Quick- Name some Chicago Bears QBs in the ten years before Jim McMahon was drafted in 1982 (1st Round/ 5th Overall). Odds are, you could name a couple, but not anyone who was very successful.
Not only did McMahon bring talent to the team that would become the Greatest of All-Time, but he brought intelligence, as well as the ability to rally his players around him. This was a much-needed change in Chicago, who has gone years without a true leader at the signal-caller position.
Statistically, McMahon won't line up along some of the all-time greats. But that 1985 team also would not have been who they were without McMahon at the helm. He instilled a level of confidence in that offense that had been missing, and he did it his way.
McMahon's career didn't end up developing they way many had hoped, being out-shined by Joe Montana in his last game in a Bears uniform, and subsequently being traded after falling out of Mike McCaskey's favor (and Ditka's as well), but while he was here, he made great things happen.
McMahon isn't the greatest Bears Draft pick of all time, but he definitely deserves being considered among the best. What do you think?
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