For you old timers: What made Mike Singletary so great?

[GoBears]

Singeltary had an intensity that was nearly unmatched. Not only did he not look down or away when going helmet to helmet on tackles, he kept his eyes open and actually had the problem of having his contact lenses pop out during hard hits. In college, he broke a receiver's facemask he hit him so hard. He broke 16 helmets in 4 years (his own).

Sure today, this means a lot of penalties but back in the 80s, it was fundamental football.

Another way to look at this is like this: That 1985 Championship Bears defense was comprised of monsters from the line all the way to the secondary. Despite players like Dent, Fencik, Hampton, and Wilson, there was never ANY question who led the defense on the field. He was a king among kings and incomparable to any linebackers of today.

Oh, a quote from Singletary about that Dickerson hit: "I don't feel pain from a hit like that," he says. "What I feel is joy. Joy for the tackle. Joy for myself. Joy for the other man. You understand me; I understand you. It's football, it's middle-linebacking. It's just...good for everybody."

 

[Daa Bearrs]

Singeltary had an intensity that was nearly unmatched. Not only did he not look down or away when going helmet to helmet on tackles, he kept his eyes open and actually had the problem of having his contact lenses pop out during hard hits. In college, he broke a receiver's facemask he hit him so hard. He broke 16 helmets in 4 years (his own).

Sure today, this means a lot of penalties but back in the 80s, it was fundamental football.

Another way to look at this is like this: That 1985 Championship Bears defense was comprised of monsters from the line all the way to the secondary. Despite players like Dent, Fencik, Hampton, and Wilson, there was never ANY question who led the defense on the field. He was a king among kings and incomparable to any linebackers of today.

Oh, a quote from Singletary about that Dickerson hit: "I don't feel pain from a hit like that," he says. "What I feel is joy. Joy for the tackle. Joy for myself. Joy for the other man. You understand me; I understand you. It's football, it's middle-linebacking. It's just...good for everybody."

Great post. But are you saying he wasn't/isn't comparable to Ray Lewis? After all he mentored him and it seems like Ray-Ray understood the game just as smartly as Singeltary but also has/had more speed and strength.

 

[GoBears]

Great post. But are you saying he wasn't/isn't comparable to Ray Lewis? After all he mentored him and it seems like Ray-Ray understood the game just as smartly as Singeltary but also has/had more speed and strength.

Yeah, I was kind of vague and everything you say is 100% true. I think I mean that the game has changed so much that you can't really compare the players from the different eras. Singletary would be suspended indefinitely from the league if he played today like he did 25 years ago. I would love to insert Ray Lewis into a 1985 football game. Would he be the unbelievable physical force we've seen or would or would some of his intensity play off more as drama-queenish? Sometimes Lewis' antics seem a bit outlandish to me but then I was the kind of guy who liked it when Peyton would just hand the ball over to the ref after a touchdown (or to a lineman). However, Lewis would probably be a wrecking machine even back then although nobody can say for sure. Times change. Look at eye-black. Today it looks more to me like mascara than something to reduce glare.

This guy would be laughed off the field 25 years ago or worse, stretchered off.

 

[Raskolnikov]

lol damnit that's not the response I'm looking for. That's all I ever hear, so I'm assuming you're joking. But really though. What made him such a special player?

Well....its what alot of the pure logic detractors of emotional football make fun of some of us fore.


The fire and the passion is absolutely what made him great. If your looking for something beyond the eyes, think about what the eyes meant.

1) Focus- the intensity, and passion conveyed in the eyes is tangible to football talk in the focus to the play. He watched the film. He knew his opponents tendencies. He watched like a hawk, and there was nobody faster at reading and reacting. He was always in the right place, and if you played alongside him you better be in the right place too. He was a great leader because he demanded his teammates respect the game, play right and come prepared.

2) Undersized- As you mentioned he was a little small, but he used the advantages of that build. Quick and slippery. Like Urlacher always says, play fast. Make mistakes fast. Always flowing toward the ball, and reading more than his share of plays aloud him to menace the opposition.

3) The talent around him disguised his weaknesses. Perhaps much like Urlacher, he would have had a hard time without hall of fame d-line talent in front. Urlacher was amazing in the jauron system with washington and traylor keeping blockers off him, and I suspect Singetary's size would have been more a weakness had opponents had the opportunity to get blockers on him. But with Perry, Dent, Hampton and all the others, plus pass rushing OLB's, they couldn't get OG's on him.

To sum up:

His ability to read and react made him great. His leadership that elevated the play of those around him made him a champion.

Like any Hall of Famer, he was athletic and could muscle his way to the play once diagnosed, but I don't think his athleticism was necassarily higher than good players of his era.

But he stayed in immaculate shape, much like Walter Payton. He was prepared mentally and physcially and stayed at it long enough to be inducted to the pro football hall of fame. 10x pro-bowls is not light on statistics.

Remember that if his tackle numbers are low, its partly because he played with other greats and wasn't the only guy making plays on a bad defense.

 

[Calabis]

[video=youtube;6jFyAh8PQog]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jFyAh8PQog[/video]

One of his best hits imo

 

[brundleflyguy]

I saw an interview with Singletary where he said that the eye thing was due to him trying to keep his eyes open as wide as possible so he could see the entire field.

 

[MrOuija]

Ray Lewis is a very similar player to Singletary, imo. Both were smart players, leaders, hitters, intimidators, and both had to overcome the under-sized, and "not fast enough" tags. Guys like them could play in any era.

 

[NCChiFan]

To me he is the least impressive of the Bear HoF MLB's including Urlacher who I believe will get in as well. Small, in stature, did he job well because he had a great line to work behind. He was a product of that D unit as a whole. To me his best hit was v. the Rams in a post season game against Eric Dickerson I believe, he met the Ram RB at the line in either a 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1 and stuffed him. I was never that impressed with Singeltary and no, I would not compare him to Ray Lewis, Mike was never that dominant... Now if you want to compare Ray Lewis with Butkus, we can talk.

 

[bears5150]

The man was prepared, he was the Peyton Manning of the Defense of his time. He knew what the other team was going to do before the other team knew what they were doing.

 

[Raskolnikov]

Aslo....2 DMVP's is something special statistically. Go ahead and look at the list of players that accomplished that.

 

[Exile]

Intensity. Leadership. Put the smack on other players. Didn't use his size as an excuse. Like other top MLBs, an intimidator.

 

[ImLittleJon]

The only thing I haven't seen mentioned yet in this thread is he was great at shedding blocks. This was back in the era where there was usually a big lead blocker assigned to keep him off the running back, so he generally had to fight through at least one guy before getting near the back.

 

[Sunbiz1]

I'll never forget the hit he put on Eric Dickerson during the NFC title game in 86', that the set tone for the entire day. He was not that physically gifted, but rather more like a Montana...used his IQ to beat you. He also ran a defense that although appeared to be chaotic, was actually a controlled chaos based upon a lot of movement...so Mike was the perfect fit. He knew where opposing players were going to be before the snap, and adjusted the defense accordingly. What Montana did for the 49ers O, Singletary did for the Bear D. Based upon that, don't feel he has been overrated and rates among the best LB's of all-time.

 

[Sunbiz1]

To me he is the least impressive of the Bear HoF MLB's including Urlacher who I believe will get in as well. Small, in stature, did he job well because he had a great line to work behind. He was a product of that D unit as a whole. To me his best hit was v. the Rams in a post season game against Eric Dickerson I believe, he met the Ram RB at the line in either a 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1 and stuffed him. I was never that impressed with Singeltary and no, I would not compare him to Ray Lewis, Mike was never that dominant... Now if you want to compare Ray Lewis with Butkus, we can talk.

Butkus>Lewis...all day long.

 

[FirstTimer]

Its true. In another thread, I mentioned that Singletary is probably one of the most overrated players of all-time. I think Wilber Marshall was a better LB than Singletary, and had Marshall stayed with the Bears he would be in Canton. But Marshall went to Washington where he became more of a stay-at-home LB, and his hype kind of died down even though he remained a great player. Singletary didn't really need to have great range, because he had guys like Dent and Hampton at the ends and Marshall and Wilson at OLB. He just needed to plug the run, and Singeltary's body and abilities were a good fit for that role.

To add to this to defend Singletary a bit..he was likely the smartest guy on that defense and really controlled the 46 and later the Bears 4-3. Singletary aside from his powerful hitting didn't have one really amazing physical attribute that would test off the charts but he was incredibly intelligent from a football stand point and knew how to get both himself and his team in the right positions.

 

[Sunbiz1]

And he retired when he got too slow to cover a pass, unlike Lewis.

 

[policeman]

Dan Hampton and Steve McMichael- to answer the question posed in the thread title

 

[Bearly]

His preperation and willingness to spear.

 

[36bear]

His CRAZY EYES!!!

 

[Bones40]

To add to this to defend Singletary a bit..he was likely the smartest guy on that defense and really controlled the 46 and later the Bears 4-3. Singletary aside from his powerful hitting didn't have one really amazing physical attribute that would test off the charts but he was incredibly intelligent from a football stand point and knew how to get both himself and his team in the right positions.

This is why I found him so entertaining, aside from how he exploded through the ball carrier like no one else I've ever seen. I loved watching him barking at his players, shifting one guy a hair this way, that guy a hair the other way, communicating alerts and motions, talking shit...all as the snap count is being delivered by the QB. And...his eyes!