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When thinking of great teams throughout the history of the world, there are only a few as iconic as the 1985 Chicago Bears professional football club.
One of the first truly great teams on record was the team of 300 Spartans that fought the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. But for as great and as legendary as they are, let's face it, they couldn't win the big one. The 1985 Chicago Bears won the big one.
On this date in 1986, the Bears routed the Patriots in Super Bowl XX pic.twitter.com/7Ul4Yu0uox
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 26, 2015
The Avengers are one hell of a team and they even have a Hulk, but they sure as hell didn't have a Fridge.
The Harlem Globetrotters have an impressive overall record, but we'd like to see them try and dunk on one of the Junkyard Dogs.
For as much as we adore the Blues Brothers, one of the most iconic teams in all of Chicago lore, they pale in comparison to the Black And Blues Brothers.
A very happy 29th anniversary to the greatest day in Western Civilization history #bears pic.twitter.com/q7nvWFVYFK
— Kevin Kaduk (@KevinKaduk) January 26, 2015
The 2005 Chicago White Sox reminded all of us to never stop believing, but they just didn't resonate on a global scale like Da Coach, Sweetness, Danimal, The Sackman, Samauri Mike and the rest of our beloved boys in Navy and Orange.
The 2009-2010 Chicago Blackhawks were another team that was important for our great city, but alas, we're talking about the NHL. It pains us to say, but the average sports fan wouldn't recognize Kane or Toews if they passed them on the street.
When talking sports teams, the only one that can even hold a candle to our beloved 1985 Bears is the Michael Jordan led Chicago Bulls of the 90s. They even captured the same rock star essence that emanated from the Super Bowl XX winning Bears, but they never played to over 80,000 screaming fans at Wembley Stadium in the UK. Our defending champion 1985 Bears sold out Wembley for a preseason game in 1986. A preseason game. That was some unprecedented greatness right there.
On January 26, 1986, 29 years ago today, the @ChicagoBears defeated the @Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX pic.twitter.com/6zcV2uBQCz
— RetroNewsNow (@RetroNewsNow) January 26, 2015
The only regret we have as fans is our lone loss to the Miami Dolphins. It would have been so sweet to shut up those Champagne drinking, classless 1972 Fins, but it just wasn't in the cards that night. Mike Singletary said it best about that evening;
"Well needless to say, there was something different about that game, and there were some things happen that night, that were really strange. I mean balls ricocheting off guys heads and flying into receivers hands. You couldn't buy a break, it was like a nightmare, when something is happening and you're in the middle of it, and you're thinking this can't be happening, please let this be a dream."
Todd claims to this day that someone slipped a mickey into Chicago's pregame meal. Something so strong that it would have driven a lesser team of warriors to their knees in front of a porcelain throne puking up their guts, but not our Bears. Our Bears went out and struggled through a terrible half of football, allowing 31 points while fighting nausea and dehydration before heading into halftime for a hearty snack of sausage, pizza and beefs. The tasty Chicago treats nearly brought our Beloved back from the dead and they outscored the Dolphins in the 2nd half, but time simply wasn't out their side.
It was a sad day for Chicago.
But what did our Monsters of the Midway do after that loss, they went and recorded the Super Bowl Shuffle and in essence guaranteed their eventual victory at SBXX.
The Super Bowl Shuffle has surpassed the Babe Ruth Called Shot and the Joe Namath Guarantee in the pantheon of great sports predictions, because what we did was a full 6 games before history was to be made. No other team before or since has done such a thing.
It took the Bears a full two games to fight off the affects of that potent mickey. But in the week 16 contest Wilber Marshall nearly killed a man.
Then it was on to the playoffs.
Chicago's post season run will never be duplicated. They won their two playoff games and the Super Bowl by a combined score of 91-10.
Think about that the next time someone mentions the 2013 Seattle team. Those guys gave up 15 points in the first round of the playoffs.
The 2000 Ravens sure were a hard hitting bunch, but they didn't even win their division.
The undefeated 1972 Dolphins were historic for sure, but they squeaked through their postseason run. Lady Luck was on their side. There was nothing dominating about their run. Sorry, but these are the facts.
There's only one Greatest Team of All Time in the History of Great Teams and that Team is the 1985 Chicago Bears.