Countdown to Kickoff: Wilber Marshall Days Until The Chicago Bears Season Opener

Wilber Marshall at SuperBowl XX (picture courtesy of ESPN.Go.Com)

We decided to do a countdown to the Chicago Bears season opener on September 8th versus the Cincinnati Bengals.  Thanks to one of our Twitter followers,se decided to combine the countdown with a roster preview of sorts.

Wilber Marshall played 12 seasons in the NFL and it sure felt like he played longer than 4 seasons in Chicago, but that’s all he played for the Monsters of the Midway. Playing for Buddy Ryan’s 46 defense and the Super Bowl XX Champs makes him a Bears legend even if his longest tenure was for the Washington Redskins.

Marshall was a warrior and had two of the best plays of that era on defense. The first was the hit he put on Detroit Lions quarterback Joe Ferguson here’s the NFL top 5 linebacker units of all-time video with the Ferguson hit about a minute into video.

The second play was in the 1985 NFC Championship when Marshall returns the fumble that was forced by Richard Dent for a touchdown in the snow to seal the win and the Bears Super Bowl ticket.

This seasons #58 is D.J. Williams who was signed to replace Brian Urlacher. Williams has big shoes to fill and will be counted on to be the middle linebacker for the new regime at a cap friendly price which Bears fans hope leads to another great defensive season by the Bears even without Lovie Smith at the helm.

Now that some time has passed how do you feel about Williams in the middle of the 2013 Bears defense?

Look for our Fantasy Focus #58 later today!