Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football (44 page)

I wrote a story about this trip after I returned: “A Journey to the End of Football,”
New Republic
, September 14, 2012. The chapter in this book is a second run at the same monkey, only now with the experience of writing the book behind me. Much of it’s the same, some of it is different, this being evidence of just how greatly my own views on football and its future have evolved in the last year. The information was gathered mostly in the cities I visited on the trip: Aliquippa and Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania; Massillon, Ohio. The Hall of Fame in Canton is filled with information. Also of interest was the Heinz Museum in Pittsburgh. All in all, a great trip. On the way home, I stopped in Hershey Park. Additional information comes from books on Thorpe mentioned above, as well as the books by Ditka and Namath. See also
Johnny Unitas: The Best There Ever Was
by Roland Lazenby.

20: I DID IT MY (FUCKING) WAY

The details in this short section come from Ditka’s biographies, other books about the Bears, articles from the time, and my own interview with the coach. In his column, Mike Royko said Ditka should have been more true to himself at that last press conference and “punched McCaskey and walked out.”

INTERVIEWS

Tom Andrews, guard, Chicago Bears, 1984–1985

Neill Armstrong, coach, Chicago Bears, 1978–1982

Bob Avellini, quarterback, Chicago Bears, 1975–1984

Brian Baschnagel, wide receiver, Chicago Bears, 1976–1984

Kurt Becker, guard, Chicago Bears, 1982–1988; 1990

Cris Collinsworth, wide receiver, Cincinnati Bengals, 1981–1988

Richard Dent, defensive end, Chicago Bears, 1983–1993; 1995, three games (at the White House)

Mike Ditka, coach, Chicago Bears, 1982–1992

Gary Fencik, safety, Chicago Bears, 1976–1987

Ron Jaworski, quarterback, Philadelphia Eagles, 1977–1986

Tyrone Keys, defensive tackle, Chicago Bears, 1983–1985

Brian McCaskey, currently the senior director of business development, Chicago Bears

Michael McCaskey, president, Chicago Bears, 1983–1998 (at the White House)

Jim McMahon, quarterback, Chicago Bears, 1982–1988

Emery Moorehead, tight end, Chicago Bears, 1981–1988

Jim Morrissey, linebacker, Chicago Bears, 1985–1993

Chris Nowinski, the Brain Bank, Boston

Doug Plank, safety, Chicago Bears, 1975–1982

Kenny Rodgers, producer, NFL Films

Johnny Roland, running back coach, Chicago Bears, 1983–1992

Rob Ryan, producer, NFL Films

Ed Sabol, president and founder, NFL Films

Steve Sabol, president and producer, NFL Films

Dick Stanfel, offensive line coach, Chicago Bears, 1981–1992

Ken Taylor, defensive back, Chicago Bears, 1985

Joe Theismann, quarterback, Washington Redskins, 1974–1985

Bill Tobin, general manager, Chicago Bears, 1975–1993

Vince Tobin, defensive coordinator, Chicago Bears, 1986–1992

Danny White, quarterback, Dallas Cowboys, 1976–1988

Otis Wilson, linebacker, Chicago Bears, 1980–1987

Tim Wrightman, tight end, Chicago Bears, 1985–1986

Steve Zucker, lawyer, sports agent

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Blanchard, Ken, and Don Shula.
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New York: Harper, 1996.

Bruchac, Joseph.
Jim Thorpe: Original All-American
. New York: Dial Press, 2006.

Buford, Kate.
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. New York: Knopf, 2010.

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Butkus, Dick, and Pat Smith.
Butkus: Flesh and Blood
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Chicago Sun-Times
.
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.
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Dent, Jim.
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Dent, Richard, with Fred Mitchell.
Blood, Sweat, and Bears: Putting a Dent in the Game I Love.
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Ditka, Mike, with Don Pierson.
Ditka: An Autobiography.
Chicago: Bonus Books, 1986.

Ditka, Mike, with Rick Telander.
In Life, First You Kick Ass.
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Finks, Jim, et al.
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______
.
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Halas, George, with Gwen Morgan and Arthur Veysey.
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Then Ditka Said to Payton…” The Best Chicago Bears Stories Ever Told.
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,
Mark.
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Miller, John J.
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:
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______
.
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Wheeler, Robert W.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I’m going to thank everyone who helped with this book, then take a nap.

First, my father, who watched all those games with me in the 1970s and ’80s; the same goes for the friends who were by my side at Soldier Field and on the couch in the family room, as well as the girlfriends who either cared or pretended to. Thanks to Brian McCaskey, who told me his stories and showed me around and, as they say in the mob, treated me real cordial. Thanks to Doug Plank, who, I mean, DOUG PLANK! His stories opened my eyes. Thanks to all the players and coaches I interviewed, with special emphasis on those with the old zipperoo—Baschnagel, Fencik, Wilson, Ditka, McMahon. Thanks to Jean Brown, who transcribed all the interviews and served as a first audience. Thanks to Julie Tate at
The Washington Post
, who fact-checked many of the chapters. Thanks to the editors who helped me along the way: Graydon Carter and Dana Brown at
Vanity Fair
; Scott Stossel and Chris Orr at
The Atlantic
; and Franklin Foer and Isaac Chotiner at
The New Republic
, who published an essay on my drive to Canton. Thanks to Ian Frazier, who helped with the first draft and played every position on the Sandy Frazier Dream Team. Thanks to Alec Wilkinson, Jerry Weintraub, David Lipsky, Mark Varouxakis, Denis Cohn, and Matt Lederer, wherever you are. Thanks to Pete Wilson and Sid Holt, whose editorial skill and passion for the Windy City arcana I tapped like a well. Special thanks to Roger Bennett, perhaps the only Englishman to fully grasp the magnitude and importance of the Bears. Thanks to Mark Bazer for his great interview with Steve McMichael, as well as his support. Ditto Jake Tapper, Neil Steinberg, Josh Karp, and Mark Kilroy. Thanks to Seth Davis—don’t leave! All the trees are going to die! Thanks to my brother, Steven, and his wife, Lisa Melmed. Thanks to my sister, Sharon Levin, and her husband, my brother-in-law Bill. Thanks to Matt Levin, who helped with the research and is never anything but fantastic to be around. Thanks to my mother—gosh, I love my mom! Thanks to my brother a second time, and he knows why. Thanks to the Medoffs: Dorothy, Jeremy, and Stephanie. A different, more intimate kind of thanks to my wife, Jessica Medoff, who, when we were engaged, I used to introduce as the future Mrs. Jessica Medoff. She was as involved with this book as any person other than the writer can be—reading, editing, rereading, fact-checking, reading again. Thanks to my agent, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, at William Morris Endeavor, as well as to Anna Deroy, Erin Conroy, and Margaret Riley. Thanks to everyone at FSG, especially my editor, Jonathan Galassi, whom I intend to take to a Bears game this fall. A special thanks to Miranda Popkey at FSG, who has been my partner in all this gridiron madness. I mean it, Miranda. Thank you! Also at FSG: Debra Helfand, who among other wonderful things diagrammed all the formations but one and wrote up the team roster in the way I might have if my teachers had not forced me to write with my right hand. You will soon receive a bottle of Ditka’s Kick Ass Red. Thanks to Jeff Seroy, Sarita Varma, and Kathy Daneman. Thanks to the people of Chicago—the greatest city on earth. Thanks to Glencoe, Big Al’s, Soldier Field, Gilson Beach, Lake Shore Drive, Ming Lee, Cycle Hills, Todd Johnston, Duffy, the Mizz, Mike Dorn, and the Nerf football company. And of course thank you, Francis Albert Sinatra.