Saturday marks 50 days until the start of the 2023 NFL season, meaning that Chicago Bears Countdown to Kickoff continues today by examining the life, career, and legacy of the best player in franchise history to don the number 50, Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary.
Mike Singletary goes from Baylor Bears to Chicago Bears
Mike Singletary would eventually become synonymous with the Chicago Bears and the 46 defense, but his origins come from a completely different part of the country, but the same old Bears. The future Monster of the Midway hails originally from Houston, Texas, where he attended the nearby Worthing High School. There, Singletary exploded onto the scene as a dominant football player as early as his ninth-grade season, where he was named All-State after splitting time at guard and linebacker.
Following an impressive high school career, Singletary elected to accept a scholarship offer from the nearby Baylor University. During his college years, Singletary focused singularly as a middle linebacker and did so at an extremely high level. Despite being just about 6' 0" tall, slightly undersized for a linebacker, Singletary was a physical presence in the middle of the field.
As early as his sophomore season, Singletary etched his name into the Baylor Bears' history books, recording the most tackles in a season with 232. His career total tackles of 662 are also the school's record for most of all time. By the end of his collegiate career, Singletary had a case for one of the nation's best defensive players of all time. In four seasons, the linebacker was named to three All-American teams, three All-Southwest Conference selections, and his conference's Player of the Decade for the 1980s. Singletary also helped his team win the conference during the 1980 season.
Following Singletary's dominant collegiate career, the linebacker was viewed as one of the top linebackers of the 1981 NFL Draft. However, the Baylor great had to wait until the 38th overall pick for the Chicago Bears to finally call his name, making him the fifth linebacker drafted in the class (Lawrence Taylor, the first linebacker drafted, went second overall to the Giants). Nonetheless, Singletary joined the first-round selection Keith Van Horne in the team's draft class, a group that would eventually bring the franchise back to the top of the league.
Mike Singletary becomes heart and soul of Chicago Bears 46 Defense
As a rookie, Singletary was able to become a full-time starter by the team's seventh game. He finished his first season with one interception and an All-Rookie nod. In his second year, Singletary's season was kept to just nine games after sustaining a season-ending injury. Upon his return from injury the following year, Singletary, and the Bears' defense in general would go on a dominant run that would bring the franchise to new heights.
By his third season, Singletary had become increasingly more comfortable in defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan's unique 46-defense. As the centerpiece linebacker just off of the line of scrimmage, Singletary would often find himself unblocked up the middle, either as a rush defender or pass rusher. Subsequently, following the 1983 season, Singletary was named to his first Pro Bowl after recording five turnovers and 3.5 sacks in 16 games as a starter.
In 1984, the defense as a whole began to take the shape of one of the league's most legendary units. Previously, Singletary had the fortune to play alongside the likes of Otis Wilson, Dan Hampton, Steve McMichael, and Mike Hartenstine among the defense's front seven. Now, they were able to add Richard Dent into the mix, and the unit quickly shot to the top of the league.
At the end of the 1984 season, the Bears were the winners of the NFC Central and were the third seed in the NFC. The team made it to the NFC Championship, before eventually falling to the 49ers. Singletary finished the season with Pro Bowl and All-Pro nods after recording 3.5 sacks and two forced turnovers. As a unit, the defense was third-best in the league in terms of scoring.
Mike Singletary helps the Chicago Bears win their only Super Bowl
By 1985, the Chicago Bears and Singletary were on a path of revenge following their loss deep in the previous year's playoffs and were also able to add another starting within the front seven in nose tackle William Perry. Both the defense and their middle linebacker enjoyed the best season with one another, as the 1985 Chicago Bears not only went down as one of the league's best units of all time, but Singletary finished the year as the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year following a season that featured four forced turnovers and three sacks. He was also named to the Pro Bowl and All-Pro team following the year.
After finishing the season with a 15-1 record, the team entered the following postseason with a nearly insurmountable defense, and the unit, led by Singletary, stifled teams throughout their Super Bowl run, including the game against the Patriots itself. In Super Bowl XX, the Bears helped their opponents to just seven total rushing yards, the lowest in any Super Bowl ever. Throughout the season and the team's playoff run, the Bears' defense finished with 64 sacks and 64 turnovers, which are ranked first and second, respectively, in NFL history for teams who also won the Super Bowl.
Following the team's historic Super Bowl run, the Chicago Bears as a whole were unable to reach their highs in the postseason, but Singletary remained a dominant force at the top of the NFL. Dating back to his fourth year in the league in 1984, Singletary had an eight-year stretch of being named to the Pro Bowl and an All-Pro nomination, all but one of which was First-Team. After winning Defensive Player of the Year in 1985, Singletary repeated with the award in 1988, where he was also fourth in the league in MVP voting.
Singletary's dominant All-Pro run ended before his final year with the team in 1992. In his last season, the middle linebacker was still a Pro Bowl-caliber player and was voted as such for the 10th consecutive time. Following his 12th professional season, Singletary retired from the NFL and Chicago Bears in 1993. At the time of his retirement, Singletary had recorded 1,488 tackles, 19 sacks, and 29 total turnovers in 179 games.
Mike Singletary joins Hall of Fame as Chicago Bear
Following his retirement from the NFL as a player, Singletary remained very close to the game of football, both as a coach and via several accolades and awards. Just a little over a decade after stepping away from the Bears, Singletary joined the Baltimore Ravens as the team's linebackers coach. After two seasons with the Ravens, Singletary worked for the San Francisco 49ers, serving initially as a linebackers coach before eventually becoming the team's head coach in 2009.
After two seasons as head coach, Singletary was relieved of his coaching duties after the 2010 season. Since his head coaching gig, Singletary has worked for the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams as an assistant, as well as spending time coaching at the high school level and within other professional leagues. In recent years, Singletary has also served as a motivational speaker outside of his time spent as a coach.
Outside of his coaching career, Singletary has stayed very relevant within the world of football. Singletary was inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1998, alongside Anthony Munoz as the two first-ballot inductees. Just three years prior, the Baylor product was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He was not only added to the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame, but the school set up a trophy in his name given to the senior who "bring[s] honor to the school both on and off the field".
Whether it was for Baylor or in Chicago, it is hard to deny that Singletary is one of the best Bears of all time. As a professional, Samurai Mike was the heart and soul of perhaps the best defense in the history of football, and serving as the surrogate player of one of the best defensive coordinators of all time.
Singletary is one of many great linebackers to come through the Chicago Bears, following the likes of Bill George and Dick Butkus while making life easier for Brian Urlacher in the future. For his era, Singletary did everything you could have asked as the middle linebacker of a star-studded defense and then some.