Speaker 1: Yeah, right right, musical chairs, who's playing the music? Welcome
Speaker 1: one and all is our last legacy of the of
Speaker 1: the day. Well we all must agree, it's been quite
Speaker 1: a riot so far up until right now. Wow, and
Speaker 1: now some of the best storytellers of all time on
Speaker 1: stage right here and now Otis can't wait. Tom, This
Speaker 1: is your guy, These are your guys. You take the lead,
Speaker 1: my friend, greatest team in NFL history. I thought, I
Speaker 1: thought you said me take over and you started talking
Speaker 1: again in the mic. You know, I think when we
Speaker 1: got to go to the elder statesman here of this group,
Speaker 1: we got Emery moorehead. I always say Emory mooreheads, a
Speaker 1: wide receiver that ate himself into a tight end in
Speaker 1: a longer career. It's great to see you all. This
Speaker 1: place that's packed and we love it. We love you guys,
Speaker 1: unreal right big, Oh, what's your record? What's your feeling
Speaker 1: of the weekend? The support of the Bears, fans, your bearer, career,
Speaker 1: every little bit of everything. It is always a pleasure
Speaker 1: to see the bad fans come out. I mean coming
Speaker 1: down off the Kennedy and seeing all the fans, but
Speaker 1: most of all to sit here and see these guys.
Speaker 1: I love the point of my life when I get
Speaker 1: to be around him. I mean, I have so many
Speaker 1: so much love for him and so many great stories,
Speaker 1: and it's just honor a pleasure to be here. You know,
Speaker 1: we just sat up here and Dan Hampton was talking
Speaker 1: about how much you enjoyed being a teammate at William Perry,
Speaker 1: a guy that can am in and lit up our
Speaker 1: locker room every day. Fridgie got an opportunity to come
Speaker 1: back to Chicago. About some of the fun you had
Speaker 1: with the Bears, both as a defensive tackle and a
Speaker 1: running back of your time, that had to be a
Speaker 1: lot of fun for you to be able to join
Speaker 1: the Bears at such an important time. I was just saying,
Speaker 1: just some of the enjoyment you've had here in Chicago,
Speaker 1: some of the fun from being a defensive tackle all
Speaker 1: the way to one of the first big man running backs.
Speaker 1: Because last year Matt Naggie had a play where he
Speaker 1: gave a Keen Hicks the ball for a touchdown and
Speaker 1: he called at the freezer and salute to the bridge
Speaker 1: William Perry. You know, it was great, It was great
Speaker 1: and everything, and uh, you know, I couldn't say any
Speaker 1: you know, saying him everything was everything was you know, wonderful,
Speaker 1: and I enjoyed it and was fun, you knowing it
Speaker 1: doing him for the people and enjoying myself. Willie the
Speaker 1: instigator of the Super Bowl shuffle. Yes, kind of a
Speaker 1: gutsy move to do it on the plane after we
Speaker 1: lost our first game that season. Did you ever think
Speaker 1: about taking a step back and maybe giving that lost
Speaker 1: a little bit of time to warm up or were
Speaker 1: you full speed ready to go? No. I was pretty confident.
Speaker 1: You know, I think the loss for us, so to
Speaker 1: put us in perspective, I think we knew we were good,
Speaker 1: but we knew if we didn't play together as a
Speaker 1: team that we wouldn't win. So that day was pretty
Speaker 1: trying because everything was set up to do the video,
Speaker 1: and I had the dubious tasks and trying to commits
Speaker 1: these guys after we had lost in lamorad to come
Speaker 1: the next day and shoot the video. So I talked
Speaker 1: to Mike Singletary and Mike said, Okay, we've already committed.
Speaker 1: Let's do it as a team. Let's let's let this
Speaker 1: be a team building for us. So we decided to
Speaker 1: get together as a team at that video and make
Speaker 1: sure that we committed to each other that we're going
Speaker 1: to go out and play our best. And that's what happened.
Speaker 1: In the course of rest is history. Richard, when you
Speaker 1: look back at it all, not surprised where you are,
Speaker 1: but are you impressed with everything you've been able to
Speaker 1: accomplish and achieve Since you weren't the highest draft choice,
Speaker 1: you're able to do what Buddy Ryan wanted to do.
Speaker 1: You wanted to get out of you. You know, you
Speaker 1: had to play the run, you had to rush the passer,
Speaker 1: and then you sit here today as a Hall of Famer.
Speaker 1: I think we're all the fans are equally as impressed
Speaker 1: as we are. Well, you know, on the road to
Speaker 1: the pro standards coming out of Tennessee State, most people,
Speaker 1: you know, guys that get drafted, they're worried about when
Speaker 1: they getting drafted what they're doing. You know. The point
Speaker 1: of it is that when you get into the league
Speaker 1: and you get drafted, you're getting more money than what
Speaker 1: you had when you walked in the door. So there's
Speaker 1: no reason to be upset about where you be in placed.
Speaker 1: You're getting the opportunity, you're getting a platform to show
Speaker 1: what you're worth and show what you could do. And
Speaker 1: you know, after coming to Chicago Bears and you know,
Speaker 1: meeting and seeing some of the guys, they didn't know anything.
Speaker 1: They didn't know much about me. I didn't know much
Speaker 1: about them, but we seemed to find ourselves and and
Speaker 1: I didn't understand why I wasn't playing. But you know,
Speaker 1: Buddy had a problem and I had a problem with
Speaker 1: not taking the trap on. Well, so when we move
Speaker 1: a lot, which is I really appreciate it. So when
Speaker 1: Fridge is over the center, I got to, you know,
Speaker 1: spill to play with my right shoulder, so but when
Speaker 1: he's over the guard, I can squeeze it. So I
Speaker 1: had a minute trying to get that together and found
Speaker 1: out I got that together. Then you know, I was
Speaker 1: in the starting lineup, so you know, but I could understand.
Speaker 1: I did not understand, but I did later and eventually.
Speaker 1: You know, as a kid, you know, you dream to
Speaker 1: do some things in every dream that I imagine as
Speaker 1: a kid to play football in the National Football League.
Speaker 1: Everything that has happened except the Hall of Fame, which
Speaker 1: I didn't know anything about the Hall of Fame during
Speaker 1: that time, but I seen myself do what what was
Speaker 1: done in my career. You know, if you can dream it,
Speaker 1: that means God is blessing you. You have to once
Speaker 1: you pray about it, you have to be about it.
Speaker 1: And with the players that I had in my around me,
Speaker 1: you know, it was all about the opportunity. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't miss the game. I missed the guys that
Speaker 1: I played with, like all of us, Jay, you kind
Speaker 1: of had a unique journey here. You're an undrafted free
Speaker 1: agent out of Iowa. You became a seven time Pro Bowler,
Speaker 1: but you were raised in the National Football League. Your uncle,
Speaker 1: Wally played sixteen years in the NFL. Your dad played football.
Speaker 1: Your younger brother Joel, played ten or eleven years with
Speaker 1: the New Orleans Saints. Was it Bill McGrain that kind
Speaker 1: of got you attached to the Bears and gave you
Speaker 1: your opportunity? Yes, it was really um. It was you know,
Speaker 1: the Bears organization, and Jim Finks was with Chicago at
Speaker 1: the time, the general manager. He used to be with
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings, and as you said, my uncle played
Speaker 1: with the Vikings, and when Finks knew Wally Hilgenberg, my
Speaker 1: uncle played up there, and as you said, I met
Speaker 1: Buddy Ryan as when I was a sophomore in high school,
Speaker 1: as he was a Wally's position coach and going up
Speaker 1: to the Minnesota practices and camps. So I knew buddy then,
Speaker 1: and I actually I went to Super Bowl nine and
Speaker 1: I remember my uncle Wally was a roommate of Alan Page,
Speaker 1: and I went up to the room to talk to
Speaker 1: Wally and he wasn't there, but I sat in the
Speaker 1: room and Allan talked to me for like twenty minutes
Speaker 1: at my sophomore in high school about you know, the
Speaker 1: sports I was into, and he was just really he
Speaker 1: took a twenty minutes of his time to really spend
Speaker 1: time with me. And then my rookie year, you know,
Speaker 1: being undrafted coming into Chicago and trying to make a
Speaker 1: name for myself there, I am practicing against Alan Page
Speaker 1: every day for that first season and he really worked
Speaker 1: with me that that that year. So, um, you know,
Speaker 1: I didn't come into the NFL the way I thought
Speaker 1: I thought I was going to arrive, But um, I
Speaker 1: was so lucky. You know, I get Jim Finks and
Speaker 1: Bill McGrain, you know, Hall of Fame Jim Finks. I
Speaker 1: come to the Chicago Bears, there I'm coached by Mike Dick,
Speaker 1: who's a Hall of Fame. Offer Toive Wine coached Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame Dick stanfill I practiced against you know, Dan Hampton,
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame, Mike Singletary, Hall of Fame, Steve Vic
Speaker 1: Michael should be in the Hall of Fame. It's just
Speaker 1: it goes on and on and then and then especially
Speaker 1: and then when Fridge came to the Chicago Bears, he
Speaker 1: really changed the the what it meant to go out
Speaker 1: there and practice that day because his arrival. Because I
Speaker 1: knew when they drafted Fridge and I saw his highlights
Speaker 1: in college, and what I was gonna have to go
Speaker 1: through that training camp. I mean, I got myself ready
Speaker 1: in eighty five to play not the the opponents, because
Speaker 1: I knew he was Fridge was coming to Chicago, and boy,
Speaker 1: I was happy that the Fridge was the Chicago Bears
Speaker 1: and I didn't have to play him on any other team.
Speaker 1: But you know, we all hear from the defensive players
Speaker 1: how difficult it was for them to earn the respect
Speaker 1: of Buddy Ryan. So you meet Buddy Ryan as a kid,
Speaker 1: how did he treat you when he came to Chicago. Oh?
Speaker 1: It was like the like yesterday. I remember the very
Speaker 1: first day of practice out in the field that we
Speaker 1: had cows and we broke down to cows, and being
Speaker 1: the rookie free agent I had, I couldn't even go
Speaker 1: with the defense the first period of practice. I couldn't
Speaker 1: go with the offense. I had to go with the
Speaker 1: defense and sit there and snap the ball for you
Speaker 1: guys coming off the ball and and I go running
Speaker 1: up to the defense. He drill and they're buddy standing there.
Speaker 1: He looks at me and he goes, where's the ball?
Speaker 1: Rook And I go, I go, what are you talking about?
Speaker 1: He goes, Hey, every good center has a football in
Speaker 1: his hand. He goes, you never know when the game's
Speaker 1: gonna break out. And right there that day, from that day,
Speaker 1: for my whole career, I'd never stepped on the football
Speaker 1: field out of football in my hand. I always had
Speaker 1: a football in my hand. Jay, you're also I've talked
Speaker 1: about how quick William was off the ball. H That's
Speaker 1: something that you know, Tom and I both really studied
Speaker 1: a lot of game tape. I first learned that from
Speaker 1: Noah Jackson. By rookie year in the NFL, we used
Speaker 1: to have the film projector, and the rookies had to
Speaker 1: carry the projector on the flights and travel and to
Speaker 1: carry it and bring it to the meetings and set
Speaker 1: it up. And and Noah always liked watching tape before
Speaker 1: he went to bed at night. So I'd go up
Speaker 1: there to get the projector and I sit down and
Speaker 1: watch tape with him. And Noah really taught me what
Speaker 1: he was looking at. He would get up there and
Speaker 1: start diagram. You know, you gotta be like a boxer.
Speaker 1: You gotta snap, and you gotta be able to hit
Speaker 1: the guy and not give him all your body weights.
Speaker 1: So he abbyvis. I learned a lot from Noah, you know,
Speaker 1: with that that projector there, and I mean I just
Speaker 1: think a guy like that, that that should be be
Speaker 1: recognized an awful, awful lot. Jim Finks did a wonderful
Speaker 1: job the eighty three draft. I can't imagine there's anyone
Speaker 1: better in NFL history. I mean, look what it gave you, guys.
Speaker 1: Okay Otis was already here, Emory you were here, Walter
Speaker 1: was here, McMahon was here, hamp was here. But then
Speaker 1: you bring in that eighty three class with Jimbo and
Speaker 1: Willie and Tom and Richard as a later round pick.
Speaker 1: It's a great class sports sports. They keep coming. How
Speaker 1: much how much respect for Jim Finks, Well, I would
Speaker 1: say it's a lot of a lot of respect for
Speaker 1: him because I would say he probably orchestrated along with
Speaker 1: the scouting staff, you know, and put into pieces to
Speaker 1: the puzzles together. I mean, to understand what you need
Speaker 1: and to go out there and get what you need.
Speaker 1: He was, no doubt about an important part of that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: my experience with Jim Finks was a little different. I
Speaker 1: came to the Bears. Denver had cut me. The Bears
Speaker 1: picked me up, and I went through the preseason and
Speaker 1: then the very last cut, Noah Jackson was holding out
Speaker 1: and they signed Noah and they cutting me at the
Speaker 1: game of the last before the game and anyway, I
Speaker 1: finished that year. Then the next year they had hired
Speaker 1: they fired Near Armstrong and they hired Mike Dickam, and
Speaker 1: they brought Mike in and they moved me to tie
Speaker 1: end and so I had a great year. At the
Speaker 1: first I was playing at two hundred and fifteen pounds
Speaker 1: that tied end. So it was easily getting away from
Speaker 1: all the linebackers in the safeties and with play action.
Speaker 1: To Walter, it was just unbelievably easy. But anyway, after
Speaker 1: the season, in fact that Virginia might remember this, they
Speaker 1: said they were going to signed me to a new contract,
Speaker 1: and Ed said, we're gonna sign you to a new
Speaker 1: contract and me for having a great year. So I
Speaker 1: come in, I signed the contract and Jim Finxes also
Speaker 1: there and he goes Emory. He says, come back here,
Speaker 1: I'm want to talk to you. And he says Emory.
Speaker 1: He says he lived in with Necca and he had
Speaker 1: a maid by name mister mister Robinson that went to
Speaker 1: the same church I did in Evanston, and he said, Emory.
Speaker 1: He said, miss Robinson been telling me for five years
Speaker 1: to sign you. And he says, now we finally go
Speaker 1: sign you to a nice contract. So I got through
Speaker 1: the Bears through missus Robinson, testing him every year, signed him,
Speaker 1: resigned him, resigning me. And that's how I ended up
Speaker 1: getting the nice contract out of the Bear. All Rhodes
Speaker 1: lead to the NFL, Emory, right, All rhodes lead to
Speaker 1: the NFL. William, When it was all going on your
Speaker 1: rookie year, you just loved playing. Did you realize what
Speaker 1: was going on becoming a national and international sensation because
Speaker 1: of your popularity. Did you recognize it or are you
Speaker 1: just all about ball? Oh? Well, when you know, when
Speaker 1: I came in, and when I came in, Bells drafted
Speaker 1: me and uh, I'm gonna playing I'm playing defensive defensive tackle.
Speaker 1: And he never think I was gonna be a fullback,
Speaker 1: you know, lanning up in the backfield. And he he
Speaker 1: surprised me calls, uh called when San Francisco did it
Speaker 1: against against them. Then he he got me and stuck
Speaker 1: me in the backfield so he can rub it in
Speaker 1: his rubbed in his face and everything. So you know,
Speaker 1: it was it was great and I you know, I
Speaker 1: loved it and it was fun. Yeah, I'll tell you
Speaker 1: another story about fredge. Uh that year we were after
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl, uh, Fisher, Steve Fuller and I go
Speaker 1: on a ski trip with a bunch of fans over
Speaker 1: to Switzerland. And so we go over there and of
Speaker 1: course we're the big guys and everybody's like, who are
Speaker 1: these guys? Who are these guys? And I say, no,
Speaker 1: I played football, and I said Chicago Bears. They still
Speaker 1: didn't know, and I said, Walter Payton and I didn't know,
Speaker 1: and I said, the Fridge there, we know the bear.
Speaker 1: You know, it's kind of reason, you know, when you
Speaker 1: this event. So there's there's people here from all fifty
Speaker 1: states and seven different countries. And when you have a
Speaker 1: personality like Fridge and Walter Payton, these guys, that's why
Speaker 1: the popularity outreaches just the chicagol and the Illinois area,
Speaker 1: and it is a worldwide phenomenon. I actually when I
Speaker 1: first saw Fridge, it was I was watching TV and
Speaker 1: he had this short shirt on when didn't have much
Speaker 1: of a gut, you know, but I watched how he was,
Speaker 1: you know, working the field from sideline the sideline, and
Speaker 1: I said, this guy could move. And finally then he's
Speaker 1: end up in Chicago and you know he's running the
Speaker 1: ball for a while. But once he got in starting lineup,
Speaker 1: you know, it was tough to block him. One on one.
Speaker 1: I said, what a great guy is right beside me.
Speaker 1: I'm beside him. I said, So what we're gonna do.
Speaker 1: We're gonna dictate on this side. We're gonna tell people
Speaker 1: what they can do and what they can't do. Right,
Speaker 1: So William I tell Williams and William I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: stick my nose in your business, and you don't stick
Speaker 1: your nose in my business. But what I need you
Speaker 1: to do, and when the ball come my way, run
Speaker 1: to the numbers. If the ball go passing, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: stop running. I got it right. And if the ball
Speaker 1: goes inside, I'm not gonna rush in there because I
Speaker 1: got him in there, I got Steve in there, I
Speaker 1: got singing to all these different people. So you know,
Speaker 1: I was taught a lot about playing football in a
Speaker 1: way of take two things away and play the other. See,
Speaker 1: now you're dictating about what's gonna take place. So we
Speaker 1: knew nobody's gonna run the ball on our side. We
Speaker 1: knew he was gonna make the ball goes other way.
Speaker 1: And it was all about when they try to trick
Speaker 1: you and reverse him back. But when you can play
Speaker 1: with people like that, that that you know, working hand
Speaker 1: in hand and really controlling the whole game, where I
Speaker 1: can have fun because I know what you can do
Speaker 1: and I know what you can't do. Now you may
Speaker 1: try it, but you know, I figured, if you give
Speaker 1: me the ball enough, we're gonna get a turn over.
Speaker 1: We're gonna do some things. But I appreciate this man
Speaker 1: so much playing beside him, and that's why, you know,
Speaker 1: a guy like Otis Wilson also should be in the
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame. Also Wilber Marshall. We played. I played
Speaker 1: with a lot of guys and Jimbo Coverer, you know,
Speaker 1: and Jay Higinbury. We had so many great ball players
Speaker 1: and it was just so much fun. We didn't realize
Speaker 1: how much fun that we was having, but you know,
Speaker 1: that's you missed the guys that you played with. And
Speaker 1: then to really to add on to that, it was
Speaker 1: a great thing. And knowing Buddy Ryan's system, you know,
Speaker 1: Buddy had an attack system, and like Richard was saying,
Speaker 1: we knew it. We took care of a certain area
Speaker 1: to see, I'm on the all the way on the
Speaker 1: other side with Dan Hampton, We're sending them your way
Speaker 1: exactly right, and I would try to send them his way,
Speaker 1: and I knew, I said, nothing's gonna come out from
Speaker 1: from the numbers to the sideline. I got that covered.
Speaker 1: I'm pushing everything back in and then Hampton's over there,
Speaker 1: you know, Fridge in the middle and him and seeing
Speaker 1: where you're gonna go, there's nowhere to go. You know.
Speaker 1: So it was just so much we would I would
Speaker 1: always say, and we would always say, I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: let Hampton down. Handon said, I'm not gonna let Ridge down.
Speaker 1: We knew what Richard's gonna do. See that. We called
Speaker 1: Richard the colonel, and the colonel men like Kentucky fried
Speaker 1: Chicken at one time they only sold chicken. We knew
Speaker 1: what he was gonna donna get up, so we said
Speaker 1: we don't let him handle that. We're gonna get up.
Speaker 1: Deal without a doubt exactly stay. You know what what
Speaker 1: what What we really appreciate about Buddy, and to me
Speaker 1: is as a player, like you know, people talk about
Speaker 1: Peyton Manning making calls on the line of scrimmage, how
Speaker 1: smart and great he is. Well, hell, those other guys
Speaker 1: gotta be smart too, right, because if they don't know
Speaker 1: what's going on, you ain't nothing going on. So in defense,
Speaker 1: we did the same thing. You know, I look at Buddy,
Speaker 1: he pat his hand. I know that's automatic front control,
Speaker 1: you know. So we didn't never get a call until
Speaker 1: third down, but the first and second down we played
Speaker 1: what we see. If you get an eye formation, we
Speaker 1: did something you're getting red whatever formation So the point
Speaker 1: of it is what I appreciate. He gave us the game.
Speaker 1: And if some coaches don't want to give the game.
Speaker 1: Some coaches like they get off on what they do.
Speaker 1: But if you don't have players, you're just getting off yourself.
Speaker 1: You're not getting anywhere. So the point of you have
Speaker 1: to make the players be responsible for their action. If
Speaker 1: you make them be responsible, they're gonna play harder, they're
Speaker 1: gonna do more, you know. But if you're just making
Speaker 1: a call, make a call, I just say, hey, coaching,
Speaker 1: I got two on them and just sending one. Just
Speaker 1: try to get us one on one, not sending someone free.
Speaker 1: Because now we're getting everybody going. And so it's a
Speaker 1: math game football. Is you got five linens, that's gonna
Speaker 1: have to block four, or you're gonna have six, gonna
Speaker 1: have to block four as soon or later, it's gonna
Speaker 1: work out in your way, you know, Amory will and
Speaker 1: this is funny, though I can say it's funny, Oh
Speaker 1: this is funny. This is indicative of our team. So
Speaker 1: so how many of you guys may not know our
Speaker 1: offense was ranked number two in the league that year, right,
Speaker 1: but we had such an amazing defense with ranked number
Speaker 1: one in the country, and I mean the best defense,
Speaker 1: but the offense we would just sit back and do
Speaker 1: our thing and we give him the ball. But we
Speaker 1: were right number two in the entire league. But people
Speaker 1: don't know that because we had such a great defense. Well,
Speaker 1: if they were fortunate, they always got to play fresh
Speaker 1: because we held out of the ball. Play twenty minutes. Mcmah.
Speaker 1: You know, Richard, you only had to play twenty minutes
Speaker 1: a game because we controlled the ball. Though you take
Speaker 1: the special teams out of it. The play sixteen minutes again,
Speaker 1: I mean, the offense led the NFL A first downs,
Speaker 1: The offense led the NFL and scoring that year. I
Speaker 1: mean there's a ton of things rushing the ball control
Speaker 1: when you didn't do anything, we come off and say
Speaker 1: we controlled the ball, We led the NFL and first downs.
Speaker 1: I mean. See. The only problem is is that you know,
Speaker 1: when you get tired as an offensive player, you can't
Speaker 1: sit there on the sideline and cheer for the other
Speaker 1: team's offense because you know you want to rest on
Speaker 1: the That's why you defense can verbally be on the
Speaker 1: offense because you guys are getting tired and you're getting
Speaker 1: mad at us because we're going three and out. We
Speaker 1: can't get mad at you guys were going three. Well,
Speaker 1: it was going three and out. We would tell him,
Speaker 1: you know the funny thing that he didn't mention. They
Speaker 1: always got the ball in the thirty five yard line.
Speaker 1: The team never came past the fifty yards and we
Speaker 1: was always three and out being number one. We love
Speaker 1: we love you guys. I know it was right. And
Speaker 1: we used to say, you know, just to piss him off.
Speaker 1: He was like, hey, guys, just hold him, you know,
Speaker 1: get the first down, hold him. We'll come back, we'll score.
Speaker 1: It seems like the same stories that we just had
Speaker 1: from the sixty three group, the sixty three groups that
Speaker 1: our defense was so gay and we did so great.
Speaker 1: We just asked for the def just hold them. He
Speaker 1: just we just looked at nine points. We said, you know,
Speaker 1: we can't get anybody no more than nine points. And
Speaker 1: we knew that we could turn over and we can score.
Speaker 1: Oh we're gonna turn over, get a field goal. So
Speaker 1: we know we got ten points. It's gonna be a problem.
Speaker 1: You know what. Pleasure just to watch those guys, I mean,
Speaker 1: as as I sat down and watch our defense played
Speaker 1: the other team. I was at a hallt I mean
Speaker 1: it was like amazing to see what they did, how
Speaker 1: they perform, the professor leaves they had, and also the
Speaker 1: excitement they had. I mean, these guys were excited to
Speaker 1: hit people. You can't be that excited to day because
Speaker 1: you know you can't do as much as we did
Speaker 1: have back then. But it was really amazing. Willie, see
Speaker 1: what you started, and you know what you see where
Speaker 1: you started. You see what you started. I was thinking
Speaker 1: it too. I was thinking it too. They will talk
Speaker 1: all day about that defense, what they need, what we're missing.
Speaker 1: On this panel, it's Mike Richardson to do some chirping
Speaker 1: at this defensive line because they always complain of y'all
Speaker 1: didn't get enough pressure for that. He got them deep
Speaker 1: touchdowns and interceptions. No, our defense was great. And one thing,
Speaker 1: you know, Buddy, Buddy was a guy in you made
Speaker 1: a play, he didn't even talk to you. He'd call
Speaker 1: you by your number whatever, and he would come back
Speaker 1: to the offense right before the game. He'd say, you
Speaker 1: get me ten points. He says, I let the dogs loose,
Speaker 1: and he said we'll crushing. Yeah. Now, Buddy was buttery.
Speaker 1: I mean what I enjoyed about Buddy. And on Mondays
Speaker 1: after the game, or I can remember the championship game
Speaker 1: and and the Giants flipped the tight end started putting
Speaker 1: my mind side and Buddy I would say, get a
Speaker 1: hit on the tight end, get a hit on him.
Speaker 1: I said, okay, I'm gonna get a hit on him.
Speaker 1: Playoff game. So I get a hit on him. And
Speaker 1: now Hampton upfield, my top off field, I can go
Speaker 1: back outside. I'm looking at the quarterback down the middle.
Speaker 1: I'm saying, I see ball, Get ball, dude, I need
Speaker 1: to go back this. So Buddy's like, what's going on
Speaker 1: out the coach? We're seeing ball? We get ball. We'll
Speaker 1: talk about it on Monday, right, Like, I don't know
Speaker 1: what y'all doing, But hey, we were coaching. We see
Speaker 1: that ball. I see it. I'm gonna get it. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna go all the way back outside while I'm
Speaker 1: inside pushing the tight in down. But but I enjoyed
Speaker 1: his meetings, you know, in the meetings and what he
Speaker 1: was calling people, you know, with bad plays, good plays.
Speaker 1: But we always played as a team on defense to
Speaker 1: beat to beat the other positions. So the defense line
Speaker 1: would have the best grades of linebackers, so on with
Speaker 1: the corners and safeties, and then we started having individual play.
Speaker 1: So you know, it's uh, I'm a small guy from
Speaker 1: a small school. Here I got you know, Tom or whatever.
Speaker 1: We went to Notre Dame, you know, like and so
Speaker 1: I may have a guy in Notre Dame but from
Speaker 1: some big school, and it's all you gotta post. Now,
Speaker 1: I gotta post that guy. You he come from a
Speaker 1: big school. I'm a small you know, I'm a small
Speaker 1: school guy. So it was fun to have this camaraderie
Speaker 1: that we used to have on Mondays. You know, it's
Speaker 1: always something to look forward to on Monday. You know what,
Speaker 1: we never look forward to monding because you got Dicker
Speaker 1: running the projector and you I always say you could
Speaker 1: tell how well you played by the sweat rings underneath
Speaker 1: your armpits, because it was never pleasant. And he watched
Speaker 1: every play probably five or six times, right, you know,
Speaker 1: Sunday Sundays really, I mean, you go through the week
Speaker 1: of practice as an offensive line and uh, you know
Speaker 1: against this defense, that was a tough week. The game Sunday,
Speaker 1: you know that that was kind of a break. Monday
Speaker 1: was actually the worst day, is going over the review
Speaker 1: with Mike Dick and running that projector I mean, he
Speaker 1: critiqued us heavily. It was always like, um, the game.
Speaker 1: You know, after the game, you'd have a nice win,
Speaker 1: you want to come in and see some nice plays
Speaker 1: of replay and coaches come in there go all right, guys,
Speaker 1: we're in a hurry today. We can't tell you a
Speaker 1: good job. We're just gonna go correct. Well, what's wrong
Speaker 1: in this film, right? I mean, we gotta we gotta
Speaker 1: we gotta run for Buddy and we gotta run for dickcas.
Speaker 1: So we made a you know, a plans with Buddy
Speaker 1: that look, Buddy, if we don't lose anymore, we don't
Speaker 1: run the ladder. We don't we don't run the shuttle.
Speaker 1: You remember that. And Buddy said, yeah, okay, great, because
Speaker 1: you know we gotta run. Then we gotta do walk through.
Speaker 1: So Bud, he wants you to be like what you'd
Speaker 1: be in the game, tired, try and make decisions, check checkpoint,
Speaker 1: and yet then Dicker wants to run us. So you know,
Speaker 1: defensively why we're running a whole lot. So we made this,
Speaker 1: we made this beat and we said we're not losing
Speaker 1: anymore because we don't run that ladder anymore. What happened
Speaker 1: after the Miami game and nothing happened at the Miami game.
Speaker 1: We was looking for Miami to show up, but you know,
Speaker 1: Miami couldn't show up. But you know, that game, I
Speaker 1: think that you know, they had I was tripping over
Speaker 1: all kind of things, Ghostie's out there or whatever they was.
Speaker 1: But uh, you know they I think what they did,
Speaker 1: they spread us out, they did half roll, They get
Speaker 1: rid of the ball quick, right, And at that time,
Speaker 1: you know, Buddy and Mike was fighting on the sideline
Speaker 1: at halftime because Buddy was putting more people on the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage. Mike was trying to throw the ball
Speaker 1: like the Miami Dolphins, and uh, you know, you look
Speaker 1: at the Dolphins Dolphins twenty eight and stopping the run.
Speaker 1: So it's like, why are we are trying to throw
Speaker 1: the ball? And Dick is getting that Buddy, like, why
Speaker 1: are you putting everybody on line of scrimmage? You know.
Speaker 1: So you know, you got two head coaches there and
Speaker 1: there was a little fight going on, but uh, we
Speaker 1: could use the loss. We wasn't thinking about being undefeated.
Speaker 1: But after that game, we looked at coming into that game.
Speaker 1: We had an opportunity to be undefeated, and uh, some
Speaker 1: of the guys thought maybe we should go down there
Speaker 1: in practice getting used to the weather. And you know,
Speaker 1: Buddy came up with it. So since let's talk to Mike,
Speaker 1: this ain't gonna happen Buddy coming up with asking Mike.
Speaker 1: If Mike would have came up with it, we probably
Speaker 1: have went. But the point of it is that we
Speaker 1: was looking forward to seeing Miami show up again. They
Speaker 1: just couldn't show up. And to add to that, um
Speaker 1: Mark Clayton. You know, he's a Louisville guy, and uh,
Speaker 1: I can't think of Cooper. Yeah, Mark Duke, No, Mark Clayton. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but they were not Moore. That's the name. That's the
Speaker 1: name I'm talking about. That Moore has a golf outing,
Speaker 1: so I go to the golf outing. So they figured
Speaker 1: they give me a little information on how they won
Speaker 1: that football game. They seem to think the fact that
Speaker 1: when Buddy left Wilburin to take care of that slot
Speaker 1: guy whoever he has, he's sometimes he was duper, sometimes
Speaker 1: it was Clayton, that they was going to exploit that
Speaker 1: and take advantage of that. And that's what they tried
Speaker 1: to do. So, you know, Richard, Richard, you know, hit
Speaker 1: it on the head. You don't win every every football game.
Speaker 1: We figured they beat us and we get an opportunity,
Speaker 1: hopefully to get back at him. But they couldn't get
Speaker 1: through New England. So eighteen and one wasn't bad. I'm
Speaker 1: kind of glad that they didn't show up because you know,
Speaker 1: I loved Jim Bow and I told him when I
Speaker 1: went to the Pro Bowl, Jimbo told me, hey, take it,
Speaker 1: take it easy on Danny. I said, okay, Jimbo, I'll
Speaker 1: do that, you know. Hun, So I went and hit him.
Speaker 1: I said, you know, that one was on Jim Bow. Okay,
Speaker 1: the next one's on me, right. So but uh, you know,
Speaker 1: if they would have showed up, it would have been, oh,
Speaker 1: it'd have been pretty ugly guys. I don't know, you know,
Speaker 1: because we would we really look forward to seeing those
Speaker 1: guys in the Super Bowl. But they didn't make So.
Speaker 1: He had the great running game, Your impact in the
Speaker 1: speed department to help stretch the field. How critical was that,
Speaker 1: honestly to the Bears offense? Well, as a speed guy,
Speaker 1: there's very few things that I can control as a receiver.
Speaker 1: I can't control the play being called. I can't control
Speaker 1: the defense. I can't control the quarterback to one of
Speaker 1: the all the lineman blocking. The only thing I can
Speaker 1: control is me being in shaping all my plays and
Speaker 1: do my best. So I tried to make sure that
Speaker 1: I was the fastest guy in the field all the time,
Speaker 1: in better shaping everyone else. I always ran extra. I
Speaker 1: ran with these guys the extra after practice, so every
Speaker 1: time I stepped on the field, I was the fastest guy,
Speaker 1: and I was in better shaping anyone else on the field.
Speaker 1: That's what I can control. So probably still the fastest exactly.
Speaker 1: So I think as a receiver, you look at that
Speaker 1: and you make your contribution. I was very pleased at
Speaker 1: what I was able to do. I mean, I had
Speaker 1: a great running but we had a great running back,
Speaker 1: nam Walter Payton, so we didn't throw the ball a lot.
Speaker 1: I led my team, you know, all five years I
Speaker 1: was here in receiving and yardage. So I think I
Speaker 1: contributed as much as I could. I ran fast, I
Speaker 1: cleared out for other guys. You know, we played unselfishly, really,
Speaker 1: I think, and today it's a little bit different because
Speaker 1: everybody's about me, but I sometimes would get one of
Speaker 1: through passes thrown to me a game, but that was
Speaker 1: part of the game. I ran cleared out for Dennis,
Speaker 1: could out for Emory. If I didn't do my job,
Speaker 1: they didn't get catches. So I think it was important
Speaker 1: to do that from an unselfish standpoint. You know, Chicago. Look,
Speaker 1: I've been around the world and Chicago is probably the
Speaker 1: best city in the world for me. It has an
Speaker 1: amazing city. And I'm not just saying that because I'm here.
Speaker 1: I'm not just saying it because i'm here. I say
Speaker 1: that every where I go. Chicago made an amazing impact
Speaker 1: on my life. And it's the best seat in America.
Speaker 1: It just gets too cold. You didn't have the weather.
Speaker 1: I think it would be too many people here. But
Speaker 1: it's a great city, great fans, great people, and it's
Speaker 1: definitely a Chicago beartown. I think Coach Allis for giving
Speaker 1: me the opportunity to play here. You know, he gave
Speaker 1: the range to Jim Finks to draft people and bring
Speaker 1: the right players in. I think was a vision of
Speaker 1: his to see that, and of course is carried on
Speaker 1: through his his daughter and they're his grandkids. So it's
Speaker 1: a great organization, a great city, and I was very
Speaker 1: pleased to be a part of a five years and
Speaker 1: be a part of something like this that you can never,
Speaker 1: never ever forget, and it'll always be a part of
Speaker 1: my life. Like Richard said, you forget. You missed the
Speaker 1: plane with the guys, You missed the locker room, and
Speaker 1: you missed the trips, and those are the things that
Speaker 1: all keep with me forever, and we all miss and
Speaker 1: we all missed Walter Peyton. So across the guard, let's
Speaker 1: talk Walter, because we didn't have the ability to have
Speaker 1: obviously a seminar and a discussion with all the great backs,
Speaker 1: Tom and Jay. You blocked for him. You're in that huddle, Emery, Willie, Richard,
Speaker 1: you were great. You and Otis great friends with him.
Speaker 1: Let's talk Walter, everybody. Let's start with Tommy. You know
Speaker 1: it was weird for me because I was an av Walter.
Speaker 1: I was more of a fan of his than a teammate.
Speaker 1: And because you grow up in the area and you
Speaker 1: know that the Bears went through some lean years, but
Speaker 1: there was always greatness in Walter Payton. So when you
Speaker 1: had the chance to come in here and be an
Speaker 1: offensive lineman for him and be on the same team.
Speaker 1: You just wanted to meet his approval, just like he
Speaker 1: did with Dica and just like he did with Dick Stanfeld,
Speaker 1: their offensive line coach. You felt if you could meet
Speaker 1: their approval, then you were kind of on the road
Speaker 1: to doing something special. Well, I obviously you guys lock form.
Speaker 1: My experience with Walter was, you know, on every Tuesday,
Speaker 1: Tuesday's was our day off, so we would go hunting
Speaker 1: rolling Harper, myself and Walter and you know, me coming
Speaker 1: from Brooklyn, New York, I know nothing about outdoor life
Speaker 1: and hunting and woods and all that stuff. So obviously
Speaker 1: he had to tell me what to go by. And
Speaker 1: you know, I got all my fatigues the green stuff,
Speaker 1: and got my over and under rifle and we went
Speaker 1: bird hunting. We would hit feasant hunting, so we had
Speaker 1: a chance to really sit down and really get to
Speaker 1: know somebody. I think we right up there by you
Speaker 1: j It's a place called Twin Willow Feasant Farm. We
Speaker 1: used to go up there right there in Kenosha, and
Speaker 1: we go up there and just spend the whole day,
Speaker 1: you know, shooting birds and then they give you the
Speaker 1: birds and you go home and cook them, but they're
Speaker 1: You know, everybody knows Walter as a great, great football player. Well,
Speaker 1: Walter was the coolest guy that I knew. I mean,
Speaker 1: always had a smile on his face. He never said
Speaker 1: anything derogatory about somebody. I mean, he shit everything he had.
Speaker 1: That's the great thing about it. You know, he had
Speaker 1: all of the nightclubs and Sean Burg. So when we
Speaker 1: went a football game, we go to the restaurant or
Speaker 1: the club and we just have Kyle Blanche. If you
Speaker 1: want to drive fast cars, you can take one of
Speaker 1: his cars. And I mean it was just great spinning
Speaker 1: seven years playing with him. And the only thing I
Speaker 1: didn't like about Walter was when he went and worked
Speaker 1: out on this hill over at Arlington Heights. He had
Speaker 1: this huge hill, and I figured, you know, sixty three
Speaker 1: and a half two forty five in shape, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: run up this hill more than Walter. After about the
Speaker 1: third time I went up this and then came back down,
Speaker 1: I never saw that hill again. I mean, and he
Speaker 1: would run up and down this hill like like it
Speaker 1: was nothing. And then I said, okay, I see you
Speaker 1: gotta pace yourself. So from that point on, I started
Speaker 1: pacing myself. But a great individual, a great athlete, a
Speaker 1: good family man. You can't say nothing bad about Walter. Yeah, Walter.
Speaker 1: Walter was a phenomenal athlete and a great person. And
Speaker 1: like Tom said, coming from Everston, you know you've heard
Speaker 1: about Walter. I played four years before I got to
Speaker 1: play with Walter, and when I came here, I was,
Speaker 1: you know, he was the best player in the football
Speaker 1: at that time and always and always will be in
Speaker 1: my mind. And I was very fortunate because in my situation,
Speaker 1: like I said before, I was in New York for
Speaker 1: three years with the Giants, a year in Denver, was
Speaker 1: playing wide receiver fullback, and when I moved to tight end,
Speaker 1: we were very fortunately the next year to get Willie
Speaker 1: because Willie stretched the field just like he was talking about.
Speaker 1: And then I was playing tight end, so it was
Speaker 1: easy for me to get away from linebacker because I
Speaker 1: had played wide receiver and it was easy for me
Speaker 1: to release on bigger guys than it was a smaller guys.
Speaker 1: But then you throw in play action pass to Walter Payton.
Speaker 1: I mean they'd faked that ball to Walter. Willie be
Speaker 1: running down the sideline, clearing it out and I'm coming
Speaker 1: off the line and crossing the field and I'd be
Speaker 1: wide open. I love playing tight end with these guys
Speaker 1: out there, because you gotta give Walter to respect. And
Speaker 1: they'd faked that ball to Walter and pull it out
Speaker 1: and I'd release and I'd be down the field crossing
Speaker 1: and them guys to be turning around looking going, oh God,
Speaker 1: there you go. And I averaged almost close to sixteen
Speaker 1: yards a catch in my career because of Walter Payton
Speaker 1: and Willie gall doing what they do. So appreciate them. Guys.
Speaker 1: Battery may of days switch out of Mike here. Oh okay,
Speaker 1: So my experience with Walter is a little bit different.
Speaker 1: I met Walter before I became a Bear. I actually
Speaker 1: met him at a charity event, maybe a couple of
Speaker 1: years before I became a Bear, so I knew him.
Speaker 1: And when I was drafted by the Bears, he was
Speaker 1: one of the first guys I called. He called me
Speaker 1: and congratulated me, which was great. And when I got there,
Speaker 1: my very first touchdown, people don't know that was thrown
Speaker 1: to me by Walter Payton. Yeah, and actually I called
Speaker 1: my first touchdown. I called three touchdowns at one day
Speaker 1: in New Orleans. Walter threw me one, Jim McMahon threw
Speaker 1: me one, and Walter threw me another one. So I
Speaker 1: had two touchdown pass from Walter Payton. So as a
Speaker 1: football player, I think no one can argue that he's
Speaker 1: probably the best to ever play. I mean from a runner, blocker, passer,
Speaker 1: the way he worked, he was arguably the best player
Speaker 1: ever to play the game. It's certainly a running back
Speaker 1: and and and you probably don't know this, but Walter
Speaker 1: was a practical joker also. I mean you always had
Speaker 1: your head on the squirrel when you're around Walter because
Speaker 1: you never know who's gonna happen. I mean we go
Speaker 1: in the practice field and all of a sudden a
Speaker 1: firecracker on missile will grow off. And then Walter, you know,
Speaker 1: he put um jock h powder in your jock, you know,
Speaker 1: or heat bomb in your in your underwear or something.
Speaker 1: It's just crazy. And he would hug you so tight
Speaker 1: because he was so strong, and he tried to squeeze
Speaker 1: the breath out of you, which you know, I'm a
Speaker 1: small guy, so that wasn't hard for him to do
Speaker 1: me like that. So but yeah, Walter was a great player,
Speaker 1: great to play with. He worked amazingly. Um his work
Speaker 1: ethic was set nine and just a tragic loss. And
Speaker 1: we really miss him, really missed that guy. William William
Speaker 1: have anything William Walter Walter, Well, you know I couldn't say, uh,
Speaker 1: say too much, too much about it. The gay the
Speaker 1: gay was great and and he and he he ran hard,
Speaker 1: it ben't even and he blocked and everything else he did,
Speaker 1: he did, he did everything. He mean, he was, he was,
Speaker 1: he's he's a great, great football player all the way around.
Speaker 1: And you couldn't you couldn't say you couldn't say nothing
Speaker 1: about the call he was that he was that good. Yeah, yeah, jest, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, my my, my experience, you know, obviously coming
Speaker 1: from a small black college, used to play against the school,
Speaker 1: so uh watched him a lot as a kid, just
Speaker 1: like you guys in here looking at us. That's how
Speaker 1: I was looking at him. And and we was on
Speaker 1: the plane when when we fly, Walter sit the first
Speaker 1: row outside of the first class, and he got those
Speaker 1: first three seats. So the rule of the thumb, no
Speaker 1: one sits with him because if you sit with him,
Speaker 1: you get hurt. So I said, you know, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: sit with him. I gotta sit here and talk to
Speaker 1: this man, because you know, I've been watching him all
Speaker 1: these years, and clearly next week, you know, I told
Speaker 1: my hamstring and hurt my ankle. So I was done
Speaker 1: for the whole preseason. But uh, but while I was
Speaker 1: sitting there, you know, just kind of getting off of
Speaker 1: Neaton Walter, and he's, hey, you, I'm gonna actually show
Speaker 1: you a trick. I said, okay. Well, so he had
Speaker 1: this deck of cards. He had been had it there
Speaker 1: for a while. They looked like beat up, and he said,
Speaker 1: you think I can tear this deck? I said, no,
Speaker 1: I don't think. So he told her deck in about
Speaker 1: twenty seconds. I looked and said, h still, this give
Speaker 1: me another deck of cards, right, So the students came
Speaker 1: back with a brand new deck opening up. I gave
Speaker 1: it to him and they talk him about thirty seconds longer,
Speaker 1: and he told that deck and I said, boy, at
Speaker 1: that point, you know, he was like God to me.
Speaker 1: You know what I mean? I mean, this guy is
Speaker 1: so strong. Yeah, got the sweetest voice and the sweetest
Speaker 1: person you ever want to meet. But yet when I ain't.
Speaker 1: When you're talking about hand strength that way, it's like
Speaker 1: you know, I'm never gonna get in the way. You're
Speaker 1: never gonna have a problem with me. But you know,
Speaker 1: I used to love watching him do his thing. I
Speaker 1: had to pass to a smooth where he kick his
Speaker 1: leg that I kind of equated into my game. And
Speaker 1: you know, when we get in that huddle on the field,
Speaker 1: he would always say, don't do what I say, do
Speaker 1: what I do. And that means when he's on the
Speaker 1: field watching him do his thing, you know he may say,
Speaker 1: you see us and hit him so but yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: if he's not doing it, you know you don't do it.
Speaker 1: But the point of it is watching him go to
Speaker 1: work is what you know, you live for to work
Speaker 1: at that level. Yeah, and that's what I tried to
Speaker 1: do weekend and week out to compete and play at
Speaker 1: that level the way he played. Yeah, these all great things. Um,
Speaker 1: you're hearing about Walter and it's um, it's tough to
Speaker 1: you know, a format like this. It take all nights,
Speaker 1: sit here and you could tell Walter Payton stories and
Speaker 1: what he meant to all of us, and he really
Speaker 1: took time. I think personally, you get to know everybody
Speaker 1: on the team, which was something and what I what
Speaker 1: I really appreciate about it. You know, I came into
Speaker 1: the Bears, you know, nobody from nowhere, and I when
Speaker 1: I made the team, M Ray Early, who's the equipment
Speaker 1: guy at the time, put my locker next to Walter.
Speaker 1: So I locker next to Walter for years and that
Speaker 1: that was a great experience. I mean, that was that
Speaker 1: was amazing. He rased me so many times in the morning.
Speaker 1: There's some sibing and some embarrassing stuff I can't even
Speaker 1: talk about, but but it was all good fun. But
Speaker 1: the thing is the way he would treat you as
Speaker 1: a teammate outside of Hollis Hall was special. The way
Speaker 1: he would come and focus on you and I played
Speaker 1: in some Pro Bowls with him, and the way that
Speaker 1: he would still recognize me as his teammate there, and
Speaker 1: the way that personal relationship that we had would be
Speaker 1: stronger than any relationship he had over there in Hawaii,
Speaker 1: and he'd want to spend time with you over there too.
Speaker 1: He it's just a huge loss he's not with us.
Speaker 1: But I mean the memories of what he was he
Speaker 1: was and how hard he worked and inspired and just
Speaker 1: his attitude is the thing that I think inspired all
Speaker 1: of us. I mean, I remember when we were starting
Speaker 1: to make the playoffs and you could just tell how
Speaker 1: much he wanted to win. To win the playoffs. I
Speaker 1: remember the one time he talked to the team he
Speaker 1: was willing to give up all the money made in
Speaker 1: the playoffs. That divided it up amongst us, because that's
Speaker 1: all he wanted an opportunity to get in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: And that's I mean. I think we all maybe felt
Speaker 1: a little special thing that in the eighty five year
Speaker 1: that we all wanted to win the Super Bowl for ourselves,
Speaker 1: of course, but in our heart, I mean Walter, we
Speaker 1: all we all loved Walter Peyton, no question about it,
Speaker 1: no one thing. One thing about Walter is m If
Speaker 1: you ever look at a picture of Walter outside of football,
Speaker 1: away from the facility, you look at every person in
Speaker 1: the background on the picture, they're all smiling, and you know,
Speaker 1: Walter could walk into an elevator and by the time
Speaker 1: that elevator stops, everybody's smiling and happy. There was a
Speaker 1: couple of times and Walter I got to play with
Speaker 1: Walter for a couple of years, but there's a couple
Speaker 1: of times where he would drive down to Joliet and
Speaker 1: come and sit in my mom and dad's backyard, and
Speaker 1: I have some pictures of it. We have a photo
Speaker 1: album of it. And the kids from the neighborhood would
Speaker 1: all gather around his motorcycle and they'd all be sitting
Speaker 1: on and wearing his helmet. But every single person and
Speaker 1: every single picture in the background had a smile on
Speaker 1: their face. And he's so unlike the superstars of today
Speaker 1: because they have an entourage or they have an attitude
Speaker 1: where they almost make people uncomfortable. Walter Payton was the
Speaker 1: complete opposite. No matter what scenario he was in, he
Speaker 1: made everybody feel comfortable. Number one on the list of
Speaker 1: the Bears. Top one in your centennial scrapbook. Make sure
Speaker 1: you pick one up before the weekend is over. Outstanding publication,
Speaker 1: Number one on the list. We all agree, all right,
Speaker 1: let's roll some of those Super Bowl twenty highlights. How
Speaker 1: about it? Bears got their Super Bowl And I don't
Speaker 1: even know where to begin, because you guys knew you
Speaker 1: were winning his damn game. It was no doubt about it.
Speaker 1: We knew we'd went if we didn't turn the ball over. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: you know that first series we turned the ball over.
Speaker 1: But when they have a minus twenty six yards total offense.
Speaker 1: At halftime, he saw the figure out the game's almost
Speaker 1: on VAD when there went for you didn't have to
Speaker 1: go but twenty yards in. But my I mean the
Speaker 1: first play to me when you know, we we we
Speaker 1: came in the game saying, hey, you know, let's shut
Speaker 1: these guys out. We played them before, we knew they
Speaker 1: didn't have much. We've shut two teams out. So we
Speaker 1: was like, let's let's go for it again. And obviously
Speaker 1: Walter fumbing the ball, some people got upset as you're
Speaker 1: a big catch there, will That played right there, Willie.
Speaker 1: I remember McMahon the huddle saying, hey, give it a
Speaker 1: little give it this one more second here, this could
Speaker 1: go for a long play. He called it. When he
Speaker 1: called it, I was like, okay, great, I'm ready. The
Speaker 1: first play in the second half, the first play of
Speaker 1: the second half. Yeah, where was that thirty five yard
Speaker 1: field position? There? Man, we're on the two yard line.
Speaker 1: How did that happened? Yeah, Reggie Phillips. But but my play,
Speaker 1: I mean, you get that looks great. I mean, anyway,
Speaker 1: so we gotta go out now to stop the guys
Speaker 1: from score. Bo that's a headache right there, folks, I
Speaker 1: promise you. So we gotta knock these guys out. We
Speaker 1: can't let them score because generally was the first one
Speaker 1: score they say nor to win the Super Bowl. So
Speaker 1: you know, people have been patting us on our back
Speaker 1: and telling us how great we were, and now you
Speaker 1: gotta go on the field right away. So my first play,
Speaker 1: I get knocked on my ass. Okay, I mean I
Speaker 1: come off, they go play action. Holloway hits me in
Speaker 1: the chest and I'm trying to not fall back on
Speaker 1: my back. I'm off balanced and I see him coming
Speaker 1: back and wipe me out. So I said, either you
Speaker 1: can hit reset or you let this man take you out.
Speaker 1: So of course you hit reset. You know all I
Speaker 1: thought about being on TV knocked up my ass, and
Speaker 1: I said, you know now, you said, well, you know
Speaker 1: you're playing the Super Bowl. Why would you know you
Speaker 1: need someone to strike If you've never been there, you
Speaker 1: don't know, right, But the point of it is I
Speaker 1: had that opportunity to hit reset and became MVP. That's great, awesome.
Speaker 1: So so my when when they announced my name to
Speaker 1: run on the field, Yeah, I couldn't hardly feel my
Speaker 1: feet hit the ground. I mean, because think about it,
Speaker 1: the magnitude of the Super Bowl. I grew up watching
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. I'm thinking to myself, Oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: a billion people watching me. So I was really it's
Speaker 1: like a nervous energy. I mean, it's hard to describe,
Speaker 1: but I was ready, but I was really guts inside.
Speaker 1: It's like such a huge feeling. But I once I
Speaker 1: touched the ball for the first kickoff return, it all
Speaker 1: just became a normal game. It became just a regular game.
Speaker 1: But that first play was something that really because you
Speaker 1: don't want to make a mistake, but yet you know
Speaker 1: what you're doing. But because you're a professional, but yeah,
Speaker 1: you also know there's millions of people watching you. But
Speaker 1: then once you touch the ball, is just the game.
Speaker 1: When Fridge got into the backfield, whether it be San Francisco,
Speaker 1: Green Bay, the offensive lineman, we used to say, you
Speaker 1: better make a good block because if you don't and
Speaker 1: William hits you in the batch in the back, you're
Speaker 1: gonna get hurt, You're gonna get pushed out of the way,
Speaker 1: and it's gonna look bad. So William was great in
Speaker 1: center for us when they did give him the ball,
Speaker 1: to make a good block to get out of the way.
Speaker 1: It's a big game, but the point of it is,
Speaker 1: you know, you don't make it more than what it is,
Speaker 1: the same game for higher states. You know, some people
Speaker 1: come out and they change their ways. When you do that,
Speaker 1: you just bleink it's over. Okay, it's the same game
Speaker 1: you played throughout the year, but now it's just at
Speaker 1: the higher levels. Yeah, it's just like the Olympics. You know,
Speaker 1: it's the same thing. Yeah, right, but see Olympics. You
Speaker 1: gotta waits. You gotta wait four you gotta wait four
Speaker 1: years to get ten seconds to get it done right.
Speaker 1: Can't mess around? Yeah, I think that, you know, playing
Speaker 1: in the Super Bowl, I was going into my ninth year,
Speaker 1: but we had already beat New England earlier that year,
Speaker 1: so we were pretty confident. And when the defense when
Speaker 1: they tried to run the ball or pass the ball
Speaker 1: three times in a row, I think they knew that.
Speaker 1: They knew they couldn't run the ball against our defense.
Speaker 1: And I remember years ago, probably about ten years ago,
Speaker 1: I was at an event up in Canada and Steve
Speaker 1: Grogan was there, who was the quarterback, and he said,
Speaker 1: he said, I'm still ducking from number fifty five over
Speaker 1: there said every time I see a band, I'm ducking it. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: I'll tell you for me personally, I mean, the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl is probably like a lot of these guys saying,
Speaker 1: it's still a football game. Yes, it's still football, but
Speaker 1: yet the hype around it makes it a huge, huge event.
Speaker 1: And everybody, when you're playing in an event like that,
Speaker 1: you want to put your best foot forward. And you know,
Speaker 1: I was never shoting words. And they asked me, well,
Speaker 1: what do you think about y'all gonna win the Super Bowl?
Speaker 1: I said, yeah, we're gonna win the Super Bowl, and
Speaker 1: we're gonna shut him out if all of us stay
Speaker 1: healthy and play well together. And obviously we see the
Speaker 1: outcome of it forty six to ten and you know,
Speaker 1: friends getting into his thing. It was just a phenomenal
Speaker 1: event and I enjoyed it. You know, Richard, he was MVP.
Speaker 1: And how many sacks as you had, Richard? Because I
Speaker 1: had like U two sacks that game? I had three
Speaker 1: or four. Now, No, actually it's not that I didn't know,
Speaker 1: you know, I thought going into the playoffs, you know,
Speaker 1: I had got three four sacks in the first game time,
Speaker 1: having the Super Bowl. Everyone ye yards, it's tonovers every
Speaker 1: every he had a good catching the Super Bowls. He
Speaker 1: got a tip. Jim Morrissey had the longest interception returning
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl that didn't result in a touchdown. Hey, hey, hey,
Speaker 1: they were all great play times. Give it up for
Speaker 1: these guys. They were all, hey, Jay, hey once again,
Speaker 1: y'all had the ball on the thirty five yard line.
Speaker 1: That's what I was gonna That's what I was about
Speaker 1: to say. So they run the ball at me the
Speaker 1: first time over, and I'm like, Craig, Craig James or whoever.
Speaker 1: The kids like, we're afraid. I mean, I'm like, when
Speaker 1: is this that they're running. I'm like, this is disrespectful
Speaker 1: you to run this and you know, don't get it wrong.
Speaker 1: I'm like, it's not often you see a white guy
Speaker 1: playing tailback, Okay, in the National Football League. You just
Speaker 1: don't see that that often. And I'm looking at him,
Speaker 1: he looking at me. I just reasons to give me
Speaker 1: that ball. Man, you don't know what you're doing. Y'all
Speaker 1: get the ball on twenty yard line. He scored a touchdown.
Speaker 1: Matt Suett all right, you know a lot of times
Speaker 1: people talk about, you know, Walter, why didn't Walter score
Speaker 1: in that game? And this game it got out of
Speaker 1: hands so fast. I mean at halftime, we knew the
Speaker 1: game was over. With six minutes in the third quarter,
Speaker 1: all the starters are on offense, are already on the bench.
Speaker 1: Reggie Phillips intercepts and pass and runs it back. Jim
Speaker 1: Morrissey runs it back. Heycy picks up a fumble for safety.
Speaker 1: They gave that out of control so fast that game,
Speaker 1: and we were just so ready to play our very
Speaker 1: best game. And you know, I just you know, Walter
Speaker 1: should have got a touchdown. But I'm telling you everybody
Speaker 1: was playing their butt off that day, and sometimes you
Speaker 1: got to be a decoy, and they wanted to stop Walter.
Speaker 1: That's their main plan on our offense was to stop Walter.
Speaker 1: But everybody else stepped up, just like Richard says about
Speaker 1: the team. Our offense stood up, the special team stood up,
Speaker 1: the defense stood up. And that's how we played a
Speaker 1: great game that day. And we wanted to make the
Speaker 1: city in Chicago ha and having a lot of fun early.
Speaker 1: We wanted to get Joe Pottery started at halftime. You
Speaker 1: don't have to wait maybe it was on. Well think
Speaker 1: think about it. Think about it. Okay, okay, think about
Speaker 1: differ one thing for one second. Joe Namath predicted they
Speaker 1: were gonna win the super Bowl. At the Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: we predicted we were gonna win the super Bowl and
Speaker 1: game number three of that year because we made the
Speaker 1: super Bowl Shuffle. That gained him a three. Right, So
Speaker 1: that's the best prediction that came true ever. Game number three,
Speaker 1: we made the super Bowl Shuffle and we won the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. That don't have the Knowlton folks have problems. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's there's the offensive line to the Black and bluest
Speaker 1: tell us about that we were number one. We started
Speaker 1: it off the old line, right, Yeah, the Black and
Speaker 1: Blues brothers looking cool like that. That was fun. We
Speaker 1: signed a million of those things, haven't we, Tom, I
Speaker 1: got a few steal in. And you know the other
Speaker 1: thing in the autograph all the time is the the
Speaker 1: the with the for the game program, the program, the
Speaker 1: program of the game you autograph. You know, the Superdome
Speaker 1: holds eighty thousand something like I know I've signed over
Speaker 1: one hundred thousand programs of the super Bowl. I mean, shoot,
Speaker 1: all right, we have just a couple of minutes to go,
Speaker 1: so we'll take a couple of fan questions. This is
Speaker 1: from Chris. Thanks for coming from Oxford, England. All right,
Speaker 1: England Bears are headed there. There you go properly. We're
Speaker 1: in thirty four. He want you guys to put into
Speaker 1: words what it felt like to step out on Soldier
Speaker 1: Field on Sundays, all these home games in that era
Speaker 1: of Bears football. What it was like to be playing
Speaker 1: in front of those fans at Soldier Field. Well, it's
Speaker 1: no doubt about it. It's an honor and a pleasure,
Speaker 1: you know, to play play in Soldiers Field. And because
Speaker 1: of the history you know of Soldiers Field and just
Speaker 1: the history of the organization itself, the oldest organization, and
Speaker 1: the way that that uniform with pride, and you know,
Speaker 1: having guys like this, it's a lot of pressure because
Speaker 1: if you don't play, you're gonna pretty much be embarrassed
Speaker 1: because somebody else is gonna do something special. Right. Yeah,
Speaker 1: for me, you know, I would love to play in
Speaker 1: the stadium today because you know, you can hear the noise,
Speaker 1: but when we was playing, the noise was just go
Speaker 1: away so fast. But to watch Walter step out of
Speaker 1: the huddle and start clapping and the whole stands start clapping.
Speaker 1: It was just magical. I said, shit, I want that
Speaker 1: kind of power, you know. I wanted to be like that,
Speaker 1: you know, So to have the people to respond like
Speaker 1: that to him, you know, it just tells It tells
Speaker 1: the players how much you know, the people appreciate the
Speaker 1: game itself here in Chicago, and think, I mean, think
Speaker 1: about it. We're got an opportunity to play for an
Speaker 1: amazing city like Chicago. We'll get a chance to play
Speaker 1: for an owner who helped create the league and that
Speaker 1: that's rich tradition there. And then to be able to
Speaker 1: play with guys like this, to run on Soldier Field
Speaker 1: and to make touchdowns and to win games, and to
Speaker 1: bring a championship back to Chicago. UM was really especially
Speaker 1: something that I always care with me, no matter where
Speaker 1: I go, no matter what I do, for the rest
Speaker 1: of my life. So it's great everybody else, it's just
Speaker 1: you know, coming into Chicago and playing for in front
Speaker 1: of great fans like Chicago, playing for the Chicago Bears,
Speaker 1: you know, George Hallis, It's just all that, and and
Speaker 1: on top of it, to win the Super Bowl and
Speaker 1: to win the championship and the interaction we had with
Speaker 1: the crowds. I mean, it's it's a special time in
Speaker 1: our life. It's it's the biggest moment in all of
Speaker 1: our lives. Yeah, you know, when I came, I came
Speaker 1: from Everson, so I was used to I grew up
Speaker 1: watching gayl Sayers and Dick Buckets, So I when I
Speaker 1: got a chance to play for the Bears, I knew
Speaker 1: the history. I knew a little bit of history. But
Speaker 1: one of the great things that they did in the
Speaker 1: early eighties, it's George Hallis put the book Hollis by
Speaker 1: Alice in every player's hands when they came to the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears, so you could read about the history of
Speaker 1: the Bears, the history of the league, how it struggled early.
Speaker 1: And I think that's something that missing today. People don't
Speaker 1: know the history. The players don't know the history of
Speaker 1: their teams, of the leagues. And I thought that was
Speaker 1: just a phenomenal thing. Even though I thought I knew
Speaker 1: the Bears, I didn't know the Bears until I read
Speaker 1: the book. And I think every player that plays for
Speaker 1: the Bears should learn the history of the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 1: Oh this before you go. If I could say before
Speaker 1: you go, I can say that, you know, one moment
Speaker 1: that was really especially in my heart, that sold you
Speaker 1: feel is when we won it. When we won the
Speaker 1: championship game. Or actually Wilbell Marsh was running a touchdown
Speaker 1: and I'm looking at Freds swinging his arm up and down.
Speaker 1: I'm looking at that dark gap in between his mouth.
Speaker 1: You probably don't remember that, Fridge, I don't know, but
Speaker 1: but yet seeing him looking at you. Oh, this the celebration,
Speaker 1: how the fans. The championship game to me was more
Speaker 1: important than the super Bowl. It was it's something that's
Speaker 1: The Championship Game is something that I would always remember
Speaker 1: more so than the Super Bowl in Chicago. All right, Willie, Yes, Yes,
Speaker 1: NFC Championship Game. Yes, here are some of the highlights.
Speaker 1: We're gonna be wrapping up here any second. But it
Speaker 1: was a total demolition, total demolition in every way shaping
Speaker 1: for him. Huh, Emory running downfield had legs back then.
Speaker 1: It was so amazing because this is a touchdown, which
Speaker 1: was a great throw by jam and I was just
Speaker 1: in the background of the end zone got started and
Speaker 1: after the last player started to snow ye right, poetic
Speaker 1: I was really impressed. When we got back the day
Speaker 1: after the Super Bowl. I think there was twenty five
Speaker 1: or thirty five thousand fans and below zero weather to
Speaker 1: greet us well parade, which was amazing. So where else
Speaker 1: can you go to find that type of support then Chicago.
Speaker 1: Here's the play. Here's the play, Fridge, your pitchers coming
Speaker 1: up and oldest urans coming up here too. Yes, this
Speaker 1: is this is uh with the snow coming down, putting
Speaker 1: the iceing on the cake, Chicago, making it happy. Hey,
Speaker 1: I just wanted you guys to score because I didn't
Speaker 1: want to go out and run more. I told you,
Speaker 1: we told you just just hold him. We'll come back
Speaker 1: to score. You remember that. No, all right, before we
Speaker 1: wrap it up, since it's a top forty hit, no
Speaker 1: super Bowl shuffle, Willie, what are you saying? Oh yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: yeah yeah, we get that line, will And then we're
Speaker 1: wrapping up. Send us off, Willie, and I'm were class.
Speaker 1: I like running, but I love to catch a pass.
Speaker 1: I practice all day and dance all night. I gotta
Speaker 1: get ready for the Sunday fight. Now. I'm a smooth
Speaker 1: at the Chocolate Squirreld, I dance a little fucking sold
Speaker 1: was girl. There's no one here that doesn't like me.
Speaker 1: My super Bowl shuffle, shall say you a Mamma's well
Speaker 1: old run crowd love me from my bottet. In my mind,
Speaker 1: I'm slick on the flick on mesch sweetness. They run.
Speaker 1: We had the ball since planing camp to give Chicago
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl champ. Now we're not doing this because
Speaker 1: for greedy. The Bears are doing it. Defeat the needy.
Speaker 1: I didn't come here. Look at my trouble ball. I
Speaker 1: just came here to do the Super Bowl shop. You're
Speaker 1: looking at the trainer. I'm the rookie. I may be launched,
Speaker 1: but I'm no dumb cooking. You see me, you see run,
Speaker 1: I got the bad. I'm the rookie. Maybe loud, but
Speaker 1: I'm no nothing. You see me hit. You see me
Speaker 1: run when I kicking bad. I am who fun I can.
Speaker 1: As you will see, they all learned from me. I
Speaker 1: didn't come here looking for trouble. I just came within
Speaker 1: the shower bow.