The Curse of Walter Payton
by escolio on Dec 1, 2009 12:13 AM CST
26 comments
Based on how the Bears seasons have gone the past few years got me thinking "How did we get here?" "Here" is the place where the Bears are good only every 4-5 years or so, and even when that happens it seems that it is luck or a fluke (i.e. the 13-3 2001 team). This year doesn't seem any different, but in fact it is. As you all know, this is the first time we've had a bona fide talent at QB, thought to be the gaping hole in our team year after year, and that QB has looked like every single Bears QB we've had except the 1940's sensation of the T-formation Sid Luckman. We don't have to look that far back to find a historically dominant team; we all know which team I'm talking about. But why didn't that team win more games, especially playoff games and Super Bowls than that magical one? One reason: Walter Payton.
A lot of fans know where I'm going with this: Payton did not score a touchdown in the rout of New England in Super Bowl XX while a number of others did, specifically William "The Refrigerator" Perry a defensive tackle. Payton was the greatest player in team history to that point (and still is), and at that time the all-time leading rusher in the NFL, and didn't score in his only Super Bowl, after playing on terrible Bears teams for the majority of his career. And that was how he was repaid by his only franchise: letting a defensive tackle score HIS touchdown (I don't blame the Fridge, who has said he thought he was blocking for Payton on that play).
Was the real reason Payton didn't score was because he was being "keyed" on as he said he was? Or was it maybe that Payton was one of the Halas holdovers and Ditka wanted to use his guys to win? We don't know the reason, but we know the result: a long Super Bowl drought and year after year of disappointing teams.
Lets take a brief look at the runningbacks the Bears have had lead the team in rushing since Payton:
Neal Anderson: 91 games, 6166 rushing yards, 51 rushing TDs
Lewis Tillman: 16 games, 977 yards, 7 rushing TDs
Rashaan "F-ing" Salaam: 21 games, 1682 yards, 13 TDs, 14 fumbles
Raymont Harris: 35 games, 2245 yards, 15 TDs
Edgar Bennett: 14 games, 639 yards, 2 TDs
Curtis "F-ing" Enis: 18 games, 1497 yards, 4 TDs
James Allen: 27 games, 1978 yards, 4 TDs
Anthony "A-Train" Thomas: 37 games, 3332 games, 21 TDs
Thomas Jones: 45 games, 3493 yards, 22 TDs
Cedric "F-ing" Benson: 12 games, 1593 yards, 10 TDs
Matt Forte: 27 games, 1781 yards, 11 TDs
(Yes, less yards than James Allen in the same amount of games)
Notice anything?? It seems we have just as bad of luck with runningbacks as quarterbacks, meaning outside of Neal Anderson (whose career was cut short by knee injuries), we haven't had the same RB for more than 3 years (both Thomas and Jones lead the team in rushing 3 years), and numerous high draft picks have flamed out for every different reason there can be outside of murder or being murdered. Coincidence? To borrow from Easterbrook's Tuesday Morning Quarterback, the football gods have been punishing the Bears since Walter was denied his Super Bowl touchdown.
How do you beat a curse brought on by a man nicknamed Sweetness, that got his record broken by Emmitt Smith gunning for the record on the Cardinals at the time? Here's my solution (other than raising Halas and Walter from the dead to revive the franchise): bring back Jarrett Payton, unretire number 34, and have him break/own a Bears record. It has to be a positive record too, nothing like "most fumbles in a game" or "most runs for a loss." Ideally it would be one of Walter's records, but beggar's can't be choosers. I have two Payton records that seem doable for Jarrett: punt average (Walter punted 1 time for 39 yards) and if we really want to break The Curse TD passes (8 for Walter). This year we should suit up Jarrett as #34, and put him in at QB everytime we're in the redzone or inside the 10; since Cutler's throwing picks anyways it's worth a shot to break The Curse. If that doesn't work out, punt average should be easy for Jarrett as he did play high school soccer; hell he could kick extra points and short field goals too.
Now, am I crazy or convoluted for thinking this, or have I just reached the point where this is the only thing that makes sense to me? Your thoughts?
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Cub fans.
''My favorite player growing up was Kevin Garnett and he's now my least favorite player. ''-Joakim Noah
Just trying to make sense of this season...
I’m 28, the Bears have mostly been terrible since I’ve been old enough to understand football, and this year feels the worst yet. I don’t see anything on the horizon that screams next year will be any better, only that next year could be worse.
Not all Cub fans believe in curses
I certainly don’t. A curse isn’t what’s hurting the Chicago Bears.
And the eighth and final rule: if this is your first time at Fight Club, you have to fight.
Because they have coaches that know how to maximise their players abilities
Plus they have solid offensive and defensive lines due to quality drafting and savvy free-agent moves.
(Asshole Sr) "If you learn one thing here, NEVER pass out in Ohio."
To use the words Curse and Sweetness in the same sentence just rubs me the wrong way.
If you wanted to rename the thread it could be named “Years of ineptitude after Sweetness”, or “Why the bar has not been met after Sweetness” or something along those lines. But Curse? Not a good choice of words imo, having the greatest Football player of all time on our team was a blessing.
Since you're only 28, that would have made you about 4 or 5 years old at the time of the game, so.
let me clarify something…WALTER PATYON WAS NOT SCREWED! He had 22 carries in that game and only gained 61 yards. He had at least 2 carries from inside the 5 yard line, where he was thrown for a loss on one play and only gained a yard on another. There was no “master plan” to screw him out of the limelight. By the time Fridge scored (the last Bears TD of the day) many of the starters were already out of the lineup.
Ditka admitted later that if he was aware that Walter hadn’t scored and knew it was so upsetting to him, he would have definitely put him back in. This story came out after the game and, quite frankly, as an admirer of Walter’s during his career, I thought he was acting like a little kid when he “leaked” the story out that his feelings were hurt. As great a player as he was, anyone who would be more concerned with getting a TD than enjoying the experience of the most dominant Super Bowl performance ever and the first championship the Bears had in over 20 years, wasn’t seeing the whole picture. I always felt it was a shame that it took some of the luster off of a magnificent team performance.
Not that it should ever matter, but Walter was the one who fumbled the ball deep in their own end of the field, which allowed NE to kick the field goal for the first points of the game. Those were the first points scored on that defensive unit throughout the playoffs and many players and experts believed that had he not fumbled and the way the team was playing, there was an excellent probability that the ’85 Defense would have won a championship without giving up a single point in the playoffs. You have to wonder if Walter felt guilty about that and deflected all of it with his “not getting a TD” statement.
I know Ditka wishes Walter scored, but that doesn't change that he didn't....
I have watched Super Bowl XX about 15 times on tape, and yes, it wasn’t Walter’s best game. Of all the fixable reasons why the Bears have stunk since that game (i.e. not going back to the Super Bowl, and then now) this seems the easiest, since the owners (the real people to blame) are going nowhere.
WOW
This might be the most ridiculous post I’ve ever seen!! You want to make sense of this season? The Bears SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!! They have an offensive line that can’t block anybody, they have a defensive line that can’t rush the passer, they have a terrible WR corps, they have a pitiful secondary, and they have the worst coaching staff in the NFL. And that’s being nice about it!!!
To suggest that Payton was screwed by some Ditka vendetta to “play his own guys” is a pathetic and feable attempt to to justify this team’s pathetic 2009 performance. Get help buddy!!
Yeah, sorry escolio, but your search for answers continue...
Ditka has said many many times that Walter Payton was the best football player he’d ever seen then and now. In addition, he’s said that he one of his biggest regrets was not getting Walter a TD that game.
I'm just trying to make sense of the last 15 years...and I can't
and have no faith that the next 5-10 will be ANY different
by the way
I loved option #3!
by Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. on Dec 1, 2009 12:20 PM CST up reply actions
Neil Anderson...
doesn’t get enough credit because he followed Payton.
Reminds me of some niner fans I know. They can’t stop talking about Young and Montanta, but I seem to recall Bono, Grbac, and Garcia all having pretty good showings with the niners,.No, they weren’t Montana or Young, but they were hurried out of town when it first seemed like they weren’t.
No such thing as a curse...
just bad owners and worse front office people. Either that or it’s aliens; but definitely not a curse.
When you find yourself in a hole, STOP DIGGING!!!
You have too much time on your hands my friend
Curses are for ppl whos teams are in the shitter, which the bears are, and have no answers or ways of getting out. Curse? Are you serious? Are you 12 years old? My nephew is 10 and he doesnt believe in ghosts let alone curses. If the word “curse” is synonymous with the words “talentless”, “inept”, “visionless”, “unprepared”, “stupid”, “heartless”….then i would say yes, the bears are cursed.
"All they do is mock me, just like they did the fat fellow. All the time mocking, mocking, mocking, mocking all the time! Now, it is Babu's turn to mock "---Babu Bhatt in the Seinfeld Finale Part 2
P.S.
"The fact of the matter is the chicago bulls have never been a contender since I left..."----Johnny Kilroy
by chi_till_eye_die on Dec 1, 2009 3:01 PM CST reply actions
Inferring that someone is childish,
in the same breath as questioning their age and berating their opinions is a bit ironic, don’cha think?
-------
"Newbie, if the next two words out of your mouth aren't 'See ya' then the third word will be 'Oh my god. My crotch. You've punched me in my crotch." - Dr. Percival Ulysses Cox
very much in agreement
hey, south park is on!!
"All they do is mock me, just like they did the fat fellow. All the time mocking, mocking, mocking, mocking all the time! Now, it is Babu's turn to mock "---Babu Bhatt in the Seinfeld Finale Part 2
P.S.
"The fact of the matter is the chicago bulls have never been a contender since I left..."----Johnny Kilroy
by chi_till_eye_die on Dec 1, 2009 3:53 PM CST up reply actions
Please tell what our answers are in getting out of the shitter, specifically, then
Also, did you pay attention to the fact that I wasn’t completely serious (see above)? What coach and GM are going to fix this mess?
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