The Chicago Bears are one of the most historic NFL teams, with over a century of greatness within the franchise. There have been some dark days, though.
A part of Bears history that fans would like to forget is the late 1960s to early 1970s, when the team experienced a nine-season stretch where it was not over .500 in winning percentage in a season. This led to many coaching changes in that timeframe, but one was considered the worst of all time.
This man's hiring led to a miserable three-year stretch of losing season after losing season. The worst part about it is that he was a character on the sidelines that NFL Films loved. Too bad it wasn't a positive on the field.
Abe Gibron's story of hilarious moments, but more misery on the field
Former Bears head coach Abe Gibron played in the NFL for 11 years as an offensive lineman. He made four Pro Bowls and was an All-Pro selection three times. Gibron played for the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles, and Bears from 1949 through 1959.
That's why it made perfect sense for Gibron to be hired by the Bears as their head coach in 1972. Chicago was coming off a 6-8 record and hoped Gibron would be able to turn it all around.
Spoiler alert: it didn't. It was worse.
In three seasons and 42 games as the head coach, Gibron only won 11 games—his final record as the head coach was 11-30-1. Gibron's best season was his first in 1972, when the team went 4-9-1, if that tells fans anything about his tenure.
He would go on to leave Chicago after just three seasons. Gibron would land on his feet in 1976 as the defensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for two seasons.
Read more: Bears fans want these three nightmarish Aaron Rodgers moments to be forgotten
The painful memories of how poorly the Bears performed during Gibron's tenure as head coach are something the Bears try to forget, but the consolation is how great a character he was on the sidelines. He had an energetic demeanor that saw him cursing out referees and yelling all over the field (and even sometimes to the stands). It's behavior fans don't see in today's game (maybe except for Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni).
Gibron will go down as one of the worst head coaches in NFL history and as potentially the worst in Bears history. At least he created a lasting memory for fans with his wild behavior on the sidelines.