D
an McNeil was one of Chicago ' s most controversial sports talk show hosts for decades . After long stints at the Score ( 670 AM ) and ESPN ( AM 1000 ), along with a few other stops on the radio dial ( the Drive , the Loop ), Dan has turned his talents to the written word . He has a new book about the Chicago Bears , I Bear Witness .
Why a Bears book , and why now ? “ The timing was right to do it now ,” he explains . “ I was 80 % wrapped up with a radio autobiography and was planning to punch that out after the new year . The Bears again had the number 1 pick in the draft after Carolina ' s 2-15 finish , and the fever for the Bears never burned as hot as it did in the offseason . Caleb Williams jerseys were selling more than any jersey in the country , and enthusiasm skyrocketing . This is also my 40th season of covering the Bears ... exactly 25 years after Walter ' s death . We had two and a half Bears get enshrined in the Hall of Fame in August ( McMichael , Hester , and Peppers ). The stars were aligned to do this first .”
While writing the book , McNeil talked to a dozen or more Chicago Bears legends , and though he had spoken to all of them many times over the years , even he was surprised at the new information he learned . “ I learned the ' 85 guys got screwed by Michael McCaskey on their Super Bowl rings ,” he says as an example . “ Shit , I told some of them . It didn ' t surprise anybody , but it still pissed them off . The players picked out a $ 5K ring ($ 5K was the stipend the league gave every Super Bowl winner for each ring ), and McCaskey deducted $ 1500 for pendants his mother wanted to have made for the wives . Instead of digging in their own pockets , and very few guys were making great money in the mid- ' 80s , they downsized the ring . What was supposed to be 14-karat gold became 10-karat gold . The blue sapphire became aluminum with blue enamel paint .
That story never was told before . I learned Bear ownership and management make decisions it isn ' t qualified to make . Personnel decisions . Compensation in trades . And they let the GMs and coaches take the heat for the ones that don ' t work . Dave Wannstedt took the bullet for almost 30 years for trading a first-round pick to Seattle for Rick Mirer . Wannstedt was informed of the compensation by one of the suits .”
Anyone who has listened to McNeil knows he has strong opinions about his favorite football team . I wondered if his opinions evolved during the writing of the book . ei “ I think the narrative of the ' 85 team being a one-hit wonder needs further inspection ,” he says . “ They themselves have spent almost 40 years pointing fingers . No doubt they handled their success poorly – ( Mike ) Ditka at the front of the line on that one – but what everyone forgets is how awesome the NFC was in the ' 80s . Montana and Lott in San Francisco . Washington had the great Joe Gibbs coaching them , and Gibbs won three Super Bowls with
By Rick Kaempfer
DANNY MAC ’ S BELOVED BEARS BOOK
three different quarterbacks in a 10-year stretch . The Giants with Lawrence Taylor , are you kidding ? That ' 86 Giants team , especially defensively , was much closer to the ' 85 Bears than anybody ever talked about . I walked away from several interviews feeling a little bad for Ditka . I mean , he made the mess , but Mike turned 85 last month . With a few of the guys – Richard Dent more than anybody -- those resentments still run hot . When does the statute of limitations expire ? Let it go .”
This book covers the 40 years that Dan has been reporting on the Bears . Did he have any favorite Bears ? “ I have two favorite Bears ,” McNeil volunteers . “ Walter Payton , who was
Dan McNeil
the apple of my eye as a teenager , and Brian Urlacher . It ' s Chicago ; I have to pick a running back and a middle linebacker , right ? Payton was the best player on the best team in the NFL and was the hardest worker on the team . He defined the word ‘ competitor ’ every day of his life . A perfectionist . To the point , he became a tortured artist . Walter wasn ' t a happy man often , but he never missed games . Ever . And they played on that nasty Astroturf , a reprehensible product that never should have been approved by the league or accepted as playable by the players union . Urlacher was the smiling assassin . Where Butkus spat on opponents and snarled , Urlacher always had a grin on his face , and his boyish enthusiasm for the game was infectious . He was a freakish athlete . Guys 6-4 and 255 aren ' t supposed to run that fast and then have the agility to break down , sinking the hips and making a perfect form tackle . I never saw a bona fide superstar get off on his teammates ' successes more than Urlacher . He loved playing the game and had a child-like passion for those who played it with him .”
Is there any chance we ’ ll hear Dan back on the air again ? I ' d enjoy doing fill-in shifts or Bears / NFL specialty program , but nothing full-time . There are at least three writing projects I ' m playing with , and I ' m excited about my radio autobiography , which should be released next year .”
I Bear Witness by Dan McNeil is available for preorder now at Eckhartz Press ( eckhartzpress . com ).
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