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Day 23: Who is your All Time favorite Chicago Bears defensive lineman?
Of all the positions of the Chicago Bears, this one is probably the toughest for me to pick an all time favorite. While the Bears have had several outstanding and colorful defensive lineman throughout history, picking a personal favorite was harder than I thought.
As you can tell by the accompanying picture, I decided to go with a player from my youth and a member of the legendary 1985 team, William Perry. He wasn't the best d-lineman on that team, in fact I'd rank him as the 4th best, but there was something about him that intrigued me back in the day.
Maybe it was his likeable personality or his rotund physique. Perhaps it was the novelty of a big man running the ball or him taking the final verse in The Super Bowl Shuffle that really stood out to me.
Whatever the reason, after some careful thinking, I'm going with The Fridge as my all time favorite Bear defensive lineman.
Perry was literally one of the biggest players of his era, but a 320 pounder wouldn't be that big a deal these days. Girth was The Fridge's calling card, but he was also a very good athlete. As a defender, he was best known for his ability to stuff the run, but people often forget his pass rush prowess. In his 9 year Bears career, Perry racked up 28.5 sacks, which is tied for 12th all time in the franchise's history with Tommie Harris and Israel Idonije.
Tackles weren't an official NFL stat during Perry's NFL career, but Pro Football Reference has Perry down for 456 of them, which ranks him 9th in franchise history. That's 3rd most among defensive lineman, behind only Steve McMichael and Richard Dent.
The Fridge was more than just a run-plugging big body, he was a very active and disruptive player on the defensive line. It's a shame that history seems to forget just how good he was.
Now it's your turn, tell us your favorite defensive lineman in Bears history, and remember we're not talking best, but favorite, so there are no wrong answers.