WEBVTT - Legacy Panel - 1963 Championship 0:00:18.520 --> 0:00:20.840 All right, another walkdown memory lane for one of the 0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:24.239 greatest teams in Bears history of the sixty three champions, 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:29.840 first championship since nineteen forty six. They won four of 0:00:29.840 --> 0:00:33.080 their last five games, including a three nothing a regular 0:00:33.080 --> 0:00:37.839 season finale against the Lions. And then from what we heard, gentlemen, 0:00:38.200 --> 0:00:39.720 many of you guys said, it was one of the 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:43.720 toughest games ever played, that game against the Detroit Lions. 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:50.279 Thanks for being here and Tom and I Boat. I 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:53.520 was telling Johnny, you can see the nineteen sixty three 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:57.080 game in its entirety on YouTube, and to take the 0:00:57.120 --> 0:01:00.360 time to watch those guys play back then it was 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:04.200 a treat. We'll start with Mike because, like we said 0:01:04.280 --> 0:01:08.679 last night, your play as a tight end, it's probably 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:12.360 the most underrated aspect of your football career in my opinion. 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:16.119 And being on that championship team and you coming there 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:19.760 a couple of years earlier, it changed the face of 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:24.640 the offense, didn't it. Well, I don't you know. We 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:27.720 had a block. We were tight ends and we blocked. 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:31.360 They don't block anymore. They received or we blocked, and 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:33.440 we blocked a lot. And we had great running backs, 0:01:34.240 --> 0:01:36.800 had Willie Gallimore. I played. I mean we had we 0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:40.399 made great backs. We had a quarterback I'd like to 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:42.840 throw the football, Bill Wade. So we threw the ball 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:44.840 to Johnny every once in a while. We throw it 0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:47.280 to me once in a while, but not very much. 0:01:47.280 --> 0:01:49.360 You threw it to Johnny all the time because Johnny 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:52.800 was faster and he got open more night. Did yeah, 0:01:52.880 --> 0:01:56.440 come on, you tore it up? No, I didn't you 0:01:56.560 --> 0:02:01.040 tore it up? Did we not tear it up? But hey, 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:06.920 coach I saw highlights of you. I saw highlights of 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:09.400 Coach Dicka where you're lined up almost what by a 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:12.160 wide receive, you know, six seven yards off of your 0:02:12.160 --> 0:02:15.720 offensive tackle, So you weren't always right there with your 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:18.640 nose in the dirt. Hey A, I was a tight end, 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:24.280 That's all I know. Actually, Mike and probably John Mackie 0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:27.560 if you remember him with Baltimore. You know before in 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:30.960 the sixties, before the sixties, your tight end was usually 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:34.359 tall guy, catch the look and look past six eight 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:38.680 yards for the first down. Mike who had decent speed, 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:42.679 He had good speed, especially when he was younger, and 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:46.720 he he changed the game. He and John Mackie changed 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:51.280 the game. They became threats downfield. And that that's that's 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:53.600 what changed the game. And the other thing that changed 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:57.600 the game was putting the smaller guys out as wide 0:02:57.680 --> 0:03:01.280 receivers that usually uh you know, usually the smaller guys 0:03:01.280 --> 0:03:03.680 were running backs, and they put him out as wide receivers. 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:07.760 Changed John John till I was really fast. I was 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:11.959 a real fast tight end. I'll run everybody. Hey, how 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:15.040 are the you know, when we look at that game, Bob, 0:03:15.080 --> 0:03:18.360 how are the field conditions? Like, where did your spice 0:03:18.400 --> 0:03:20.239 get into the ground. Did you have a choice of 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:23.720 shoes to wear? The field conditions? They had hay on 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:26.640 the field and then they tried to heat and then 0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:29.359 took all the hay off the field before he played. Obviously, 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:32.440 that was that was for the for the championship game 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:34.800 that they put hay in the field. They put huge 0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:39.200 tarps across the field and huge blowers and so for 0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:42.800 about two weeks before the game they put these blowers 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:47.640 and blew the tarps high. So when we took the 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:51.640 field on the champion the championship game, the turf was 0:03:51.680 --> 0:03:53.800 in good shape. It was hard as this though, no 0:03:53.960 --> 0:03:56.280 it got hard the second half. Yeah, it was. It 0:03:56.320 --> 0:03:59.560 was still pretty good the first half, but In the 0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:03.080 narration of the game, they referred to the Wrigley Field 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:06.320 as a modern day structure. Did it feel that way 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:09.120 to you, guys or not? Did not? Not really, especially 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:13.800 if you saw the locker rooms. U. The facilities weren't 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:16.599 weren't the best, but it was what we had to 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:19.400 live with. I just want to say one thing. Uh, 0:04:20.080 --> 0:04:24.000 you're talking about Mike Ditka in the tight end. Uh. 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:30.760 We played the Pittsburgh Steelers the Sunday after the assassination 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:34.880 of Ted Kennedy or a president Kennedy, John Kennedy, and 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:39.760 it was a tough game and we were losing, and 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:44.760 Mike did caught a short pass and everybody under Pittsburgh 0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:46.760 Steelers had a shot at this guy. Here it is 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:50.440 he ran over about three or four people. Three or 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:57.520 four is more than that. One count two, three, four, five, five, six. 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:11.880 And that that that catch and run, that catch and 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:14.839 run enabled us to kick a field goal that tied 0:05:14.880 --> 0:05:16.919 the game. And that's why we ended up in the 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:23.440 champions Right, you were tuckered out, not too much speed, Well, 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:27.360 now you were tired. I didn't The breakaway speed came 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:32.000 later in life. I didn't have it dead. But when 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:35.880 you see that run set the dynamics of that because 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:39.080 you you admitted you were you were out of gas. 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:41.960 A different play was called and you said, hey, give 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:45.760 me a short pass and bam. Yeah, I can tell exactly. 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:47.719 I don't know if you remember, John, but Bill Bill 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:49.960 asked me, he said, what can you run? I said, no, 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:52.080 I can't run. I said, throw me a short pass 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:53.839 and I'll try to run with it. And he threw 0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:57.239 me a look in and I ran with it. I'm serious. 0:05:57.560 --> 0:06:00.719 I was dead. That's the first time that I had 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:03.120 been back to Pittsburgh and I played in front of 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:05.400 the people. That's where I went to score and everything 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:08.240 but my family, everybody's there. I mean, I was so 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:10.680 hyped up for the game. And the standards were a 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:13.279 good football team. They were good football. They had a 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:18.279 good defense. But it just I got lucky. They didn't 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:22.000 have tackling practice that way. Everybody missed me. But the 0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:24.680 reality of it, and we have a graphic of this 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:30.719 as well with the assassination. How difficult was it to play, guys? 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:34.039 How hard was it to play that game? For you? Well, 0:06:34.080 --> 0:06:35.719 we really didn't know that we were going to play 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:38.760 the game until Saturday morning when we came to practice. 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:42.240 We were coming off the practice field on Friday and 0:06:42.400 --> 0:06:46.360 the clubhouse guy Bill Martell, said, the president's been shot. 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:51.480 And so before we after everybody showered, they still didn't 0:06:51.480 --> 0:06:53.719 know where, if the game was going to be played 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:58.400 or not. So Hallis said, you pack your bags as 0:06:58.440 --> 0:06:59.800 if we're going to be going on the trip. And 0:06:59.839 --> 0:07:01.760 we never really knew that we were going until we 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:07.840 came to practice on Saturday morning and going there, you know, 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:12.960 it's just very quiet. The stadium was dead silence. There 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:15.880 was no public address, there was no bands, there was 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:19.280 no noise, there was nothing. It was just just eerieus. Heck, 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:23.080 you know you share the same memory of that, Johnny. Yes, 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:27.440 nobody really wanted to play, but we just, uh, it 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:30.040 was decided that we were going to play, and the 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:34.120 decision was made, and so we did it. And I'll 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:37.640 never forget that that whole weekend the United States of 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:41.000 America was really affected by that. Bob. You're also quoted 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:45.480 on the way to the stadium, Lee, Harvey Oswald, you 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:51.600 heard was shot, and I read this that mister Hallis 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:56.920 smashed the radio explained what happened. Well, we were driving 0:07:56.960 --> 0:08:00.800 over to the from the from the hotel to the stadium, 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:05.280 and somebody had the radio on in the luggage track 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:11.720 and they were talking about the transfer of leave Harvey 0:08:11.760 --> 0:08:14.280 Oswald from one prison to the next, you know. And 0:08:14.360 --> 0:08:16.480 so we're listening to this intently all the way from 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:19.600 the hotel to the to the field. And just before 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:22.800 we got to the field, just as the bus was 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:27.160 stopping and the guy was announcing how Harvey Oswald was 0:08:27.200 --> 0:08:29.200 being transferred all and everything, and all of a sudden, 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:32.360 he's stilled. He's been shot. He's been shot. You know. 0:08:32.600 --> 0:08:35.400 That hallis jumps up and he says, we got a 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:38.880 game to play. Shot that blank radio WAF Bengal. That 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:43.240 was over. You know, crazy time. Yeah, you know, every 0:08:43.240 --> 0:08:47.480 time I sit see Bob. You gotta remember football was 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:51.080 a little different back most of our playing days. The 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:54.480 quarterback called the plays. Now, maybe from the sidelines they 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:56.520 would send in a player with the play, but the 0:08:56.600 --> 0:09:00.520 quarterback called the plays. And of course they they ran 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:03.720 a lot more back in those days than they passed. 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:06.120 And I'd be right next to Bob in the huddle 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:09.640 and Dicker was close by, and we with the quarterback 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:11.640 calling the players, you could say, hey, let's do this. 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:15.280 We could talk in the huddle, and you know, sometimes 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:18.400 I'd say, let's let's do this call. Listen Bob to say, hell, no, 0:09:18.480 --> 0:09:21.080 we're gonna run the ball. We gotta get three yards, 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:24.040 you know. So it was more fun in the huddle 0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:28.640 than nowadays. The play comes into the quarterback right, and 0:09:28.720 --> 0:09:30.880 you know that's the play that the coach is called, 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:34.120 and so nobody says anything. You know, I'm I don't 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:36.240 think they say that much in the huddle, like like 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:40.440 we used to. We used to have fun in the huddle, right, Doddle, 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:43.240 He said, you guys had fun in the huddle? Was 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:49.199 it fun? Very much? Attention, Johnny? Did you come out 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:51.920 of a three point stance as a wide receiver back then? 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:56.000 Because I thought I saw some highlights of you extended 0:09:56.040 --> 0:09:58.520 out there, and it seemed like that was a transition 0:09:58.520 --> 0:10:02.200 in the NFL that wide receivers made from a three 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:04.439 point stance into a two point stance. But you are 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:08.040 also a great track man. Well, I think they when 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:11.600 at first see back, the wide receiver was called a 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:14.800 flanker in those days. The flankers the same thing as 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:18.559 a wide receiver. And I had been a running back 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:20.600 for the so I was kind of used to going 0:10:20.679 --> 0:10:23.280 in a three point stance. But once I was there 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:25.599 for a few you know, for a training camp of 0:10:25.760 --> 0:10:28.360 one season, I said, no, you got to stand up. 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:31.280 And the thing is you can get a much quicker 0:10:31.320 --> 0:10:36.720 start when you stand up. To start running, you have 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:40.360 to kind of put your feet back and you don't 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:42.520 get off as quickly. It's kind of hard to explain, 0:10:42.640 --> 0:10:46.440 but did you track background help you in those terms 0:10:46.440 --> 0:10:49.640 of getting off the ball quicker? Yeah, it helped you, 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:54.640 especially as a running back. Yes. As a wide receiver, 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:58.240 I still think that if you're up and you can 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:02.120 survey to feel better certain things, it's just better to 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:04.920 stand up as a as a wide receiver, it's more 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:07.560 effective in the long run. Did you know that Johnny 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:15.000 held the world record for the forty yard or informal record? Yeah, 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:17.640 I mean, you know, it's it is interesting because you know, 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:20.640 not a lot of time to speed translated to being 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:23.440 a good football player. And when I look at some 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:25.760 of the numbers you had, you had a great year 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:28.960 in sixty four two. So who fed who? Did you 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:32.360 feed passes for Dick Ga or did Difca feed passes 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:35.720 for you? Well? I think it's back and forth. Both 0:11:35.720 --> 0:11:37.719 of us did the same for each other. But the 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:40.439 thing was Mike and I were usually we were just 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:43.760 on the same side of the field. I was strong side, 0:11:44.200 --> 0:11:47.800 so it was hard for the teams to double both 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:50.160 of us when we're When you have a strong tight 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:52.920 end with the wide receiver, it was hard to double. 0:11:52.960 --> 0:11:55.520 You go only double one guy, you got double both guys. 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:57.760 So that was one of the strengths we had in 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:02.959 our team. There's a quote from Rica Serras that always 0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:07.800 rings with me. Said, if you were a bear, you 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:12.120 were a king in Chicago. Did you feel that way 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:15.280 back in nineteen sixty three, I guess it's been And 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:19.560 what bars you hung out in? No, it was great, 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:22.600 it really was. We used to go to a place 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:24.880 called the Cottage. I mean, that's what I really remember. 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:28.400 Freddie Hattenberg had a place down All the Cubs used 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:30.240 to go there on a Bear player right down on 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:34.360 Clark Street, on the North Clark Street, and I mean 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:37.760 on a Sunday night, and the place would be packed. 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:40.439 But then everybody would come to see the Bear players. 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:49.800 You know, Mike Ditka, I remember watching films. He is 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:52.160 the only guy that I can remember that I saw 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:56.839 on many occasions, throw a block, cut a guy down, 0:12:57.320 --> 0:12:59.720 and immediately roll over and get the next guy. Because 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:01.920 you when you have a block to make it, you 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:04.440 make your block. You know, you look up at hey. 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:08.959 I did my job. He had that natural instinct to 0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:12.000 go for the second block. And how many times do 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:15.160 you see a guy make a second block in one play, right, Bob? 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:17.760 I used to see you block. Johnny That's what we 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:21.280 called him, was sneaky because he would go down the 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:23.560 field and they'd be passed caught by somebody else and 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:25.640 he would sneak up behind the defensive back and get 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:28.040 down on all fours. So when the guy turned around, 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:32.119 he fall over. John Bob, what was the Bear signature 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:35.800 play of that year for offensive line or what type 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:42.440 of running play was your signature play? Running play? Probably 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:46.120 the quarterback sneak. I think we scored more touchdowns with 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:49.760 a quarterbacks saw you're running in that game a few times? Bill, Wait, 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:53.920 didn't he score both touchdowns on quarterback sneaks after throwing 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:57.120 to Mike For a couple of team plays. Yeah, we 0:13:57.160 --> 0:13:59.840 had a sweep, we had a knoptacle play, and we 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:02.199 had we had the fullback right up the middle. I 0:14:02.240 --> 0:14:04.960 don't remember who Hello, A lot of players that we had. 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:08.200 It wasn't too complicated. I know we had one where 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:11.200 tackle on the tight end, I blocked down, a tackle 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:16.280 came out, we kicked out. I don't know, but I did. 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:22.600 It was interesting, all right? Tell us about that defense, gentlemen, 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:27.160 because ten points a game it allowed, that's it. In 0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:30.880 nineteen sixty three. How great was the sixty three defense? 0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:40.480 You know, I can't win in this. I think it 0:14:40.680 --> 0:14:42.880 was the best. I really do think it was the best. Well, 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:46.320 you're going to give up ten points. Hello, those those 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:49.840 guys were trying to score our defense and was unbelievable. 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:52.920 I mean, people don't remember back and remember how Joe 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:55.800 Fortunato or Bill George and those guys. They were good. 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:58.560 They were really good. J C. Caroline, I ain't going 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:02.680 on Rosie Tatter. They were good football players. They were 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:05.600 really good. They didn't get the claim that they would 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:11.440 get today. No, we have Bill George, Doug Atkins. I mean, uh, Mike, 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:14.120 you're that you're a really good judge. You played on 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:18.040 that team and you also coached the the Super Bowl team. 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:21.320 Could you compare the Bears sixty three defense to the 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:25.640 eighty five defense? Well, you know that would be unfair 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:28.600 to both. But uh, I'm just glad I was a 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:31.560 part of the sixty three thing because, uh, those guys 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:34.560 were good. I mean Richie Pettybone, I mean he he 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:38.320 was bigger than me and he played safety six. Yeah, 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:40.880 I mean bigger many way more troop. And then we 0:15:40.920 --> 0:15:44.240 had Benny McCrae was as fast as the cattle. It 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:48.520 was a little painting pain and the ass uh cornerback 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:55.400 Benny mccraig, Dave Whitson, Will Dave Whitson. Yeah, he was good. 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:58.440 How were how were the p You know, we we 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:01.120 are fortunate to practice against the eighty five defense, and 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:04.440 we practiced live most times. How what was the temple 0:16:04.520 --> 0:16:10.440 of practice back against the team of the sixty three defense? Yeah, well, 0:16:10.280 --> 0:16:13.160 we never really had difficult practices, to be honest with you. 0:16:13.200 --> 0:16:15.320 It was just more or less walkthrough plays and all 0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:18.000 that stuff. Once the season started, we really didn't heed. 0:16:18.200 --> 0:16:22.280 Yeah that's interesting, coach, I thought, George Hallis raised you 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:24.360 as a coach. You're killing us in practice and when 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:28.880 you were going through walkthroughs. Yeah, I didn't hurt him. 0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:35.160 Look at him. Um, that is funny. I never realized 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:37.440 that you guys, didn't you know, going back to that 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:42.080 the sixty three defense, there's no question that they were 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:48.240 were excellent, and the offense really wasn't that potent. So 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:52.240 whenever they get the you know, get the ball and 0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:54.640 we'd go on the field ed Obada, which used to 0:16:54.680 --> 0:17:00.840 tell us, okay, guys, hold him, Yeah, that Dakins. They 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:04.639 didn't count sacks in those days. Uh, Doug Yatkins. I 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:07.080 bet if they went back and looked at his thirteen 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:10.040 year career and check out, I wonder how he would 0:17:10.080 --> 0:17:12.680 rate on sacks because it seemed like he had three 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:15.240 or three or four sacks the game. To me, Well, 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:17.960 he said uh at once that he thinks he would 0:17:17.960 --> 0:17:22.639 have had twenty five sacks in one year. So it 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:25.800 is a shame that they didn't keep that statistic. By 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:29.240 the way, that team picture that was put up, twenty 0:17:29.240 --> 0:17:35.600 six players and coaches on that team photo right there again, 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:40.000 coaches included on former Bears players that became coaches were 0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:43.480 ranked in Don Pearson and Dan Pompey's top one hundred list. 0:17:44.200 --> 0:17:48.520 So that's quite a testament to the quality on that team, gentlemen, 0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:56.320 including Now I'll tell you what of all the things 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:58.879 on that team. I remember one thing. We had the 0:17:58.920 --> 0:18:01.560 best damn punter I've ever seen in Bobby Joe Green. 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:05.280 He could punch the football. I mean, I'm really unbelievable. 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:07.240 And I was a putter and colleague. So I come 0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:10.879 out and Hollis had me out there putting. I'm setting 0:18:10.920 --> 0:18:13.360 next to this guy putting. I'm going, hey, I can't 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:16.359 punt with this guy. He was unbelievable. He was, and 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:19.520 he was. You know, people don't think about the putter 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:22.080 A big part of that team change field position for 0:18:22.160 --> 0:18:23.720 us a lot of time by just the way he 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:26.959 putted the ball. But his big strong suit was it 0:18:27.040 --> 0:18:28.920 was a hang time. It was punts. Oh yeah, he'd 0:18:28.920 --> 0:18:31.520 be over forty yards, but it'd be so high that 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:34.760 they kicked, the team would be able to get down 0:18:34.800 --> 0:18:37.800 there for the defense before the ball would He's the 0:18:37.840 --> 0:18:40.679 second best punter I can ever remember in the NFL, 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:45.840 next to the Gray guy. Yeah. You know. Um when 0:18:46.119 --> 0:18:49.240 mister Buckets was on before, he said that Doug Gakins 0:18:49.320 --> 0:18:52.000 never worked out and if he would have worked out, 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:56.560 he would have been the superman of the NFL. Did 0:18:56.600 --> 0:18:59.560 any were any of you guys introduced to wait at 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:02.359 that time, time or any type of fitness or when 0:19:02.440 --> 0:19:06.320 was your introduction to fitness and weights? Well, actually it 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:09.119 came after the sixty three season, I think him sixty 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:14.440 three Emrick joined the team. We were doing uh isometric exercises. 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:16.800 The one guy that did it was Stan Jones. I 0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:19.560 remember him. Yeah, he did work out and he had 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:22.160 a weight program and everything, and a few guys got 0:19:22.200 --> 0:19:27.960 involved in it. But I'll be honest, most of us. Mike, 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:31.160 did you ever did you ever commit to the weight room? 0:19:31.520 --> 0:19:35.679 Only when I was with the Cowboys, But no, we 0:19:35.760 --> 0:19:41.840 didn't do all that much walls. I got in great 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:44.480 shape in Dallas. You know, that's a whole different thing. 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:48.359 And if the weights on your legs, we were told, 0:19:48.400 --> 0:19:51.439 and I agree with it, that if you want to 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:54.400 maintain quickness and speed, you don't build up the muscles 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:57.320 in your legs. You've got to be kind of life, 0:19:57.640 --> 0:20:02.040 you might say, especially fancy players receivers and backs and 0:20:02.080 --> 0:20:05.160 stuff that. So some guys do kind of overdo that, 0:20:06.080 --> 0:20:08.679 I think in this day and age. Bob, did you 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:14.440 finish your career the same way you started your career? No? Actually, 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:18.639 the weight was a real problem with the Hollis used 0:20:18.680 --> 0:20:21.760 to be have a real fixation on weights. He would 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:27.000 give everybody to sign weight, and every Thursday he would 0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:30.920 have a weigh in of the whole team, and if 0:20:30.920 --> 0:20:33.359 you're more than three pounds over your assigned weight, he 0:20:33.400 --> 0:20:36.800 would define you fifty dollars a pound and take it 0:20:36.800 --> 0:20:44.520 out of your paycheck. So on Wednesday nights, every steam 0:20:44.680 --> 0:20:47.360 room in the city of Chicago was occupied by bear 0:20:47.400 --> 0:20:51.800 players trying to sweat off the weight. So and they 0:20:51.840 --> 0:20:54.320 did all kinds of shenanigans to try to fix the 0:20:54.359 --> 0:20:57.240 scales and everything else, but nobody ever was. They tried 0:20:57.880 --> 0:21:00.840 getting fish string, in visible fish string, so the guys 0:21:00.840 --> 0:21:03.639 were staying the scale and hold on the string or 0:21:03.720 --> 0:21:08.199 stuff stuff underneath, you know. But I started out at 0:21:08.200 --> 0:21:12.199 two forty nine, and as I got older, I was 0:21:12.240 --> 0:21:15.760 in the steam room myself. I finished up about two 0:21:15.800 --> 0:21:18.879 fifty five. For me, it was just the opposite. I 0:21:18.920 --> 0:21:23.280 only waited one seventy eight. So when I was rookie 0:21:23.320 --> 0:21:27.600 and we started weighing in, I had two two two 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:31.520 pound lead weights that I put under my in my 0:21:31.720 --> 0:21:34.160 arm kits. Because you had a great thing. I wanted 0:21:34.160 --> 0:21:36.760 to be over one hundred and eighty, so that mister 0:21:36.880 --> 0:21:40.000 Hollis wouldn't think I was, you know, too small. So 0:21:40.040 --> 0:21:42.080 I used those weights for the first year until I 0:21:42.119 --> 0:21:45.119 made the team, and then I stopped doing it. But 0:21:45.359 --> 0:21:50.960 it worked. Tom did that man. When I my last 0:21:51.000 --> 0:21:52.919 year I played for the Miami Dolphins, that I had 0:21:52.960 --> 0:21:55.640 a hard time keeping my weight down because we practiced 0:21:55.680 --> 0:21:58.120 in the eighty degree weather every time. So we used 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:00.880 to wear these girdles underneath our path and I would 0:22:00.920 --> 0:22:03.000 take and stick a ten pound plate in the back 0:22:03.040 --> 0:22:05.199 of my girdle and then get out in the scale 0:22:05.200 --> 0:22:07.840 and the guy waging the engles, Damn, you're thick for 0:22:07.880 --> 0:22:10.760 a little guy, and so you know he's just trying 0:22:10.760 --> 0:22:14.040 to whatever. However you could get that weight, you could. Yeah, 0:22:14.080 --> 0:22:16.040 Dickon never had a problem. He always used to wore 0:22:16.080 --> 0:22:21.600 it were rubbers, uh, shirt over under his pads whenever 0:22:21.600 --> 0:22:23.679 he practiced, so he was always wet. He had to 0:22:23.720 --> 0:22:28.400 lose ten pounds of practice or whatever. It worked. Huh 0:22:28.560 --> 0:22:30.679 did you ever get fined for weight? Did he find you, 0:22:30.720 --> 0:22:34.240 guys if you were under or overweight? Five people? I 0:22:34.880 --> 0:22:38.080 know I never got fined for it, but he find people. Yeah, well, yeah, 0:22:38.119 --> 0:22:40.240 you got to make your weight. I mean we had 0:22:40.240 --> 0:22:42.160 guys like Herman Lee. I mean, we had you guys 0:22:42.200 --> 0:22:44.320 that couldn't make their weight, didn't We have to run 0:22:44.359 --> 0:22:49.720 the mile the first day that we got there, had 0:22:49.720 --> 0:22:53.480 a mile under six minutes or you had to keep 0:22:53.560 --> 0:22:58.040 running it well. Training training camp back in the Dames 0:22:58.480 --> 0:23:01.880 in Rensseleer, did you guys go to training camp for 0:23:01.920 --> 0:23:04.760 six or seven weeks at a time? That's right, Renstler 0:23:04.760 --> 0:23:08.320 are Indiana the armpit of the nation. Yeah, yeah, we 0:23:08.320 --> 0:23:12.520 would be there six days a week. We never got there, 0:23:12.640 --> 0:23:15.600 we trained for We'd get there at the middle of 0:23:15.760 --> 0:23:19.440 July and not leave camp until after September. I think 0:23:19.560 --> 0:23:22.320 I remember, like we were there almost three weeks before 0:23:22.320 --> 0:23:25.679 we played a preseason game, weren't Yeah yeah, And we 0:23:25.760 --> 0:23:29.480 only got Sunday one practice on Sunday, but the rest 0:23:29.560 --> 0:23:32.800 were two days, weren't they. Yeah? Yeah? But you know again, 0:23:32.880 --> 0:23:34.600 the first time I ever went to training camp with 0:23:34.640 --> 0:23:36.879 the Bears, and we went twenty two straight days of 0:23:37.000 --> 0:23:41.080 doubles in full pads every practice, with conditioning and weightlifting, 0:23:41.440 --> 0:23:45.600 so all these things at the Great George Hallis we 0:23:45.600 --> 0:23:47.720 were hoping they were you know, some of that would 0:23:47.720 --> 0:23:50.720 come off on Mike Didka I learned from the best. Yeah, 0:23:50.760 --> 0:23:52.960 you did, you know? I did want to. I wanted 0:23:52.960 --> 0:23:57.200 to ask you this coach, because two fifty North Washington, 0:23:57.320 --> 0:23:59.920