Greatest Chicago Bears Players of All Time
Walter Jerry Payton was an American football running back who played for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League for thirteen seasons. He used to work out on this humongous hill not far from a friend's house where I grew up in Arlington Heights, Illinois. I was really young, maybe around 8 years old, but I just remember people trying not to gawk or bother him. He ran - no, he smoked - up this hill that looked like it could pop your Achilles tendon just by looking at it. Up, down, up, down, up, down. Anyway, we went up the hill, and midway up, just walking (not running), your thighs felt like they were on fire, and you were gasping for air.
He was also one of the nicest human beings ever. It didn't matter where he was or who you were - old, young, Black, white, three heads, whatever - he'd stop and talk to you as if you were doing him a favor. Not only was he the best Bear, but he was also the best human being and NFL baller.
I shook his hand at a game vs. the Steelers in 2009, and my hand is still afraid to come out of the glove. It really sucks in the summertime. He's a little up there in age now - not sure how old - but he's still got that you're breathing because I'm letting you mojo going. He breathes in Chicago and exhales skeletons eating Italian beef sandwiches...
Sports Illustrated's Dan Jenkins once wrote when Butkus was in college: "If every college football team had a linebacker like Dick Butkus of Illinois, all fullbacks would soon be three feet tall and sing soprano." Butkus stands head to toe on a Bears team that couldn't win much when he was on that team.
Its Joeysworld
Gale Eugene Sayers, also known as "The Kansas Comet", is a former American college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League for seven seasons during the 1960s and early 1970s. He was so unbelievably ahead of his time that it was almost a comedy act watching defenders try to stop him.
- Leads Bears in career passing yards.
- One of the first elite quarterbacks in NFL history.
He's only been in the league 2 years, and he's already second on the all-time returns-for-touchdowns list. He could also become a dangerous receiver. Look out, Canton.
A punt and kick returner's job is so important. Even though they don't always have to score, they can set up key drives.
Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski was a Canadian-born American football player, renowned for his strength and size.
Brian Urlacher is a former American football middle linebacker who spent his entire 13-year career playing for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. Brian Urlacher's freakish sideline-to-sideline speed, his height, his size, and his football IQ were so great that he made Hunter Hillenmeyer look good! I didn't see Dick Butkus play, but I did see Singletary. Don't kid yourselves - if you were an NFL General Manager, you'd take Urlacher before Singletary. Brian Urlacher was a special player.
A true leader who led by example.
He has more tackles than you can count, goes up for the ball like a cornerback, and he does everything he can to help the team.
I'm sure even Brian would want Ditka ahead of him, but it's all about the era, not any disrespect. Urlacher was the only player Ditka watched as a commentator where you could see the happiness whenever Brian would roll somebody over like a train because he saw himself. Ditka, hands down, was meaner than Urlacher, though. Really, he was. Back then, you hit somebody to kill them, literally. I'm not sure how Ditka and Butkus are even alive today with those hits and the lack of equipment they had back then. You can't get that kind of mean. Ditka and those guys were born with it.
Come on, guys, Dent deserves to be higher! He is one of the best Bears players of all time and was the MVP when the Bears won the Super Bowl.
Dent was the MVP when the Bears won the Super Bowl! Without a doubt, one of the greatest players in Chicago Bears history!
The Newcomers
Allen Bernard Robinson II is an American football wide receiver for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League.
Robinson was drafted in the 2nd round 61st overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2014
Harold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost" or "The Galloping Red Ghost", was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and for the short-lived New York Yankees.Check the records. When Hampton played, the Bears usually won - far more than when he was not in the game. I would put him no lower than 8 or 9. The Fridge was fun, but nowhere near the player that Hampton was.
Having Dan Hampton outside the top 10, let alone the top 20, is just ignorant.
William Perry was undoubtedly the largest ball carrier at 360 lbs in the NFL during the '80s.
Jimmy Mack, the Funky QB, will always be beloved by Chicago.
One of the greatest ever, period.
Matthew Garrett Forte is an American football running back for the New York Jets in the National Football League. Forte is an excellent player and deserves to be higher on the list.
Bobby was more of a runner than a passer, but to Bears fans, that was needed because Gale Sayers retired in 1971 due to crippling leg injuries. So Bobby was the only pure Bears runner. In 1972, he set an NFL record for quarterbacks by rushing for 968 yards on only 141 carries. On November 4, 1973, he rushed for 4 touchdowns in a 31-17 win over the Bears' arch-rival Green Bay Packers. Only Billy Kilmer had scored that many as a quarterback. In his career, he ran for 2,654 yards as a quarterback, and during his time as a Bear, he was the offensive bright light in a 13-31-1 record for the Bears.
Its Joeysworld
Lance Marell Briggs is a former American football outside linebacker in the National Football League.If he had played long enough, he would have been the greatest Bears running back ever. For now, it's Nagurski.
Khalil Mack is an American football outside linebacker for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League.
Jay Christopher Cutler is a retired American football quarterback that of the National Football League.
Cutler played 11 seasons in the NFL (2006-2016).
During his announcement that Cutler declared retirement, he announced plans to be a television sportscaster for the FOX Network.