It's all Ted Phillips...

[Aquineas]

Yeah this is ancient, so go ahead and "Ok Boomer" me. I saw these game highlights show up in my Youtube feed and took a stroll down memory lane:
1. Man the Vikings offense seems so much faster than the Bears defense. Take a look at the 2:10 mark, where Robert Smith basically just outruns the Bears defense for a touchdown.
2. I remember the Vikings having a very good defensive line back then, but I don't remember it being that good (or the Bears' line being that awful). Man that line looks horrible.
3. Was Harbaugh really worth a #1 pick back then?
4. You see a couple of flashes of talent with Neal Anderson and Curtis Conway, but not much else.
5. Seems like these teams, talent-wise, are a good distance apart..
6. Richard Dent was ready to knock Cris Carter out at the very end
7. The one thing that this team has in common with every other crappy Bears team I've ever seen is Ted Phillips. It's time to throw ol' Ted a nice sendoff party with a gold watch and send him downriver.

 

[DC]

Butthead dropping that pass...SMH. The crack about his nickname without saying it was hilarious.

 

[dbldrew]

Ted Phillips has nothing to do with building the team, that's all on Pace, Teds job consists of the business side of things.. like buying a 326 acre plot of land to build a new stadium...

 

[Visionman]

Ted Phillips has nothing to do with building the team, that's all on Pace, Teds job consists of the business side of things.. like buying a 326 acre plot of land to build a new stadium...

Was just going to say this.

 

[Penny Traitor]

1993 was just part of the systematic decline the Bears faced under the leadership of Michael McCaskey...so please direct your ire that way OP.

He totally deserves it.

I mean how bad do you have to be to get fired by your own mother???

 

[iueyedoc]

1993 was just part of the systematic decline the Bears faced under the leadership of Michael McCaskey...so please direct your ire that way OP.

He totally deserves it.

I mean how bad do you have to be to get fired by your own mother???

I doubt he cares much, being dead and all.

 

[Aquineas]

Yes, Michael McCaskey was running the team. But he had strong input from Ted Phillips. No GM has had full control of the personnel during the time Ted Phillips has been there; he's had a say in any and every personnel decision that's been made for the last 30-something years.

 

[Mighty Joe Young]

People who want Ted Phillips head on a pike won't get their wish until the bears sell the team which may actually now end up being sooner rather than later.

 

[Zvbxrpl]

Ted Phillips is just another boogeyman for meatballs to change up their ire/fear/frustration when blaming George/Virginia/Pace/Nagy gets tired and stale. There was a time where Phillips put his fingers in the pie/had influence over personnel decisions--but that ended when Wanny left.

Show me how Phillips forced Ryan Pace to trade up from 3 to 2 to draft Mitch. Show me how/why he facilitated the Mack trade. Or Cutler trade by Angelo/extension by Emery. Show me how he showed Alshon Jeffrey the door or forced Greg Olsen to be traded. Show me how/when/why of all the decisions Angelo/Emery/Pace made and how Teddy has his fingerprints all over the moves. You do that--and I'll supply the torches and pitchforks.

Except the problem is--you can't.

Furthermore--put yourself in the shoes of a businessman. Ol' sweaty Teddy started in 83, got promoted to Director of Finance in 87, VP of ops in 93 before President of ops in 99. In the 80s, the bears were worth ~300-350 million depending on the year you look at. Now they're worth an estimated 3.5 billion. Are you firing one of the key reasons for your organization to skyrocket in value?

No, you're not--no matter how much you may want to deflect and say franchise values were going up anyways, inflation/value of American dollar, or whatever nonsense reason to keep yourself from accepting that the bears are a business first, second, and third who love profits and typically rake them in even when the on-field product sucks balls.

 

[Penny Traitor]

In the 80s, the bears were worth ~300-350 million depending on the year you look at. Now they're worth an estimated 3.5 billion.

Pretty much boils down to this.

Ted Phillips is Team President because the McCaskey family trusts him with their money. Which in turn reduces the role of anyone in the McCaskey family with the team other than glorfied titles like "Chairman" that has literally nothing to do with the players on the field.

That is a bigger win than some people realize...or are we ready to go back to, oh say, 1993???

 

[Aquineas]

I hear you guys on the McCaskeys. My admittedly subjective instinct tells me that people are reading George wrong. I truly believe George legitimately wants to win, and not just for the sake of his aging Mom. He just happens to be too much of a gentleman to publicly undermine his generals.

 

[Anytime23]

The "Ted Phillips has nothing to do with football decisions" thing is just another anti-meatball narrative that has been pushed in recent years that simply isn't true. It's like when fans refuse to blame the QB when they lose games because it's considered a meatball take. Go back to when they had that EOY presser. Dive back into the podcasts from local shows and read the beat writers columns. This guy is involved. Maybe not in a big way but he is involved.

To say otherwise is just a ignoring reality because you prefer your narrative over the truth. How many times do you people need to hear "collaboration" before realizing that it's not one person who has trashed this once proud franchise?

 

[Zvbxrpl]

This guy is involved. Maybe not in a big way but he is involved.

You would think, nay--hope the team's president and CEO (or any organization's President and CEO) would be present when it comes to the state of the team at the end of the year and do communications for season tix holders and the public--which he does, but that's not what I'm talking about.

Show me how he ended up pulling the trigger on moves big and/or small and not Pace, Emery, and Angelo. It would have been all over the place if he did.

You can't.

You don't have to like the guy, but don't be willingly oblivious or a shitty contrarian to the fact Phillips doesn't make the final decisions on the roster and hasn't in some time. He's there because he makes bank, and he's pretty great at it because they're worth billions.

Pace, Emery, and Angelo just sucked when it mattered in an era where you need a great QB and they could never get the guy. You're just looking for someone else to blame because the going has been overall shitty for the past few decades.

 

[Bust]

People who want Ted Phillips head on a pike won't get their wish until the bears sell the team which may actually now end up being sooner rather than later.

Bears aren't selling. Stop it. Virginia promised papa bear not to sell the team. Rest assured it'll be in her will in bold print when she passes.

Besides they'd be stupid to sell with the new tv money coming in 2023. Three Hundred Twenty Six Million in their coffers before a single fan buys a ticket. WOW!!!!! ELEVEN YEARS EVEN!!! WOWx2!!! Guaranteed Cash Flow!!

 

[Anytime23]

You would think, nay--hope the team's president and CEO (or any organization's President and CEO) would be present when it comes to the state of the team at the end of the year and do communications for season tix holders and the public--which he does, but that's not what I'm talking about.

Show me how he ended up pulling the trigger on moves big and/or small and not Pace, Emery, and Angelo. It would have been all over the place if he did.

You can't.

You don't have to like the guy, but don't be willingly oblivious or a shitty contrarian to the fact Phillips doesn't make the final decisions on the roster and hasn't in some time. He's there because he makes bank, and he's pretty great at it because they're worth billions.

Pace, Emery, and Angelo just sucked when it mattered in an era where you need a great QB and they could never get the guy. You're just looking for someone else to blame because the going has been overall shitty for the past few decades.

He doesn't pull the trigger but he has input on if that trigger will be pulled and where the gun is aimed. That is being involved in football decisions. He was literally in the draft room when Fields was drafted. But im sure that's for season ticket holders or something.

This isn't about me liking him or looking for someone to blame. Stop acting like I have some kind of anti Ted Phillips agenda to push. I'm simply saying that him only being involved on the business side isn't true. He was an advisor in the hiring of Pace and Nagy. In the war room.

Once again, he isn't the final say on these things but he has input. That is what we call being involved in football decisions. If he wasn't then he wouldn't be advising. This is really simple stuff.

 

[Penny Traitor]

I'm simply saying that him only being involved on the business side isn't true. He was an advisor in the hiring of Pace and Nagy. In the war room.

This is true.

I don't want to give off the impression that Ted Phillips has nothing to do with football operations, I just think his role on that end is greatly exaggerated by the ones calling for his head.

He is a key figure in hiring the GM/HC combo, but has been really good about letting those two handle the rosters very independently since Angelo/Smith got the Bears to another Super Bowl...for good or ill.

(Like I wish he told Ryan Pace that trading up one spot above yourself is super dumb)

 

[dbldrew]

The "Ted Phillips has nothing to do with football decisions" thing is just another anti-meatball narrative that has been pushed in recent years that simply isn't true. It's like when fans refuse to blame the QB when they lose games because it's considered a meatball take. Go back to when they had that EOY presser. Dive back into the podcasts from local shows and read the beat writers columns. This guy is involved. Maybe not in a big way but he is involved.

To say otherwise is just a ignoring reality because you prefer your narrative over the truth. How many times do you people need to hear "collaboration" before realizing that it's not one person who has trashed this once proud franchise?

Except that George confirmed this narrative when talking to Waddle and Silvy. They asked him why not have a president of football operations, so there is a "football" guy in charge, and he said that is what Pace is. Pace is the "football guy" making all the football decisions.

 

[botfly10]

I forgot how back in the day they basically never showed the score

 

[Canth]

I am sure that Ted is involved in terms of overall budget and cash flow. Pace is the guy that makes the decision on how is going to spend that budget and cash flow. However, even saying that, I would argue that under George McCaskey, the Bears have been a lot more willing to spend money to try and win. Case in point: The expansion of Halas Hall. That was a major undertaking that allows the entire Bears operation from players to coaches to scouts to improve how they go about their business.

 

[Penny Traitor]

I forgot how back in the day they basically never showed the score

....and now they have this constant ticker of every stat and score from the game you are watching, every other game being played, schedule of games yet to be played and updated fantasy football rankings.

It's taken great effort to try to tune it out and watch the ****ing game.