NEWSLETTER
Jim McMahon gets plenty of love from Bears fans of a certain age because of what he did as the quarterback along for the ride during the team’s Super Bowl XX championship run.
But even those who didn’t get to see McMahon at the peak of his powers dap him up because he has a way with words. McMahon’s honesty throughout the years has helped maintain his cult status among Bears fans, even years after he left the team.
And his latest rantings will cause quite a stir.
McMahon appeared on a recent episode of the FatMike Chicago Sports Show, sharing all sorts of saucy quotes with 1252 Sports.
For instance, McMahon showed some love for an arch rival.
“It was the best team, the best organization, of the seven teams I’ve played for, by far,” McMahon said of THE GREEN BAY PACKERS — where he played in 1995 and 1996 to close out his professional career. “From top to bottom, it was great people.”
When considering McMahon’s relationship with former coach Mike Ditka and the McCaskey family, McMahon’s praise of the Packers while burying the Bears isn’t a surprise. But c’mon, man. We’re not even two full calendar years removed from the Bears bringing him back into the fold for the centennial celebration. The hatchet should’ve been buried by now. But clearly, it isn’t.
It can’t be a Jim McMahon interview without him dragging Ditka.
Of his old coach, McMahon said: “He thought he was an offensive coordinator. … But he called plays like a tight end. He would send stuff in that was like, ‘Wow, where’d that come from?’ Thank God the guys in my huddle understood that I knew the game. That I understood the game, and understood what we were trying to do.”
McMahon had no love when discussing the Mitchell Trubisky pick, calling it “just a typical Bears draft move.”
“Wasn’t Mahomes there? Watson?” McMahon said, repeating the familiar refrain noting the Bears could’ve drafted Patrick Mahomes or Deshaun Watson. “There were other guys that they could’ve gotten. But that’s the Bears.”
We’ve come a long way since this:
Headbands are in again. pic.twitter.com/sS0PBStvC4
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) June 8, 2019
McMahon also believes (falsely, mind you) that Chicago could’ve snagged Trubisky in Round 3 of that draft. Could the Bears have waited? Sure. Could they have gone in another direction? Absolutely. But Trubisky had been given first-round grades throughout the pre-draft process. Playing the revisionist history game now is just a fool’s game.
The most pertinent thing McMahon offered was this assessment, which highlights Chicago’s quarterback conundrum:
“Chicago has always been known for their defense. Their defense and their running game. And that’s probably all they’re ever gonna be known for. I think it’s where quarterbacks go to die.”
For what it’s worth, McMahon isn’t wrong in pointing out the Bears’ calling card. Chicago has long invested in an out-dated formula of teaming an elite defense with a run-based ball-control offense. This isn’t to say a team can’t have winning football seasons playing this way. However, the game has evolved while the Bears haven’t. And that’s why the problems are what they are right now.
Alright, so … who does McMahon see as a possible solution to these long-lasting QB problems? Well, let’s just say he’s not the man to ask.
“I don’t know,” McMahon said when asked who they should take in the upcoming NFL Draft. “I don’t watch them. Don’t care.”
I reckon no one will be circling back to McMahon for his takes after the dust settles when the 2021 NFL Draft concludes.
This episode of the FatMike Chicago Sports Show was quite a trip. I’d encourage you to give it a listen.
