speaker 1: the offensive lineman, saying, hey, your defense ready because Dickerson
Speaker 1: is ready to run. You got two hundred yards last week,
Speaker 1: You're gonna get two under them all. And when we
Speaker 1: heard that, and we just kind of looked around the
Speaker 1: room and it got real quiet, and it got real hot.
Speaker 1: So the next day we went out, we were ready
Speaker 1: to go, and it was a great day. And it
Speaker 1: was a wonderful day because towards the end of that game,
Speaker 1: it started to snow. And to me, that was a
Speaker 1: sign from from God saying way to go. That seems
Speaker 1: to happen for Bears championship games, right, Don Pearson and
Speaker 1: I invite everybody to go get the Bears Centennial scrapbook.
Speaker 1: Don Pearson and Dan Pompey both Dick McCann Hall of
Speaker 1: Fame Award winning writers. They covered the football their entire careers.
Speaker 1: But after that game, Don Pearson wrote, the snow that
Speaker 1: started to swirl around Soldier Field late in the game
Speaker 1: was only confetti sprinkled by George hallis so very addly put.
Speaker 1: You know, when I watched highlights of both you guys
Speaker 1: throughout your career, you know, the defensive tackle position is
Speaker 1: huge to the flow of the middle linebacker position and
Speaker 1: the success I was teasing ming McMichael last night when
Speaker 1: we used to walk out the locker room doors before
Speaker 1: kickoff and he'd say, Okay, let's go out there and
Speaker 1: get singletary another Pro Bowl. And can you guys talk
Speaker 1: about the defensive tackles, mister Buckus and Mike, just the
Speaker 1: defensive tackles that you guys played to get played with
Speaker 1: that we're kind of instrumental and you're in the success
Speaker 1: of that position. Well, when I was playing, you know,
Speaker 1: we had the old real four, three and sometimes and
Speaker 1: over and under. And that's not only the tackles, but
Speaker 1: the defensive ends can help you out because usually if
Speaker 1: it's an even man set or a four or three.
Speaker 1: Green Bay used to run the sweeps all the time,
Speaker 1: and what would happen the forrest Greg would come out,
Speaker 1: slide out and seal try to seal you off. So
Speaker 1: if your defensive end could just hold him for a second,
Speaker 1: I can get by him. But I remember and in
Speaker 1: a film session, Abe Gibern was running this the projector
Speaker 1: and it was a it was an end sweep and
Speaker 1: I made the tackle, but then you know, he ran
Speaker 1: the play back. Gibbern runs the play back and then
Speaker 1: he starts to run and ford, he says, Obradovitch, look
Speaker 1: at yourself, and ed Ed gets he beats a crack
Speaker 1: down from the tight end. Then the guard is pulling
Speaker 1: and hits him, and his helmet starts going sideways, and
Speaker 1: then the back comes and hits them, and then the
Speaker 1: lead back and there's nobody there. So I made the tackle,
Speaker 1: you know, like right, play Brams, look at yourself. He'll
Speaker 1: you tell him, he'll tell that story. He tells it
Speaker 1: all the time. But that's you know, that's the way
Speaker 1: the defenses were geared and is to try to keep
Speaker 1: you clear. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it's
Speaker 1: important to have some guys up there that um, you know,
Speaker 1: and it's kind of sacrifice. And you've got you know,
Speaker 1: we used to have a call tight and the wide
Speaker 1: and you know they're giving themselves up to cover one hole,
Speaker 1: but we want you also to carry your defensive guard
Speaker 1: with you either way, tie them up so they're not
Speaker 1: slipping out going after your linebackers. So they were, you know,
Speaker 1: I didn't have any that many pro bowlers in front
Speaker 1: of me. Had Old Radovitch and Doug Atkins there for
Speaker 1: a while, but the other guys, you know, surprisingly enough,
Speaker 1: they did a pretty good job. Doug Atkins was a
Speaker 1: big bad man. Doug Atkins was probably the closest man
Speaker 1: the superman that I would say played with him my
Speaker 1: rookie year. He'd never worked out. If that guy would
Speaker 1: have trained properly, they would have had to ban him
Speaker 1: from the league. I firmly would. I firmly believed that
Speaker 1: he was unbelievable. And you know the funny thing he
Speaker 1: used to He used to tip that Tennessee whiskey a
Speaker 1: little bit, and then he knew that Pallas was in
Speaker 1: Phoenix at the Wrigley Building. There every February, Coach Allis
Speaker 1: would go there for his vacation, and Doug used to
Speaker 1: a couple of drinks. He would call there and just
Speaker 1: the old man about salaries and everything else. And so
Speaker 1: you o man, you know, never said much. So now
Speaker 1: the expansion comes and Doug ends up in New Orleans.
Speaker 1: So Doug quits drinking, he starts working out. He's having
Speaker 1: a Pro Bowl year and here it comes, but he's
Speaker 1: gonna play against the Bears. He said, I'm gonna play
Speaker 1: until I get a crack at the Bears. And Randy
Speaker 1: Jackson was the tackle over it would have been over him.
Speaker 1: And he was shifting a gold brick all week long.
Speaker 1: God damn it. I got and Doug pulls a hamstring
Speaker 1: or something the game before, so here he is on
Speaker 1: the We're in New Orleans and here's Doug on our sideline,
Speaker 1: half in a bag, you know, And he dismissed his opportunity,
Speaker 1: and that was the end of his career. But he was,
Speaker 1: without a doubt, closest. Got the Superman stronger, and then
Speaker 1: I'll get out. Never did anything, they claimed one night
Speaker 1: before a game he had thirty six martinis and two
Speaker 1: cases of beer. I believe you've got some defensive tackles
Speaker 1: in our kind of uh you know, got their own
Speaker 1: personalities too well, Steve McMichael and Dan Hampton. I just
Speaker 1: remember those guys getting on a plane and I normally
Speaker 1: they sat behind they sat in front of me. I
Speaker 1: sat behind them, and I had to listen to them
Speaker 1: all the way where we were going, whether it's Detroit
Speaker 1: or Tampa. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We got to lose
Speaker 1: you a fat guy. We got to protect him all
Speaker 1: the time. Dan, how do your knees feel? You know,
Speaker 1: Hey Bunny, he's always talking about Hey, Samurai great play.
Speaker 1: You know, it's like, I'm tired of this guy. So
Speaker 1: I had to sit there and listen to those guys.
Speaker 1: And to be honest, it really wasn't until towards the
Speaker 1: end of my career that I really began to appreciate
Speaker 1: them for who they were. Dan and Steve. You know,
Speaker 1: they were very unselfish. They did exactly what they were
Speaker 1: supposed to do, and I thought I was pretty good.
Speaker 1: In the middle, I thought, hey, you know what, I'm
Speaker 1: pretty good. Dan got hurt one time and we missed
Speaker 1: him the rest of the year. Steve kind of was
Speaker 1: banged up, and all of a sudden, I'm thinking, wow,
Speaker 1: after the games, I'm a lot sore. After the games.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm having to make a lot more tackles,
Speaker 1: I'm getting hit a lot more, and I'm thinking, maybe
Speaker 1: I'm not. I thought I was. But having those guys
Speaker 1: made all the difference in the world. And once again
Speaker 1: with Dick was saying with Hartenstein and Richard Dent on
Speaker 1: the end when the balls outside, I mean, I had
Speaker 1: the privilege of playing against great guys in front of
Speaker 1: me and really really appreciated them. Defensive Player of the
Speaker 1: Year in eleven consecutive years leading tackler. We can go
Speaker 1: down all the all the great accolades. I think everyone
Speaker 1: here last night was moved to see GAYL. Sayers. Let's
Speaker 1: talk GAYL. Sayers. And first of all, being in the
Speaker 1: same draft. It'll ever happen again this way, it never
Speaker 1: happened before, since they have two Hall of Famers picked
Speaker 1: on the same team that in the top five. But
Speaker 1: what did he mean to you? What's he mean to
Speaker 1: you now? And I know, Mike, you're you're close to
Speaker 1: Gail as well. Well, you know back then in college,
Speaker 1: you you know, I never saw the guy play, you know,
Speaker 1: like now, there's so much, like I said before, so
Speaker 1: much exposure and with all these games. First time I
Speaker 1: saw Gale was in New York at the local American
Speaker 1: team and there was there were showing films and I'm
Speaker 1: looking at this guy with the high tops and he's
Speaker 1: running back kickoffs and everything else. I don't know who
Speaker 1: the heck he was, but he was just amazing on
Speaker 1: that game tape. So we came together and of course
Speaker 1: we were playing. We both were at the All Star
Speaker 1: Game together and got to know he was a very
Speaker 1: quiet guy. And our wives got along and so when
Speaker 1: we went down to the Bears camp, and you know,
Speaker 1: it was kind of tough, and you still had some
Speaker 1: leftover guys from the sixty three championship team, and you know,
Speaker 1: of course we were both number one, so they're gonna
Speaker 1: make it hard on us and show us the ropes
Speaker 1: and everything else. But Gail just ran circles around everybody
Speaker 1: and then that quickly adopted him, real quick. He was amazing.
Speaker 1: I still attribute a lot of my h some success
Speaker 1: from trying to tackle him, because there was there was
Speaker 1: I never came up against the running back like him
Speaker 1: in my whole career as far as a half back,
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, and that was counting like OJ
Speaker 1: and a couple other guys that no one could touch
Speaker 1: this guy. And so you know, it was really devastating
Speaker 1: when he got hit by Kerman Alexander, and you know,
Speaker 1: at that time we didn't have the best of doctors,
Speaker 1: and I think that was the beginning of the down
Speaker 1: of you know, his downfall. But he was very quiet
Speaker 1: but really a good guy. And it's a shame nowhere
Speaker 1: you know his condition and now it's just terrible, terrible
Speaker 1: thing he's going through, and his wife and wish them
Speaker 1: some some God's speed because he's a great guy, A
Speaker 1: great guy. Hell ever, running Mike your thoughts. You're a
Speaker 1: very introspective individual, so I know you're thinking about it
Speaker 1: right now. Yeah, I Um, I just remember meeting m
Speaker 1: Gail and we met, you know, several times, and just
Speaker 1: having the opportunity to talk with him. Obviously his career
Speaker 1: he's already passed, um, but I know that from talking
Speaker 1: to him that he was a very deep thinker. And
Speaker 1: to see what I see now it um, it's amazing
Speaker 1: someone that is so beautiful and gifted and talented as
Speaker 1: as a player, and you know later in life to
Speaker 1: have that happened to him is really I know. It's
Speaker 1: tough on everybody. It's tough on his teammates, former teammates,
Speaker 1: he's tough on the league and as a player, you know,
Speaker 1: it just makes you makes you take a step back
Speaker 1: and thank God every day for your own health and
Speaker 1: bless him, you know, Dick, you talk about watching Gayale
Speaker 1: Sayers in practice in his role as a partick returner
Speaker 1: and punt returner. But Ray Mansfield from the Pittsburgh Steeler
Speaker 1: says he remembers Dick buckets destroying the entire special teams
Speaker 1: of the Steelers. Everybody knows you as a great middle linebacker.
Speaker 1: What was your what was your role on special teams? Well,
Speaker 1: back then, you know we played them all. Uh played
Speaker 1: everything except after my rookie year they took me off
Speaker 1: the kickoff team, but all the other ones. It was
Speaker 1: great being on the kickoff return team and and the
Speaker 1: punt team because he had a guy like gayl Stairs
Speaker 1: back there. It was you know, if we could just
Speaker 1: get one or two blocks, that meant there would be
Speaker 1: one less guy to go after Gail and he could
Speaker 1: take care of, you know, anybody that's left with his
Speaker 1: moves and speed. It was fun and it was another
Speaker 1: way for us. You know, we didn't have the strongest
Speaker 1: offense and no hurl other than him, so anytime we
Speaker 1: could get an advantage by the kicking game, you know,
Speaker 1: he ran back punts and kickoffs for scores. And I'll
Speaker 1: tell you what. He was something else. Now everybody is
Speaker 1: you know, we specialties at everything, but Gail did it
Speaker 1: at all through the ball, ran the ball, block all
Speaker 1: the special teams. He was something else. When is there
Speaker 1: is there any reminder when you see the history of
Speaker 1: the Bears, is there any reminder of the returning ability
Speaker 1: of Gail and the returning ability of a guy like
Speaker 1: Devin Hester. Yeah, I think it was. I think you can.
Speaker 1: You can say that very very much, alike. Um, I
Speaker 1: don't know how how fast Gail would be. You know,
Speaker 1: they never timed us in a hundred one hundred yard
Speaker 1: dash or whatever. But he could run and I mean
Speaker 1: flat out, open up, or run right at you and
Speaker 1: then the next second he was going that way. He
Speaker 1: had a tremendous ability to change in Hester, I think
Speaker 1: I don't know if he must have been fast, right,
Speaker 1: I mean I used fast. Did you you never timed
Speaker 1: at the forty coming in at that In those days
Speaker 1: forty yard dash, you guys didn't get timed, and Mike,
Speaker 1: you did right coming out of county unless they did
Speaker 1: a training camp when we were at the All Star camp.
Speaker 1: But I but my sophomore year, they never timed us. Well,
Speaker 1: I know a guy did run fast. You know what
Speaker 1: they used to say, you know about the speed, Oh,
Speaker 1: he's real fast, and he said, yeah, he's fast, and
Speaker 1: they can get out of the way quicker instead of
Speaker 1: making a play. So well, one guy that we all love,
Speaker 1: I wish you were here was Brian or Lacker, who
Speaker 1: ran a heck of a forty at a two hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty six pound body at six y four. Let's
Speaker 1: sew some highlights of Brian or Lacker, because inevitably everybody's compared.
Speaker 1: You guys are all Hall of Fame linebackers. You no
Speaker 1: doubt heard it about Bill George, You heard it about
Speaker 1: Dick Brian, heard it about both of you. Do you
Speaker 1: enjoy watching how this man played in a very unique
Speaker 1: way and a unique defense for him revolutionized the middle
Speaker 1: landbacker position and Lovey Smith's cover two defense. Do you
Speaker 1: enjoy watching Brian in his career? Oh? Yeah, yeah, you
Speaker 1: know what and and uh you know I just laughed
Speaker 1: when he when he started having contest to who's the best,
Speaker 1: who's the best? That's really who's the best at that
Speaker 1: year that he's playing right now, and in that league
Speaker 1: he was, he was the best. Now, you know, how
Speaker 1: how could you measure him against Bill George or me
Speaker 1: against Mike or Mike against Earlocker. You know, it's it's
Speaker 1: all bowl. I mean during that time, you know, during
Speaker 1: that time that you're playing, he was the best. That's
Speaker 1: and that's what I would say about all of us
Speaker 1: same thing during that time, so many variables try to say, well,
Speaker 1: wait a minute, maybe maybe you could play. You could
Speaker 1: say you play in each era. You're good enough to
Speaker 1: play in each era. But to say, you know, to
Speaker 1: claim that you're the best, it's, well, you're talking a
Speaker 1: lot of football to trying to say you're the best.
Speaker 1: So it's only when you were playing, and well, I
Speaker 1: always said the longer you played, of course, the better
Speaker 1: you should have gotten. Well, you each had twenty five
Speaker 1: tackle games in your career. This is the one in Arizona,
Speaker 1: widely regarded as a signature game in his career, Dick
Speaker 1: had twenty five tackles against the Steelers in nineteen seventy.
Speaker 1: You love that game. I know that you had a
Speaker 1: twenty plus tackle game. You each had twenty two interceptions
Speaker 1: or lacker and byas that's great symmetry. You didn't have
Speaker 1: that many opportunities to make plays on the ball like
Speaker 1: that given your position. But Hall of Fame careers across
Speaker 1: the board, so I agree you can't compare eras you
Speaker 1: guys were all great players. Was that your signature game?
Speaker 1: That was our only win nineteen Yeah, it's it's kind
Speaker 1: of unique, Mike, when you think about that win and
Speaker 1: the Steelers game when we played the year you were
Speaker 1: retiring and Steelers came in here, We're supposed to beat us,
Speaker 1: and I think, out of respect for you and trying
Speaker 1: to have the proper send off, we went out and
Speaker 1: beat the Steelers. Also, when you think about in the
Speaker 1: history a great linebackers, how much that team we that
Speaker 1: you meant to us and we meant to you. Tell
Speaker 1: you what out bad our luck was in sixty nine
Speaker 1: we beat the Steelers. So we were one in thirteen
Speaker 1: and they were one in thirteen and we lost the
Speaker 1: damn coin toss for first pick. They picked up Bradshaw.
Speaker 1: All right, we got about five minutes in our session.
Speaker 1: I know we got some questions from fans. If I
Speaker 1: get those real quick. While we wait for those, I
Speaker 1: want to put up a graphic of each of a
Speaker 1: portion of your Hall of Fame speeches, and we're gonna
Speaker 1: start with Dix. Thank you so much. I consider being
Speaker 1: inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as the
Speaker 1: top of my dream, for only on the top can
Speaker 1: I see the whole view, and I can see what
Speaker 1: I have done and what I can do from now on.
Speaker 1: So that's in the seventies. Did it did it resonate
Speaker 1: through the rest of your life after being on top
Speaker 1: and seeing what you can do from now on? Did
Speaker 1: you feel you feel like you've squeezed a lot out
Speaker 1: of this life post football? Well? I think so since
Speaker 1: then I always felt and when I got involved with
Speaker 1: the Buckas Award thirty five years ago, we have had
Speaker 1: something put on the name, you know, under the winner's name,
Speaker 1: is that receiving the Buckas Award means two things. One
Speaker 1: you're the best of the best linebackers in the country.
Speaker 1: And two and more importantly, is that you now have
Speaker 1: a responsibility to serve others and get back because when
Speaker 1: you reach you a pinnacle like the Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: or whatever like that, whether you like it or not,
Speaker 1: I know people don't like it, but you know, kids
Speaker 1: look up to you, everything else, and you got to
Speaker 1: give back. I think nobody reaches that level various success
Speaker 1: without some help along the way. And what you do
Speaker 1: is when you when you get to that point and
Speaker 1: achieve something like that, you don't hoard it and pound
Speaker 1: your chests or whatever. You go and you help somebody
Speaker 1: else attain that level or that level of competence and
Speaker 1: whatever they do. So uh, really that's you know, and
Speaker 1: I think that has happened with a lot of the
Speaker 1: players that have had wonder Buccas Award, a lot of
Speaker 1: good guys that are giving back. And you gotta understand,
Speaker 1: whether you like it or not, people look up to
Speaker 1: you and and you got to represent yourself well. All right,
Speaker 1: Mike Singletary. I was at your induction. It was one
Speaker 1: of the most inspirational speeches forget Hall of Famer otherwise
Speaker 1: that I've ever witnessed. It gave me goose bumps. But
Speaker 1: Harry broke it down a little bit about the men
Speaker 1: who impacted you, if you could talk about this a
Speaker 1: little bit. I just feel, you know, very fortunate, first
Speaker 1: of all, coming to Chicago, obviously with the part of
Speaker 1: my destiny to come to a city that, first of
Speaker 1: all a defensive city, as I said before it the
Speaker 1: black and Blue Monster of the Midway, a lot of
Speaker 1: things I didn't even know when I got here. And
Speaker 1: then to have the opportunity to be coached by a
Speaker 1: buddy Ryan who's the defensive minded guy and at the
Speaker 1: same time was very tough on me for all the
Speaker 1: right reasons when I first got here that helped develop
Speaker 1: me in a whole new way. And then of course
Speaker 1: coach Ditka with the leadership and the vision that he had,
Speaker 1: and then UM after Buddy Ryan leaving UM, Vince Tobin
Speaker 1: and Dave McGinnis. Dave McGinnis really became a friend of
Speaker 1: mine that helped me and at a different part of
Speaker 1: my career. So I am I just feel very fortunate
Speaker 1: that it just seems that though the Lord just kind
Speaker 1: of continued to put great men in my life to
Speaker 1: help either show me the light or light of fire
Speaker 1: in me to help me go to the next level.
Speaker 1: All Right, we have the only time I'm gonna use
Speaker 1: one of these questions from a fan from Oak Park.
Speaker 1: Jamie wants to know the best prank you or a
Speaker 1: group of teammates ever played on another teammate or a coach.
Speaker 1: Best pranks? These aren't pranksters. They got a prank pulled
Speaker 1: on him. Oh, I guess us prank that I pulled
Speaker 1: on Doug Buffonos down a training camp and Rensselaer, Indiana
Speaker 1: when I set his door on fire after a team
Speaker 1: party and I claimed that I didn't do it and
Speaker 1: it was him and Ross Bruebacher were rooming together and
Speaker 1: they said, you know, nobody saw me do it, So
Speaker 1: I said, whatever, and uh so, yes, we know it
Speaker 1: was you because we went in the in the bathroom
Speaker 1: there and in the garbage there was some tobacco in there,
Speaker 1: chewing tobacco. So but they they never they never could
Speaker 1: prove it. And and Ross Bruebacher ended up being an attorney,
Speaker 1: you know, and he's given me that I'm saying the
Speaker 1: statue limitations, buddy. So that was the perfect thing. It
Speaker 1: was funnier in hell. How about you, Mike? All Right,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be boring on this one. I never pulled
Speaker 1: a prank on anybody because I didn't like pranks. And
Speaker 1: I didn't like pranks because you know, I didn't want
Speaker 1: to be surprised. I didn't you know, guys pulled pranks
Speaker 1: on me from time to time, but I just I
Speaker 1: just never pulled a plank on anybody else. I just didn't.
Speaker 1: All good, All right, one last thing before we go,
Speaker 1: and thank you so much everybody, Thank you to these guys.
Speaker 1: Let's throw up Brian or Lackers Hall of Fame speech
Speaker 1: as well. A portion of that if we can the
Speaker 1: graphic because I think it says a lot. The most
Speaker 1: covetive position of pro football for defensive player is to
Speaker 1: play middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears. Just think about it.
Speaker 1: The history of this position unmatched by any other team.
Speaker 1: Would you guys agree, absolutely well, I guess I would
Speaker 1: say so. People would probably argue with you about the
Speaker 1: Steelers linebackers, but I don't think so. You got that right,
Speaker 1: Mike Singletary, Dick Butkus, thank you so much. Everybody give
Speaker 1: him a hand