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Chicago Bears: 30 greatest players in franchise history

By Conor Dorney

Walter Payton #34, Running Back for the Chicago Bears during his final game in the American Football Conference West game against the Los Angeles Raiders on 27 December 1987 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, United States. The Bears won the game 6 - 3. Visions of Sport. (Photo by Mike Powell/Allsport/Getty Images)
Walter Payton #34, Running Back for the Chicago Bears during his final game in the American Football Conference West game against the Los Angeles Raiders on 27 December 1987 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, United States. The Bears won the game 6 - 3. Visions of Sport. (Photo by Mike Powell/Allsport/Getty Images) /
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Dan Hampton, Chicago Bears
(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

player. 57. . DL. 1979-90. Dan Hampton. 7

Every good defense needs a strong presence on the interior of the defensive line and for the Bears in the 1980’s, that strong presence was none other than Dan “The Danimal” Hampton.

Hampton played his college ball under Lou Holtz at the University of Arkansas and was taken by the Bears with the fourth overall pick in the 1979 NFL Draft. His penchant for creating havoc on the interior made him one of the best defensive players in all over football over the course of his 12-year NFL career.

Like many of the major contributors to the Bears’ defense in the 1980’s, Hampton made an immediate impact as a young player. He was named to the All-Rookie team in 1979 and then nabbed Second Team All-Pro honors during his sophomore campaign in 1980. It wasn’t long before Hampton was a key cog in Buddy Ryan’s vaunted 46 defense.

Due to the sheer star power of the Bears defense during this time period, Hampton doesn’t get quite as much credit as he perhaps deserves.

After starting his career at defensive end, Hampton moved inside and was just as dominant, if not more. In fact, following his debut at defensive tackle in the 1982 season, head coach Mike Ditka remarked that he had “never seen anyone have a better defensive game.”

Luckily for Ditka and Bears fans alike, there were many more where that came from.

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