WEBVTT - Legacy Panel - Hall of Fame Linebackers 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:19.080 We got some more fans treatment in here. I like it. 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:25.160 Good morning, we got the Hall of Fame mental linebackers 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:32.200 minus one Brian Erlacker regrets his unavailability under the weather 0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:34.640 so could not make it. Otherwise, I think for the 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:36.360 first time the three of these guys would have been 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:40.040 together at the same time. Good morning, Mike Singletary, Good morning, 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:44.520 mister Butkus. How are you guys? You guys have microphones. 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:47.559 Tom Thayre's gonna lead us off. But before you do, 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:50.960 I got a little prepared statement about what the middle 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:53.920 linebacker meant and Bears football. So, first of all, all 0:00:54.160 --> 0:00:56.000 three of these guys that we were going to interview 0:00:56.080 --> 0:01:01.920 the Hall of Fame middle linebackers defined by intelligence, toughness, instincts, 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:08.160 and dedication, all with iconic hits, interceptions, forced fumbles, fumble returns, 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:12.040 carrying on the legacy of the cornerstone position and Bears 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:17.640 football lore. It started here, it continues here. Bill George 0:01:17.680 --> 0:01:22.160 advised by George Connor to back up after quarterbacks kept 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:24.039 throwing the ball over? Is that and he didn't like it? 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:29.360 That became the position that is uniquely Bears, uniquely monsters 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:33.440 of the midway. I think everyone who would agree. Yes, 0:01:33.520 --> 0:01:36.520 there's been a lot of great positions, but middle linebacker 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:41.400 defines the toughness of this football team big time. Mister Buckas, 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:46.000 I've always wanted to ask you this question. I have 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:48.440 a dog as names Ernie. I go to the dog park, 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:50.280 and every time I go to the dog park, I 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:54.760 hear someone yelling bcas. Did you ever meet Sylvester Salone 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:57.880 before they made the movie Rocky when he came out 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:03.800 with the dog named Bucas. Yes. I met um Sly 0:02:04.000 --> 0:02:06.680 over there at Universal one day and he was walking 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:10.320 through it and then I says, Hey, what's with the 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:13.720 dog man? You know? And I says, uh. He says, well, 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:16.320 he's he's gonna be in the other one too, so 0:02:16.360 --> 0:02:19.160 he's gonna put him in two movies. I said, where 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:21.200 is the residuals at man? You know? And he's a 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:25.960 slap so he's not the only one I've had. You know, 0:02:26.000 --> 0:02:30.399 a number of people come up and do that. That's 0:02:30.400 --> 0:02:32.280 a unique thing about the Bears is that we have 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:34.640 so many great players in the history of the Bears. 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:38.000 You can tell people you can just say one name. 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:40.920 You can say single Tarry, you can say Bucks, you 0:02:40.919 --> 0:02:44.240 can say Erlak or Plank Fencic, and everybody knows who 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:47.720 you're talking about. So it's always something that you kind 0:02:47.760 --> 0:02:50.640 of wonder in the in the history of you know, 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:54.520 here this this great movie, and it's kind of an honor, 0:02:55.080 --> 0:02:57.160 I would say, it's it's a huge honor to be 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:00.320 to have such a well known name that they can 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:02.840 name a dog after you, and you know, you go 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:07.800 on and win Picture of the Year. Well, um, you 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:11.799 know the guy who was before before us, Bill George. 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:16.519 Back in those days, the exposure that those players were 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:19.920 getting it was cannot even match you know what what 0:03:20.080 --> 0:03:23.560 goes on today. So you know, there's so many avenues 0:03:23.639 --> 0:03:28.280 now there's even more a lot more exposure than when 0:03:28.320 --> 0:03:32.160 I was even playing. Uh, you know, with the stealth 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:36.200 homes and everything else. So you know, when you when 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:40.760 you win nowadays, it's I mean, everybody in the world 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:45.080 knows about it, and you know, and if if you know, 0:03:45.160 --> 0:03:47.680 just like when you guys want to won, you know, 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:52.000 the Super Bowl, uh, you know, Saturday Night Live it 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:55.080 did go and everybody, all these other opportunities come. It's 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:58.000 just it just shows you what the fan base the 0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:03.839 NFL has. It's just really enormous and as I look out, 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:06.080 you know, you look at the jerseys and everything else. 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:09.360 Even in my era, that really wasn't a big deal. 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:13.040 So it's doing a hell of job of marketing, I 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:17.679 guess because it's uh. And so if you're a current 0:04:17.720 --> 0:04:22.960 player and you know you're good, you're all pro or whatever, 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:27.320 sky's the limit. Everybody in the world knows about you, 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:29.520 you know. Sometimes that's you know, you'd like to have 0:04:29.560 --> 0:04:33.120 your own privacy too. So I'm glad I didn't have 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:35.359 cell phones when I was playing. I tell you that 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:39.880 or anything else that's out there. Mike, I'm sure you 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:44.080 would agree, because you you had your fun. Obviously you 0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:47.000 love playing it, but you were a serious football player. 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:51.280 It was it was a job that you attached yourself too, 0:04:51.360 --> 0:04:55.040 professionally from the moment you got here, isn't it? Well? 0:04:55.240 --> 0:05:00.000 I think, um, football is for a lot of people. 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:02.560 People when you ask them, you know what do you guys? 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:07.960 Do you know? Well we entertained well for me. For 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:11.479 the fan, it's entertainment, but for me it's it's serious business. 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:16.479 Because every game that you played, it's no guarantee that 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:18.160 you're going to come off the same way you went 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:23.960 on and the offseason work, all of the amount of 0:05:24.480 --> 0:05:27.479 time that goes into the commitment to film study, all 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:31.320 of those things make a tremendous difference, and you have 0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:36.360 to do your work and earn the right to to win. 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:40.599 You know, Mike, one thing I always when people ask 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:43.200 me about you, I say, Mike Singletary was the most 0:05:43.240 --> 0:05:46.560 well prepared professional athlete I ever played with. And it 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:49.680 was your diligency and always being in shape in your 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:53.200 commitment to film study and to being educated about the 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:57.480 next opponent. And you know, you capitalized on the newness 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:00.360 of the technology and how much of that help help you. 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:06.640 And then, mister Buckets, the technology that we had in 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:09.880 our in our time, would you would have liked to 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:12.839 use that throughout your career or was it more of 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:18.800 seeing attack? Oh? I would have liked to have that 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:24.720 technology because as it was, you know, we would certain 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:27.440 there's certain players and I don't care who they are. 0:06:27.920 --> 0:06:30.320 I mean, like Johnny Unitis. We had we had a 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:34.799 definite tip on him when he dropped back the pass, 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:37.400 he'd always looked to the left, to the right and 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:40.960 work and go back to the left wherever he looked first. 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:44.479 And then he'd look away, he'd always go back, and 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:49.240 the son of a gun still beat I mean, we 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:52.080 intercepted three passes in the first half and he still 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:54.239 beat us by a touchdown at the end of the game. 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:59.640 So we would watch films and I was like one 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:01.560 of the first and I think I still have the 0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:07.400 old sixteen MILLI contraption, and I used to pick up 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:11.560 a lot of things because back then, everybody, you know, 0:07:11.600 --> 0:07:16.920 I don't care what who it is, You'll always fall 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:20.000 back to what your feel normal. I mean, what's normal 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:24.920 for you. And there was simple things like centers. You know, 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:27.800 if it was a pass, they'd use one hand on 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:31.360 the ball, and if it's a run they use two hands. 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:34.520 Well you're watching the film and you see this happen, 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:39.360 and you see a couple of games, and you see how, well, hey, 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:43.320 this is holding true as simple as that as a 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:45.600 center having one hand or two hands on the ball, 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:49.880 and on the pro level, yet they still do it. 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:53.120 And we were able, you know, I'd say, hey, look 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:56.080 at the guy's got one hand. It's a pass, and 0:07:56.120 --> 0:07:58.080 then he'd run the film and sure enough it was 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:02.280 a pass. So and I imagine today, with the technology 0:08:02.360 --> 0:08:05.040 they have today, you can find out what hand they 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:07.160 scratched their ass with. You know what I mean really, 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:11.480 because like I say, I don't care who it is, 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:15.160 that you have natural traits and it's hard to get 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:17.960 away from them. So if you can catch that and 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:22.080 figure it out, it gives you a tremendous advantage. Mike, 0:08:22.120 --> 0:08:25.240 with the technology, did it did it increase your traits 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:28.520 or did it make you a more intelligent football player 0:08:28.560 --> 0:08:31.640 according to the offenses that you faced in the coaching 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:36.000 that you were getting. I think, you know, one of 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:39.880 the things about technology is as the player, you always 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:43.959 have to come back to football. I think a lot 0:08:44.000 --> 0:08:48.520 of times coordinators get themselves in trouble because they rely 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:55.319 too heavily on the tendencies and just go, oh, okay, 0:08:55.360 --> 0:08:58.560 well they do this all the time when they line 0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:01.840 up in this formation, they're gonna run this play. And 0:09:02.000 --> 0:09:06.320 what happens is if the team goes off that track, 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:09.680 then you feel like, oh my goodness, what do I 0:09:09.760 --> 0:09:13.640 do now? And so I think it you really have 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:17.000 to do your homework and kind of backtrack and be 0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:20.520 prepared and watching a certain amount of games that you 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:23.719 can cover your your tail when when things don't work 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:25.920 out the way you think they do. Did it ever, 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:29.960 did you ever overthink it because you studied so much 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:32.440 and you put so much time with the coaches and stuff. 0:09:32.960 --> 0:09:35.880 Did you always almost have to control yourself? There's a 0:09:35.920 --> 0:09:39.120 saying of linebackers don't go until you know. Did you 0:09:39.160 --> 0:09:41.120 ever almost have to hold back because you have the 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:43.679 speed to get where you needed to get. I think 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:46.719 at the beginning of the game, I went on what 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:49.720 I knew, I went on what I saw in film, 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:54.400 and I just believe that they can't deviate too much 0:09:54.720 --> 0:09:58.360 from what they've been doing in that path three or 0:09:58.360 --> 0:10:02.920 four games and in the game if it didn't follow 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:07.320 suit for whatever reason, then it was like, Wow, now 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:10.120 I got to really settle down and play football and 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:13.640 find new tendency because they're breaking them this week. They're 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:21.280 changing it. Explain how you hit? Explain how I hit? Yep, 0:10:21.440 --> 0:10:25.160 because there is a quote I found about you, and 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:29.640 you explained how you uncoiled like a snake and delivered it. 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:32.000 Hit because of your size and how you utilize your 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:34.560 size and leverage, and we're we're watching you on these 0:10:34.600 --> 0:10:39.000 highlights right now. I think, for me, you know everything 0:10:39.040 --> 0:10:41.680 I learned about tackling I learned in the seventh grade 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:47.160 and the coach, and really it was from playing guard 0:10:47.840 --> 0:10:52.720 and not little linebacker as an offensive lineman. Can you 0:10:52.760 --> 0:10:55.599 repeat that. I know, I hate to say it. I 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:58.640 don't say it, I'll go loud, but it was from 0:10:58.640 --> 0:11:02.840 playing offensive guard. The coach told me to make sure 0:11:02.920 --> 0:11:07.000 that I had my neck in, my shoulders, my back flat, 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:10.560 and my eyes always have to see what I was hitting. 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:14.680 And so as long as I did that and you know, 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:17.920 bring my arms through. My hips had to come through 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:23.040 the whole nine yards every time you hit, then the 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:27.280 chances are you're gonna come out healthy, You're gonna come 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:30.640 out good, and the guy that you're hitting is gonna 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:33.680 feel the blow a lot more than you. And so 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:37.080 that's something that I worked on. I think today what 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:40.760 happens a lot is guys don't work on it. They 0:11:40.760 --> 0:11:44.720 don't develop muscle memory. You know, it takes time to 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:48.199 develop that muscle memory to tackle the same way every time. 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:53.000 And when you don't do that, then sometimes your head's 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:55.040 gonna be down, your head's gonna be to the side, 0:11:55.760 --> 0:11:57.960 and that's where a lot of the concussions and things 0:11:58.000 --> 0:12:00.480 like that come in. But if your faith he's up, 0:12:01.200 --> 0:12:03.760 your eyes hope and you see what you're hitting. Your 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:06.040 neck is in your shoulders. Chances are you're gonna come 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:10.160 out okay. It seems it seems like every there's two 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:13.720 positions to every great player, mister buckets. So I heard 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:15.560 Jeff was telling me that you said you were going 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:17.760 to play middle linebacker for ten years and then you 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:21.320 were going to play offensive center for another five. Did 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:23.920 did know in the center position help you be a 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:29.880 better middle linebacker? Oh? I don't know if it was 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:34.120 that big of a big of an advantage. Uh. You know, 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:38.800 at Illinois we played both ways, and you know that 0:12:38.920 --> 0:12:42.360 was really a cult by a Gibbern who was our 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:46.559 line coach, that I could have played center also. Um, 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:48.560 but I don't think it was all that big of 0:12:48.600 --> 0:12:54.280 a deal. Um. I just you know, I just remember 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:57.280 about the tackling deal. I just remember my day's back 0:12:57.320 --> 0:13:00.679 at CBS and I was a fullback and what really 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:06.360 bothered me as a running back and getting tackled was 0:13:06.400 --> 0:13:10.000 when someone would almost like bear hug you, and they'd 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:13.040 you wrap your arms up so that when you're starting 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:16.360 a fall, you could not use your hand to break 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:20.520 the fall, or if you did, there's a fifty fifty 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:24.400 chance the ball would pop out. So I always remembered that, 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:28.320 and that's how I used to tackle in college, was 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:31.680 that i'd put my head to their chest and alleviate 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:34.200 the air if they were quick enough to make a 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:36.840 move right or left, So I always aimed for the center, 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:40.760 and if it was completed that way, then I could 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:44.600 really bury them and put them on their back. If 0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:46.680 they made a quick cut and i'd hit him on 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:51.400 the side, i'd get them down. But I always felt, 0:13:51.480 --> 0:13:54.600 if you can intimidate the runner, I don't care who 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:58.160 he is or what level. Nobody likes to get hit 0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:03.320 that often. Somewhere along the line, I always thought that, 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:06.520 you know those back those days, back in high school, 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:11.000 you keep hitting somebody hard enough, the ultimate goal is 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:15.559 to get the turnover. And you know, for well, I 0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:17.439 don't know how many years I had the record for 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:20.960 recovering fumbles that I had caused, and except going uh 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:25.200 the damn Minnesota and there played for fifty years, broke 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:29.640 my record. But that was that was the deal. It 0:14:29.760 --> 0:14:32.760 was to punish somebody because you know, you could see 0:14:32.800 --> 0:14:34.960 it in the back size and I'm sure my kids 0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:39.360 in his career backs are looking at you and like, 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:43.960 ohh and that was it. You know, everybody said I 0:14:44.040 --> 0:14:47.120 was like an intimidator or whatever. I was just going 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:50.880 going by what bothered me as a running back in 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:53.800 high school. I did not want to be hit and 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:56.920 put on my back, and that's what I tried to 0:14:56.960 --> 0:15:00.120 do all the time. And well a lot of circumstances 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:03.080 that doesn't happen. I know, we all agree, you can 0:15:03.120 --> 0:15:07.680 never get tired of watching Dick Buckets highlights, even you, Mike, right. 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:13.320 I mean, honestly, Tom and I the other day we 0:15:13.400 --> 0:15:14.920 put it on. I put it out when he was 0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:16.640 up at Hollis Hall, and I'm like, will you get 0:15:16.800 --> 0:15:20.400 just look at how damaging of a tackler he is. 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:23.040 You just blew through people. I mean, it's it makes 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:27.080 you stand up and go wow. And you had a 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:29.920 lot of nicknames. Oh, you had a lot of nicknames. 0:15:30.040 --> 0:15:31.680 I don't know which one you like the best, but 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:35.040 you go through time and everybody had a comment or 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:41.200 a depiction of dick Buckets. So the enforcer, the animal, 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:47.040 the maestro of mayhem, the robot of destruction. How about 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:50.720 just flat out good old Dick Buckets, because that to 0:15:50.800 --> 0:15:56.000 me sounds the best. But you were the you. I 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:58.560 mean you had to know because you were the most 0:15:58.600 --> 0:16:02.760 feared tackler in football. Well, the only reason I was 0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:07.800 the most feared tackler in football was because evidently no 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:11.480 one got the message. Nobody else tackled that way. I 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:13.640 mean this one. What do you what do you think 0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:18.120 when you see that? You know? When I first saw that? Uh, 0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:22.760 I ask everybody when they come up and have me 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:27.000 signed that picture, I said, you can have the autograph 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:33.560 free if you can name the ball carrier. Wow, let's 0:16:33.600 --> 0:16:36.240 test you. Who do you think the ball carrier is? 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:41.800 I'm going, uh, and I'm going I'm going to a 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:46.000 guy on the right. This this picture is really I 0:16:46.040 --> 0:16:48.960 mean clear. I mean the other one is the actually 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:52.120 eight by tens it's it's I you know. Let me 0:16:52.160 --> 0:16:59.840 just tell you. I've asked about a good two people 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:04.280 say to be conservative, and maybe three. Guess the guy 0:17:04.320 --> 0:17:06.959 in the back. You can see the ball, so we 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:12.960 know who it is here? Right? Huh? Right here? Right? Well? Yeah, 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:15.680 but who is he? Oh? Who is he? Who is 0:17:15.760 --> 0:17:19.320 who is he? I don't know who is it? What 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:22.120 the hell am I? No? Not Taylor? I see that's 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:26.560 the obvious. It's not Paul Horning. Is that a question 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:29.720 or are you asking? That's that would be one of 0:17:29.720 --> 0:17:32.080 my answers in a high school task. Just I write 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:39.320 something down and hope I got it right. No, any Grubowski, Anderson? 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:50.760 Who Anderson? Grbowski? Grbowski, that's Jim Grbowski. Well what do 0:17:50.840 --> 0:17:54.679 you think when you see that? Mike Oh? To answer 0:17:54.720 --> 0:18:01.320 the question? Three seconds after that shot, I was like this, Yeah, 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:04.240 but you got five guys pushing on you. That's a 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:09.240 wine Mike Singleton. That's some serious wingspan right there. A 0:18:09.359 --> 0:18:15.760 middle linebacker. Yeah it is. It's that's an armful. So interesting. 0:18:15.920 --> 0:18:19.200 What did you have against the Lions in one game? 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:22.960 He knocked out the center, the fullback, the quarterback, and 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:28.800 the half back in the same game. Yeah. Well, you know, 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:31.359 and I was the first couple of years I was 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:34.040 a snapper for extra points and the punts and all 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:38.280 that stuff. So you'd come out early for pregame warm 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:41.960 ups were at Wrigley Field and play in Detroit, and 0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:46.040 so I'm snapping warming up and the old man comes 0:18:46.119 --> 0:18:49.240 walking by and he says, hey, did you well? He 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:51.800 called me kid. He says, hey, kid, do you do 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:55.560 you know what that Flandagan said about you, and I'm 0:18:55.560 --> 0:19:00.720 like what, he just turned and walked away, as what 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:06.119 do you say? He just skept on walking. So I'd always, 0:19:06.320 --> 0:19:08.919 you know, go after Flant again. The set of the sets, 0:19:09.560 --> 0:19:14.440 the center. And there was one game one year where 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:16.919 they were, you know, we were they were beating us 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:18.960 by a couple of touchdowns and they're on our like 0:19:19.080 --> 0:19:23.000 two yard line and they're trying to run the clock outs. 0:19:23.080 --> 0:19:26.600 So I just would call time out, you know, Bradovitch 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:28.800 and a buffoon, and what the hell, come on, let's 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:31.320 get out of here, you know, as now I want 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:33.320 gonna crack at that Flan again, you know, and I 0:19:33.400 --> 0:19:36.280 just wanted to take another side. Poor guy. He was 0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:39.080 a good guy, but he never knew what the hell 0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:42.680 is what it was all about. Because you know, back then, 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:48.440 after I was taken off to being a snapper, I 0:19:48.600 --> 0:19:52.600 figured out that on fourth down, of course, we're always playing, 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:57.360 so on fourth down, I'd be moved over and when 0:19:57.400 --> 0:20:01.040 that center snapped for the punt, I just Barry is ask, 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:05.640 you know, because I knew it that was your vulnerable everything. 0:20:06.680 --> 0:20:10.560 So then they started devising plays, and see what happens 0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:13.280 when they've got to start messing around on how to 0:20:13.680 --> 0:20:15.800 how to keep me from hitting the center it throws 0:20:15.840 --> 0:20:20.920 everything else off also, So there was always, ah, there 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:22.639 was a rhyme of a reason that I did a 0:20:22.640 --> 0:20:25.280 lot of things, and a lot of it came naturally, 0:20:25.320 --> 0:20:28.600 and a lot of it I made up. You're very 0:20:28.680 --> 0:20:32.920 quotable because you're very You're a very good interview. Uh. 0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:35.560 You've got you know, your acting background, You're you're an 0:20:35.640 --> 0:20:38.560 entertainer at the same time as a football player. But 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:42.439 everybody had a quote about Dick Butkus and one of 0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:47.400 your teammates, Duck Buffone, the late Duck Buffone, who, uh try, 0:20:47.680 --> 0:20:51.320 one of the most underrated Chicago Bears around, A rugged 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:56.160 player that says a lot right there, Thank you lord, 0:20:56.200 --> 0:20:59.440 he's on my side. Uh. When you used to hear 0:20:59.480 --> 0:21:02.440 these quote or these things said about you, what do 0:21:02.520 --> 0:21:04.040 you think of it? And what do you think of 0:21:04.040 --> 0:21:09.800 it now all these years later? Well at the beginning, um, 0:21:10.520 --> 0:21:12.879 you know, being called an animal and everything else, I 0:21:13.000 --> 0:21:15.960 always thought they were questioning your intelligence. And I really 0:21:15.960 --> 0:21:19.760 didn't care for that, you know, because that's the way 0:21:19.760 --> 0:21:21.840 it was back then. You played you know, if you 0:21:21.920 --> 0:21:24.919 played football, you were dumb and all that business. And 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:31.760 for nothing's further than the truth. I mean, so, I 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:34.159 don't know, it's just it's kind of a compliment or whatever. 0:21:34.280 --> 0:21:38.320 It just tells me that it's kind of it's a 0:21:38.440 --> 0:21:43.040 reassurance that people are understanding what I'm doing on the field. 0:21:44.000 --> 0:21:47.960 Like I always said, the fans in Chicago, they're smart fans. 0:21:47.960 --> 0:21:51.960 They know what the hell is going on, rather than 0:21:52.080 --> 0:21:55.040 like you go to La to Kyle Sam and it's 0:21:55.320 --> 0:21:58.560 you know, who's who's to be seen and all that stuff. 0:21:58.600 --> 0:22:03.480 But um no, I guess it's a you know, it's 0:22:03.520 --> 0:22:06.679 a tribute to be an animal. Sure, I guess. I 0:22:06.720 --> 0:22:10.280 don't know. I give it a nice I'm over past 0:22:10.359 --> 0:22:14.440 that stuff now. Mike, your introduction to the Bears, Um, 0:22:14.480 --> 0:22:17.720 I remember reading the paper. I was a younger, and 0:22:18.280 --> 0:22:22.159 they just drafted this Mike Singletary middle linebacker. And when 0:22:22.200 --> 0:22:24.320 you look at the size, you know, sixty three two 0:22:24.520 --> 0:22:27.560 forty five, and then you see six five two fifty eight, 0:22:27.800 --> 0:22:30.880 and then you see the size of Mike Singletary. What 0:22:30.920 --> 0:22:33.720 was your introduction to George Hallis and then what was 0:22:33.800 --> 0:22:38.280 your your introduction to Buddy Ryan in terms of the 0:22:38.400 --> 0:22:41.280 eye test? And then what you were able to accomplish 0:22:41.400 --> 0:22:46.360 Was it the same as your first meeting with those guys? Well, 0:22:46.359 --> 0:22:49.360 I think when I when I first got to the Bears. 0:22:49.480 --> 0:22:53.240 You know, of course, my introduction to Buddy Ryan was 0:22:53.280 --> 0:22:58.040 a little short, fat guy, you know, being five eleven 0:22:58.760 --> 0:23:02.199 and I came in, I was like thirty five, and 0:23:03.359 --> 0:23:05.760 you know, after begging Buddy to allow me to play 0:23:05.800 --> 0:23:07.600 on the Nickel defense, yeah, I had to get down 0:23:07.680 --> 0:23:11.679 to twenty five and that's what I finished my career playing. 0:23:12.720 --> 0:23:16.600 But you know, it was I had in my mind 0:23:17.000 --> 0:23:19.200 what I wanted to accomplish when I came here. I 0:23:19.680 --> 0:23:22.800 had a vision of what I felt I could do, 0:23:23.760 --> 0:23:30.520 and the great tradition being in a defensive city with 0:23:30.640 --> 0:23:33.720 the exception of Walter Payton being the great running back. 0:23:34.320 --> 0:23:38.800 But it was I just, um, I always felt that 0:23:39.080 --> 0:23:42.199 Chicago was the place for me, the perfect place for 0:23:42.280 --> 0:23:46.879 me because of all of the traditions that came before me, 0:23:47.240 --> 0:23:51.520 the guys like Dick and Edol, Brad evinch and Bill George, 0:23:51.520 --> 0:23:54.359 some of those other guys that it really made me 0:23:54.400 --> 0:23:57.119 feel at home when I got here. You didn't start 0:23:57.160 --> 0:24:01.520 your first game. How impatient were you before the first start? 0:24:01.680 --> 0:24:04.399 And I ask everybody I was asking the quarterbacks that 0:24:04.560 --> 0:24:08.520 question also because you're not a I as, I don't 0:24:08.560 --> 0:24:12.119 see you as being a patient guy. How was that 0:24:12.160 --> 0:24:15.440 when you're sitting on the sidelines, knowing what you had 0:24:15.520 --> 0:24:19.879 within your ability? It was very frustrating. Lee Coons was 0:24:20.600 --> 0:24:25.439 the starter my rookie year, and um, you know, I 0:24:25.440 --> 0:24:28.800 would go up to Buddy and it was maybe seventh 0:24:28.800 --> 0:24:33.399 game before I started, and so I'd go up to 0:24:33.440 --> 0:24:36.320 Buddy and the first game, all the way through that 0:24:36.400 --> 0:24:38.800 seventh game is Buddy, Buddy, you gotta let me play. 0:24:38.840 --> 0:24:40.920 I know I can go out there and play. You 0:24:41.080 --> 0:24:43.360 just say, Son, go sit down. We're trying to win 0:24:43.400 --> 0:24:47.480 the game. Go sit down. And so that was very frustrating. 0:24:47.560 --> 0:24:49.840 And by time I had a chance to get out 0:24:49.840 --> 0:24:52.359 there was it was a good feeling, a chance to 0:24:52.359 --> 0:24:56.000 express myself. You're what, what what about your first start? How? 0:24:56.119 --> 0:24:59.760 How was that? Was it? Air free? Was it at 0:25:00.200 --> 0:25:03.320 film session the next day? Because I talked to everybody? 0:25:03.359 --> 0:25:06.240 How you know, in our offensive meetings, Coach Diffic would 0:25:06.280 --> 0:25:09.360 run the projector and your meetings, Buddy Ryan run the projector, 0:25:09.880 --> 0:25:13.679 and they weren't always really complimentary. How was that first 0:25:13.680 --> 0:25:18.439 film session with your peers? The first film session after 0:25:18.720 --> 0:25:22.440