Devin Hester returns the opening kickoff of Super Bowl XLI for a Touchdown (Photo courtesy of Zimbio)
Super Bowl Week is upon us. The football world is descending upon New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII. It seems like just yesterday, the Bears were playing in the Super Bowl. No, I’m not talking about Super Bowl XX, the one that the Bears won. I’m talking about the other Super Bowl, the one that besides Devin Hester’s opening kickoff return, most Bears fans would like to forget.
It’s funny because that game was played just six years ago, but six years in the NFL is a lifetime. Just check out the starters from that game for the Bears and the Colts:
Starting Lineups
| Indianapolis Colts | |
|---|---|
| Pos | |
| Peyton Manning | QB |
| Joseph Addai | RB |
| Marvin Harrison | WR |
| Reggie Wayne | WR |
| Ben Utecht | TE |
| Dallas Clark | TE |
| Tarik Glenn | LT |
| Ryan Lilja | LG |
| Jeff Saturday | C |
| Jake Scott | RG |
| Ryan Diem | RT |
| Robert Mathis | LDE |
| Anthony McFarland | LDT |
| Raheem Brock | RDT |
| Dwight Freeney | RDE |
| Cato June | LLB |
| Gary Brackett | MLB |
| Rob Morris | RLB |
| Nick Harper | LCB |
| Jason David | RCB |
| Antoine Bethea | SS |
| Bob Sanders | FS |
| Chicago Bears | |
|---|---|
| Pos | |
| Rex Grossman | QB |
| Thomas Jones | RB |
| Jason McKie | FB |
| Muhsin Muhammad | WR |
| Bernard Berrian | WR |
| Desmond Clark | TE |
| John Tait | LT |
| Ruben Brown | LG |
| Olin Kreutz | C |
| Roberto Garza | RG |
| Fred Miller | RT |
| Adewale Ogunleye | LDE |
| Tank Johnson | LDT |
| Ian Scott | RDT |
| Alex Brown | RDE |
| Lance Briggs | LLB |
| Brian Urlacher | MLB |
| Hunter Hillenmeyer | RLB |
| Charles Tillman | LCB |
| Nathan Vasher | RCB |
| Chris Harris | SS |
| Danieal Manning | FS |
There are only a handful of players left in the league, much less still on the Bears. Only a handful of players remain from that Super Bowl team. Here are the Super Bowl XLI players that are currently on the Bears roster:
Patrick Mannelly
Brian Urlacher
Roberto Garza
Lance Briggs
Charles Tillman
Israel Idonije
Robbie Gould
Devin Hester
We hear time and time again that the Super Bowl window is closing for this group and that’s never been more evident than now. Of the guys that remain, it’s possible Urlacher, Hester and Izzy could be gone as the Marc Trestman era gets underway. Even if Urlacher comes back, he’s a shadow of his former self and his running mate Lance Briggs is still solid but he’s losing a step too. Charles Tillman seems to be getting better and better but the edge of the cliff is steep and you never know when you’ll reach the edge.
Life in professional football moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around, you could miss it.