Here in the doldrums of the NFL offseason there isn't always a lot to talk about. So I thought I'd get an early jump on an old summer favorite; history posts. I have gathered a couple of trivia pieces that could come in handy for you at your local bar trivia night, or just impress your Bears-fan friends with the knowledge bomb. I'm also going to take a peek into the team's media guide (available online here) and share some interesting facts and figures that jump out at me.
Presidential candidate Willard Mitt Romney is named after hotel magnate J. Willard Marriott and Romney's father's cousin, Milton "Mitt" Romney, who played QB for the Chicago Bears from 1925-28.
The Bears had the last un-helmeted player in the league, Dick Plasman who didn't wear a helmet through the 1940 season. No word if he died from concussion-related complications.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach, former Rutgers coach and all-around good guy Greg Schiano, was an assistant with the Bears under Dave Wannstandt from 1996-98.
Now for "The Last Time..." or in some cases "The never time..." (Note that this is regular season only, I think, the media guide isn't specific but none of the dates seem to be postseason)
The Bears have never deflected a punt (a punt that is hit but advances beyond the line of scrimmage).
The Bears have not allowed an offensive lineman to score against them since at least 1962.
In the department of "things that could happen this season" a Bears player has not caught 4 TDs in a game since Mike Ditka in 1963. An opponent has never caught 4 TDs against the Bears.
Following that theme, a Bears QB has not thrown 5 TD passes since 1937. The QB? Ray Buivid against the Chicago Cardinals.
The Bears haven't had a receiver catch 10 passes in a game since Marty Booker in 2002.
I'm a little surprised to see Walter Payton was the last Bears to have 100 yards receiving and rushing. I would have thought Matt Forte had done it.
The Bears have never had three 100-yard receivers. The last time they allowed it was 1982 to the L.A. Rams.
The Bears haven't had a receiver go over 200-yards receiving in a game since the franchise's all-time leading receiver, Johnny Morris did it, in 1962.
The last time the Bears had a receiver with back-to-back 100-yard games was Marcus Robinson in 1999.
A Bears linebacker has not scored a TD since Lance Briggs against Indianapolis in 2008.
An opposing QB has not caught a pass against the Bears since Michael Vick in 2005, when he caught a pass from himself that was tipped by Alex Brown. The last Bears QB to catch a pass was Rex Grossman from Thomas Jones in 2006.
The Bears have a great history at the RB position, but the last Bear to rush for 4 TDs in a game was Bobby Douglass in 1973. An opponent has not rushed for 4 TDs since the Packers' Jim Taylor did it in 1962.
The Bears haven't had a 100-yard WR/RB tandem game since Thomas Jones and Mushin Muhammad in 2006.
Last season against New Orleans, Matt Forte became the first player to have at least 10 receptions and at least 10 rushing attempts since James Allen in 2002.
The Bears haven't had two 100 yard rushers in a game since 1985 and haven't had two 100-yard receivers since 2002.
The Bears haven't had two WRs get 10 receptions in a game since 1999. I bet this happens at least once this season.
Sometime soon I will come back and look at other media guide records and hopefully have more trivia for you.
So how many of these feats and stats will change this year with a re-loaded arsenal and a QB like Jay Cutler?