I never saw Sid Luckman, the man commonly considered to be the greatest QB in Chicago Bear history, play football (I’m old . . . but not that old).  

And now, as we go out with the old (Rex & Kyle) and in with the new (Jay Christopher Cutler) I feel that this is a perfect to time to stop and pay tribute to the ‘man-in-the-middle.’  One Jim McMahon.

And nothing makes me angrier as when people (ESPECIALLY Bear fans) either ignore the greatness of Jim McMahon or speak of him in less than reverential tones.  I almost expect and can almost deal with that from 49er fans, or Packer fans, or anybody else‘s fans, but Bear fans?  That really elevates my blood pressure.  Makes my blood boil.

With that in mind, it’s long past time for GeoMak to set the record straight for any and all non-believers.  Jim McMahon was a GREAT Quarterback!  Period.  End of story.  This, my friends,  is non negotiable.

Now, if you define a great QB as one who got under center and lasted 10 + years (like say, a Dan Marino or Peyton Manning) then Jim doesn’t fit that bill.   If that’s your criteria, then you have my permission to disagree with me.

However, here’s how I define greatness at the QB position:

Leadership:

Jim was a born leader.  As a sophomore at BYU,  Jim McMahon replaced starter Marc Wilson who had gotten injured.

As teammate Clay Brown recalled:  "Jim came in with so much confidence, it was like he had been there for ten years."

Bill Ring:  "I have a lot of respect for Marc Wilson and he was a terrific QB, but competitiveness was what really separated Jim from Marc."

Jim’s leadership skills were never more evident than in the 1980 Holiday Bowl, where BYU overcame a 20 point deficit against SMU with only four minutes remaining to win the game.  Key play in that game?  In the fourth quarter, BYU faced a 4th and two near midfield.  HC LaVell Edwards sent in the punting unit and McMahon refused to come out of the game.  Refused to come out!

McMahon sent the punter off the field.  Edwards called a timeout.  Jim told his offense to stay on the field  and he then went to the sideline where he started yelling at Edwards:  "What?  Are you giving up?  That’s BullS---!"

Edwards: "The guy was upset to no end, so I said ‘OK, go back in and we’ll go for it.’"

BYU converted the fourth down and eventually won the game on a Hail Mary pass on the games final play.

(BYU scored 21 points in the final 2 ½ minutes of that game).

Going over to yell at your HC for attempting to throw in the towel, to wave the white flag, to just give up?  That’s leadership, and that’s why his teammates at BYU and in Chicago loved him.  With Jim under center, his guys always felt like they were in the game.  They won that game because of QB Jim McMahon and in spite of HC LaVell Edwards.

Geo reminds you...

Steve Young played behind Jim at BYU (the school named after Steve’s great, great, great grandfather, Brigham Young).    Steve Young: "I learned how to play quarterback by watching Jim McMahon."

Passing Skills:

Jim is, statistically, the greatest passer in college football history.  McMahon broke or tied  56 NCAA Division 1-A records.  His arrival in Chicago in 1982 (as the 5th pick in the first round) signaled an end to the motley QB’ing crew of Bob Avellini. Mike Phipps and Vince Evans.  The Bears now had a real, genuine, passer.  And not just a ‘hander-offer.’

The incomparable Walter Payton (and to a lesser degree) Buddy Ryan’s defense were being wasted in the Windy City because the Bears had no NFL caliber QB.  Thus, they were basically a defensive team with  a ‘four play’ playbook:

1.  Walter left.

2.  Walter right.

3.  Walter up-the-middle.

4.  Cross your fingers and hope against hope that the Bears can complete a pass on third and a mile.

Walter was getting killed (Cowboy RB Preston Pearson: "Walter Payton, on every play, was taking a pounding.  Every play") and the Bears had almost no hope of ever winning it all.

First, like a Bull (or a Bear) in a china shop, in blew Iron Mike in 1982.

And then in walked Jim McMahon, holding a can of beer in his hand for his introductory press conference at Halas Hall.   

And (thankfully) the Chicago Bears would never the same.

Geo reminds you...

 The year before McMahon was drafted (1981) the Bears averaged 14.5 points-per-game.  In 1985, for example, the Bears led the NFC in scoring, averaging 26 points-per-game.  This total doesn’t include any defensive TD’s or safeties. Just the offense.  That’s a difference of two TD’s per game and that’s a HUGE difference in the NFL.

Also, in the third game in 1985 in Minnesota,  Mad Mac came off the bench and threw three TD’s in FIVE minutes to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.  I don’t know if that is an NFL record, but I’m guessing not too many NFL QB’s have ever thrown three TD’s in five minutes.

Intelligence:

Along with his leadership and passing skills, one of Jim’s greatest abilities was in reading defenses.  Few if any NFL QB’s have read defenses as well as Jim McMahon.  He had an almost ‘Larry Bird, Wayne Gretzky’ like quality to see the entire ‘field’ ahead of mere mortals.

Jim watched little film (he pretty much only had to see things once and he got it . . . and besides, he didn’t like the overhead view of the coaches tape).  This caused some friction between him and Ditka because Iron Mike was used to guys like Roger Staubach, who watched a lot of film in Dallas.  Jim didn’t because he didn’t need to.

My favorite story regarding this: 

During a nondescript regular season game at Soldier Field (I’m not sure about the year/opponent) McMahon called an audible at the LOS and threw a TD pass to TE Emery Moorhead to beat the oncoming blitz.  In the Chicago Tribune the next day, Moorehead expressed great surprise at McMahon’s ability to read the blitz and audible to a play that turned into a TD pass to him.

Moorehead explained that usually, a quarterback SEES the DB creeping up towards the LOS and THEN calls the audible.  McMahon called the audible BEFORE the DB ever made a step towards the LOS.  Moorehead was bewildered as to how Jim McMahon knew the DB would blitz before the DB ever signaled his intentions by moving closer to the LOS.

Jim’s answer:  "I could see it in his eyes."  That’s right, McMahon could tell the DB was going to blitz just by reading his eyes.  That’s pretty impressive.  Jim McMahon had an acute intuition for the game of football that’s missing from many who play the position.

Jim McMahon:  Great team leader, great passer and extremely intelligent.    Other than that, I guess,  he really wasn’t much as an NFL quarterback.

Oh, and his reputation for getting injured?  That’s fair.  But as Ditka said:  "Those guys (the O-Lineman) would have done anything to protect Jim McMahon.  He didn’t play the game like a QB.  He didn’t have any respect for his body.  He played the game with reckless abandon."

SMU HC Ron Meyer (who later coached the Colts and Patriots) had this to say about Jim’s reckless, no regard for his body, style of play:  "I don’t think he ever took a safe slide like you see the quarterbacks today. Is that smart?  Ahh, probably not.  But does that win?  You bet.  And that’s Jim McMahon."

I personally think that Walter Payton was the greatest ‘all-around’ player to ever play the game.  And there isn’t a bigger Buddy Ryan fan than myself.  But the Bears, with Walter (1975) and Buddy (1978), didn’t win squat.  And they weren’t going to.  They needed a real QB.  And they finally got a real one in 1982  with the arrival of Mad Mac.

He was the spiritual leader of that offense. Whether it was head-butting his lineman after a TD or ignoring the play sent in by Ditka ( "F--- that" he would often say in the huddle . . . We’re running this play") Jim was a key component in  leading the Bears to the greatest single season in NFL history.

Mike Ditka:  "I never did try to control him because Jim McMahon wouldn’t have paid one bit of attention to what I said.  If I would have said ‘Don’t run’ he would have ran.  I said ‘Slide’ he would have jumped over people.  It didn’t matter.  There’s no point getting into that."

Jim’s teammates fed off his rebellious energy.  It helped to bond them as a unit.  Which led them to say this:

 "We listened to the coaches from Monday to Saturday.  Sunday was OUR day."

Jim McMahon ran the offense.  Mike Singletary ran the defense.  And for one brief moment in time, the 1985 Bears were the greatest team in the history of the NFL.  And nobody can take that away from us.  NOBODY!

Oh, and another thing Mike Ditka is on record as saying:  "I don’t care how great Walter Payton was.  I don’t care how great our defense was.  We don’t win the Super Bowl without McMahon.  Period."

Now, are any of you ‘non-believers’ man enough to take exception with ’Da Coach’ regarding the previous paragraph?  I didn’t think so.

I mean, you can talk smack to the GeoMak.  You can attack the GeoMak.

But argue with Mike Ditka?  I don’t think so.      

Class dismissed!

*  (Most quotations from ESPN's 'SportsCentury - Jim McMahon' which first aired on January 24th, 2001).