Jim McMahon was he good or over-rated ? If Mitch is healthy will be way better.

[mecha]

Got to know Jimmy little bit briefly during his time as a Bear. I worked at a restaurant/bar where he would regularly take his OL for dinner and show his appreciation to them. I loved the way he played with extreme confidence and treated his OL like they were royalty. Wish he would have not been injured. He could have been special. Terrible what he has become from all the vicious hits he took over the years.

that line WAS royalty. somewhere in my collection I have that poster of them still I think. those were just very well built teams. really sucks they couldn't capitalize on it, they could have been good for 4 championships if all the stars were in perfect alignment.

 

[cubby chubby]

that line WAS royalty. somewhere in my collection I have that poster of them still I think. those were just very well built teams. really sucks they couldn't capitalize on it, they could have been good for 4 championships if all the stars were in perfect alignment.

No doubt. Crazy they couldn’t have grabbed half a dozen SB’s with that group. The marketing killed them. Sad.

 

[richb688]

absence of a steady qb and a coach who was too conservative and could not adapt to the other team ended the bears

 

[Albert Flasher]

I think Ditka is getting a bad rap. He was the right coach at the right time. His head got fat later.

 

[Sculpt]

Got to remember too, when McMahon played those first 5 some years, the Bears did a ton of rushing TDs, because they could. So McMahon did not throw ton of TDs.

 

[oping00@gmail.com]

People forget he was 2nd or 3rd in the Heisman voting, was byu's all time passing leader when he left, he wasnt that tall , but had just enough mobility and arm strength to get it done. He understood how to run an offense, injuries though out his career derailed him and he was also handcuffed by Ditka 's conservative offense.

 

[benplace]

Jim McMahon went on the tonight show the spring of 86 and was asked who he wanted the Bears to draft in the upcoming NFL draft. His response? "Hell, I dont know, can you draft new owners?"

 

[Bearly]

His comeback against SMU was god like.

[video=youtube;b55Tn_YbLK8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b55Tn_YbLK8[/video]
Crazy, considering he was blind in one eye since childhood.


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Not blind. His iris was stuck wide open and needed the shaded mask because of it. His depth perception was fine.

 

[bamainatlanta]

Defer to Ommy, RS, FT and some of the old school posters. I was too young but every kid wanted to be Jimmy Mac in Chicago. I still remember his cameo in that gawd awful movie Johnny Be Good

 

[cjswan232482]

The Bears were so loaded I dont think even Cutler could screw it up. They made the NFC championship with Steve Fuller. Dan Hampton meant what he said.

 

[Toast88]

He's probably UNDER-rated. When most fans think of McMahon, they think of a mediocre serviceable QB who just happened to ride the wave of the most dominant defense in history. I actually think he's better than that.

 

[Rory Sparrow]

things people always forget that weren't alive or old enough in 85 or have forgotten:
1. Mike ditka was not a good coach. He loved steve fuller and wanted him to be the qb.

huh?

 

[Rory Sparrow]

Sport magazine, 85, I think, rated him the best WB of the year going into the year... using funky (at the time analytics). I still have the magazine, and the articles.

yeah, I have that same magazine. They had a group of 'experts' rate the starting QBs on subjective things like 'leadership' and 'arm strength'. This was during the 1986 season...McMahon somehow ended up with the highest score. Montana wasn't rated because he was injured at the time. I remember Dan Marino was in the midst of the greatest three year QB run in NFL history and wound up like 8th or 9th...one 'expert' said Marino had bad mechanics (I assume this person went on to work for Football Outsiders or PFF).

 

[mac bear]

yeah, I have that same magazine. They had a group of 'experts' rate the starting QBs on subjective things like 'leadership' and 'arm strength'. This was during the 1986 season...McMahon somehow ended up with the highest score. Montana wasn't rated because he was injured at the time. I remember Dan Marino was in the midst of the greatest three year QB run in NFL history and wound up like 8th or 9th...one 'expert' said Marino had bad mechanics (I assume this person went on to work for Football Outsiders or PFF).

Totally.

But regardless of the hindsight 20:20 thing (Marino in particular), it sure felt good to read and see.

I reckon, being young (even brandishing a Rozelle headband and Wayfarers for pickup games) this was my first full fledged homerism with citation to ‘back it up’.

Cheers!


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[Bearly]

Things people always forget that weren't alive or old enough in 85 or have forgotten:
1. Mike Ditka was not a good coach. He loved Steve Fuller and wanted him to be the QB. McMahon came in against the Vikings in a game the Bears were down by 2 TDs at half and lit it up. After that the fan base basically forced him to play McMahon.
2. The loss to Miami was all on Steve Fuller. McMahon was recovering from an injury and Ditka refused to play him. Steve Fuller got hurt in the 4th but there wasn't enough time to come back.
3. Stats are deceiving, Fuller won 3 games when McMahon was hurt that year, but, when Fuller was the holder for Kevin Butler, me and my brothers used to hope his hand would get kicked off. McMahon was not afraid to do whatever it took to win, remember the helicopter tackle? Those things don't show up in stats.

That's extremely revisionist. Ditka never preferred Fuller to Jim. Fuller played when Jim was dinged which was pretty often but also a lot more common for QBs back then. McMahon never wore a skirt.

 

[bufordht]

If they had just had Payton run the wildcat all the time could they have done more? Good enough arm to hit Gault deep, and imagine him with an extra blocker...

 

[Rory Sparrow]

If they had just had Payton run the wildcat all the time could they have done more? Good enough arm to hit Gault deep, and imagine him with an extra blocker...

Bears did that against the Packers in 1984...lost the game 20-14.

 

[Icculus]

If they had just had Payton run the wildcat all the time could they have done more? Good enough arm to hit Gault deep, and imagine him with an extra blocker...

Bears did that against the Packers in 1984...lost the game 20-14.

Also, the Niners made them look like a NAIA Team in the NFC Title game that year which pretty much put an end to the Payton as starting QB days (for good reason).

 

[Nail Polish]

He was smart but lacked arm talent

He did?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiQuRNKIAJg

 

[mac bear]

Such a block Payton lays down there too—and Gault. Man!

Thank you


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