38 years ago today, the Chicago Bears drafted a running back out of an obscure, small school in Mississippi with the fourth pick overall.  Who knew that when the Bears drafted Walter Payton back in 1975 out of little Jackson State, that he would become arguably the greatest running back of all time?  (more…)

Oct 1, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher (54) in action against Dallas Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant (88) at Dallas Cowboys Stadium. The Bears beat the Cowboys 34-18. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

While growing up in the south suburbs there was one thing I hoped for every Sunday right afternoon, and that was for my Dad not to hit any red lights on our way home from church so I wouldn’t miss any Walter Payton runs. The most disappointing Sunday ever was when we got home a little late from church and Walter was not running the football. After an entire series without seeing Walter run the ball (before internet and twitter) CBS finally ran the replay of Walter running into the ref and getting ejected from the game.

The other Bears story passed down from my Father was how he replaced Dick Butkus in the CVS lineup at both linebacker and fullback after Butkus graduated and went on to play at Illinois and oh by the way become the greatest middle linebacker of all time when he was drafted by the Bears.  My dad will not talk much about this to anyone but me and my brother will  always want him to tell us high school stories about Butkus and how mean was he even in high school.

Fast forward to today and I get to pass the torch of Chicago Bears football from father to son in Jacksonville Florida.  I’m bringing my youngest son to his first Bears game, and hopefully 20 years from now he will tell his kids about the day his Dad brought him to see Bears legends Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs, Julius Peppers and the Monsters of the Midway.  Hopefully he will ask me after a Bears sack of Blaine Gabbert who the best pass rusher I ever saw play, and I will be able to tell him about Richard Dent and the 85 Bears.

Granted I wish we were going to Soldier Field, but the Gator Bowl, AllTell Stadium, or whatever it is called today will have to do on this Sunday afternoon.  He is going to get the whole spectrum of a Bears game including tailgating (only root beers for him) and hopefully a big Bears win!   My son may will never get to see Walter Payton play just like I never saw Dick Butkus play but like my Dads stories of Butkus he can listen to me talk all day about Sweetness.  And in 20 years he will be able to tell his kids about Matt Forte, Cutler,and Marshall

I can’t wait for th 4;05 kickoff Sunday afternoon to see the Bears play and beat down Maurice Jones-Drew and the Jags, but it will be a great day passing on the excitement of a Bears Sunday to my son!

Look for us in Section 411!!!

DA BEARS!!!

Jan 26, 1986; New Orleans, LA, USA; FILE PHOTO; Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka (center) is hoisted by his team after defeating New England Patriots 46-10 during Super Bowl XX at the Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-US PRESSWIRE

This past week ESPN the Magazine put out the Debate issue, which featured many great sports debates.  .406 vs 56 straight games, Did Sonny Liston take a fall, greatest running back ever, no brainer–Walter Payton.  They also have a section for each states greatest sports moment as voted by the fans.  Michael Jordan’s Game 6 winner vs the Utah Jazz beat out the Fridge scoring a TD in Super Bowl XX for Illinois greatest sports moment. Since there have never been any great sporting events south of Cook County let’s just call it Chicago’s greatest sports moment (sorry Springfield, Carbondale, Champaign, etc etc)

Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls of the 90′s are the closest anyone from Chicago is ever going to know what its like to be a NY Yankees fan, but none of those Bulls moments can ever match or beat that of the 85 Bears winning the Super Bowl.  Maybe it’s that the team was full of characters from the Punky QB to the Fridge, or maybe it was the first Chicago championship of my lifetime(excluding the Sting NASL Championship), and the first one for Chicago in 22 years since the 63 Bears won the NFL Championship. The Super Bowl Shuffle could have been another factor, but the moment Coach Ditka and Buddy Ryan were carried off the Superdome turf and the scoreboard read 46-10, I knew that it was the best sports moment  I had ever scene.

Debating is fun especially when talking about championship teams, because no matter which side of the debate you are on, you really can’t be wrong.  There is a poll integrated in this post so  you can vote for greatest Chicago moment, and yes I even put a Cubs moment in their even though they haven’t won anything since I believe the Mayans were still wrapping up their famous swimsuit calendar!Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

DA BEARS

The greatest running back of all-time (David Boss-USPRESSWIRE)

Hello, Bear Goggles On readers.  My name is Keith Schultz and I have joined the staff here, and hope to give you plenty of information with some comedy sprinkled in.  Some quick introduction info for you.  I grew up in the south suburbs in a house full of Bears, Blackhawks, and Bulls fans with the battle lines drawn with my parents being White Sox fans while me and my brother have always been Cubs fans.  My favorite players growing up were Walter Payton and Michael Jordan.  I will argue with anyone that Payton was the greatest running back of all time, because he ran behind a horrible line for most of the early part of his career, and more importantly instead of running out of bounds he punished every would be tackler!

I have been a staff writer for Blackhawk Up for the past 6 months, and I’m excited to start writing about the Bears, their rivals, and helping give tips in survivor and confidence league picking.  It will be exciting to see if the Bears offense will be able to capitalize with all the new offensive weapons they have surrounded Jay Cutler with, and if Matt Forte and the organization will be able to come to terms, or will there only be 7.5 million reasons for Forte not to sit out the season.

I’m excited to join the team, enjoy reading any comments, and as always Thank you for reading!!

I’m on Twitter @OakForest72

NFL Films' Steve Sabol counts Dick Butkus among the greatest ever. (Photo courtesy of SI.com)

NFL Films’ Steve Sabol is sitting in for SI’s Peter King and gave us a glimpse into a new NFL Network special, The Top 100: The NFL’s Greatest Players.  Sounds a little bit like one of those VH1 I Love the 80′s specials, huh?

In the most recent Monday Morning Quarterback, Sabol named his personal list of  “greatest ever” players and counted three Chicago Bears among them.  Here’s the setup to the piece from SI.com:

One question I’m asked more than any other is: Who is the greatest player in NFL history? I can’t answer it. It’s like asking me to name my favorite noodle in a spaghetti dinner. It’s tough to name the top 10 players, even the top 100. But at NFL Films, we’re taking a crack at it anyway.

Airing in September is our latest project for the NFL Network called The Top 100: The NFL’s Greatest Players. The players were selected by a vote of 85 panelists, which consisted of Hall of Fame selectors, coaches, general managers, owners, scouts, journalists, TV analysts and statisticians. Ranking the great players is, in a way, like rating the saints. Is St. Peter better than St. Paul? Would you pick St. Mark over St. Matthew? Our show won’t end any arguments, but it will certainly start some.

This season will be my 48th filming the NFL. I’ve watched, met, known, filmed or interviewed almost every player in our Top 100. What follows is a personal list of thoughts and observations about men, not all great, who in one way or another made a lasting impression on me.

Let’s take a closer look at the three Bears Sabol counts among his greatest ever. (more…)

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I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything more from CBS.  They’re no better than any other national outlet when covering our little cow patch.  Chicago is a but a blip on a radar and a layover when jet-setting from New York to LA, so this LOWER THE BOOM goes out to CBS.

The Bears paid tribute to the legendary Walter Payton during halftime of Sunday’s drubbing of the Cleveland Browns on the 10th anniversary of Payton’s sudden passing back in 1999.  The Payton family, including wife Connie, daughter Brittney and son Jarrett along with Payton’s mother Alyne were on hand, as were former teammates Matt Suhey and Dennis Gentry.

Brittney, Connie and Jarrett Payton at Soldier Field.

So as the taffy pull by the lake unfolded on Sunday, what I looked forward to most was the tribute that the Bears planned for halftime.  But as the teams headed to their respective locker rooms to attempt to re-discover offensive football, CBS headed back to New York so the talking heads to blather on about the Bears-Browns and all the other games going on.

I understand that there are commercial sponsors, updates that need to be given, etc, but in the local market, couldn’t CBS have kept it live at Soldier Field so Bears fans not lucky enough to have a ticket to the game get a chance to see the tribute and share in that experience?

Fox had a freakin’ Favre cam for the Vikings-Packers tilt, where you could log into their website to see what Favre was doing the entire game.  No lie.  Couldn’t CBS have at least had a similar setup for halftime?  Couldn’t they have worked out a deal to let a local station break into their coverage?  Check out the video clip of the Payton tribute I pulled of the Bears’ website after the jump. (more…)

That dude ran with more heart than anyone playing the game today.  He wanted to deliver the blow on every run.  Can you imagine how many more yards he could have gained if he played behind the offensive lines that Emmit Smith did?

Post your Sweetness stories, memories and tributes in the comments section below.

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES WALTER!!!