Shawn Mackey (00:13)
All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to season number two, episode 23. Technically three episodes left today. Number 24, number 25 to get us through the football season. Chicago Bears, the Bears. Oh, my God, the Bears Packers game, the playoffs third time they've met this season. Bears now have officially won two of the three.

Thank goodness, because Ben Johnson's words could have come back to bite him in the ass. And you know what they say, karma is a bitch. And I'm very, very afraid for that for tonight's game against the Los Angeles Rams. First and foremost, the Bears first three quarters.

Boo, terrible, terrible. First three quarters, fourth quarter.

Little awkward. Why? Because the Bears outscored the pack 25 to six in the fourth quarter to take home the victory afterwards during the locker room kerfuffles and scuffles and whatever it is you do in your post game. Handing out game balls here, there and that Ben Johnson's caught saying, we why am I going to beat this out? We know what he said. Fuck the Packers. I hate them, man. That gets out.

Next thing you know, Packers fans are crybaby and boo hoo. We need to sign a petition. Ben Johnson needs to. He needs to apologize. You know, I'm pretty sure I think your quarterback at one point, Mr. Aaron Rodgers, said something similar, although he's not a coach players. Who do you hold to a higher standard? Players or coaches? That's the bottom line in the heat of the locker room.

Ben Johnson said what he said. Reporters are everywhere. Someone caught it, leaked it out there. He's not backing down from a good for him. But I was really ready to say like when the Bears just barely squeaked by and beat the Packers for in that second game in the regular season while the Bears were down, I was starting to say, hey, look, Ben Johnson, you know, you said there I.

I really enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year. Yeah, that was when you were with the Lions, but everybody understood what you said. And I thought, you know what? After the first game, you lost. was like, you know, karma is a bitch. Now there's no way you're going to beat him twice this year. Well, you you did. You beat him too, but you had to play three in order to get it done. But. Fuck, we need to see this team come out hot from the very fucking beginning.

And again, last week's episode was. ⁓ Defensively. And I said this on last week's show, Ryan Poles had already built the defense. These were the guys we were going to battle with. They should be there scheme wise. You know.

Looking at Jalen Johnson get beat horrifically against the Packers and man coverage. The dudes lost the step. Yes, I talked about this last week. He's coming off an injury, but

During that game last week, I was thinking maybe we do need to rebuild the defense again and clean house. All right. And then TJ Edwards goes down with an injury. We already know Noah Sewell's out. But then for me, something changes defensively. What changed? What could have changed? I mean.

T.J. Edwards goes down, DeMarco Jackson comes in. DeMarco's, you know, player of the week a couple of weeks ago. Pretty good defensively. I know I touched on this a little bit on a few episodes ago. The guy's a baller. I'm not saying DeMarco Jackson's the reason why that defense got it together. Maybe. Hell, all of a sudden, Dennis Allen had was like, ⁓ shit, this is what we can do. I mean. That's why I'm saying the whole.

I think we've got to kind of melt these two things together. Dennis Allen and the personnel out there on the field because you've got the personnel on the field. They can get the job done sometimes, but not all the time. They're not really dominating. Although the Bears lead the league and takeaways, Kevin Byard, the third is the interceptions leader, I believe, for the NFC, like with seven. There's a lot of takeaways on this team.

And so they get it done sometimes. Sometimes they don't get it done. And I know it's a cat and mouse game between the defensive coordinator and the opposing team's offensive coordinator. But. I just feel like Dennis Allen has these brain farts sometimes and.

He's just not getting it done. So I think when you have a defense that's kind of given up a lot of points every game, not really ranked very high in the league, you've got to that offense does has to come out. They do have to come out and. Start hot and quick and put points on the board. You can't get to the point where it was like last week, where it was 21 to three or 21 to six at the half.

Let me check and see to make sure I mean you came out. It was 21 to six, I believe at the half and then the Bears don't score anything in the third quarter. And then they outscore the Packers 25 to six. In the fourth quarter, as we know, to seal the late victory.

I thought you, could have run some more time off that clock, maybe scored that touchdown and not given the pack that opportunity at the end there, but things kind of fell apart for them on that last drive. I know that very last last play love fumbles the snap, then he's scrambling around and then he ends up throwing it right to the bears. And thank goodness it bounced off dude's chest and hit the ground.

Because I could just have absolutely seen that ball slip through his hands. I think it was in a Sean Wright, maybe slip through his hands and then the Packers player die for it and scoop it up before it hits the ground in the end zone for a touchdown. That that would have been absolutely brutal. But. ⁓

When you look at that bears game...

Oh, no, it was 21 to three going into the half and the Bears scored three. They kicked the field goal in the in the third quarter to make it 21 to six at that point. And then they outscore the Packers 25 to six in the fourth quarter. Somebody posted on Facebook said soon as the game kicks off, we ought to tell Caleb that we're down by 10 and there's only four minutes left to go in the fourth quarter and see if the guy can play hard and fast and keep doing what he's been doing.

As we're getting down to the end of this season, you know, tonight could be the last game next week's episode could be the last for this season in which we discuss our Chicago bears, except for maybe about the needs that we go into the off season. So no need to bore you with, ⁓ stats and rehash in the game. I again, thought I was going to end up in the hospital with heart palpitations, having to get up kind of late in that game on those last drives.

⁓ I told my friend, said, you know, I think I'm just going to turn the Bears game on in the third quarter. Why watch the first three quarters? Of course, my luck, they'd be, you know, they'd go out and start blowing the Rams out and it'd be like thirty five to seven or something. And I turn the game on and I'll have missed all the scoring. But hey, if they win, they win. They go to the NFC championship game. That's going to be a battle. Anybody who has to face Seattle, man, Seattle looked absolutely

beast like yesterday against the 49ers. The 49ers looked hapless all game long. That defense for Seattle, they are fast. They swarmed to the ball. They get all sorts of crazy pressure up the middle with their base front four. You know, then you start throwing in those blitz schemes. Holy cow. Anybody at plays. And I feel the same about Texans. The Texans got the Patriots later this afternoon.

And that Texans defense is freaking outstanding. And I'll tell you what, if it's the Texans and Seattle in the Super Bowl, that could be one of the lowest scoring Super Bowls that you see because of those two defenses. I mean, that game could literally end up like 12 to nine and all you get are field goals. They bend and they do not break. And that's kind of what, you know, in years past, when we had the Urlachers and the Lansk rigs and.

And those guys, you know, go back to the Super Bowl. I hate going back that far. It is the 40th anniversary. It would be fitting. Love to see it be like, ⁓ crap, the pack, the Bears and the Patriots in the Super Bowl on the 40th anniversary. That would be amazing. But great defense is when you championships. I know I spoke last week on, ⁓ when I played and we had a great defense and it was, it was, we were

We won nine and oh and 88 and then in 89. I think we lost the championship game We didn't have as great as a defense and then I think by 1990 we lost in the semi-finals saying we could never replicate and duplicate that defense Guys leave quit playing retired. They go to other teams where their buddies might be One of those deals, but you need a great defense So we'll have to see what the hell defense is on the field tonight when the Bears take on the Rams

I'm going say right now, Seattle's defense is, is extremely tough. Whoever they play in the NSC championship game, y'all better look out and, and prepare pack a lunch cause they're going to make the game. It's going to feel like you played two games. It's a long game. That defense is that tough. They started out hot last night, ran that kickoff back pun, ⁓ Pinero trying to do a slide kick thought he was playing soccer for a minute there, got the penalty. So, you know,

It is what it is. So I'm not going to rehash you with stats and statistics. I know I've been promising you. ⁓ My top 20 Chicago Bears, guys that I've seen play, guys that I feel played most of their career with the Bears or. ⁓

had a significant impact.

while they were with the bears. OK, so.

diving into this and I'm looking at guys and I'm like, man, these guys are worthy. These guys aren't worthy this, that, the other, and I've got my reasons why, but.

This is a tough one to come up with, you know, for me ⁓ to put the top 20 together. So again, I'm not letting the cat out of the bag. I'm not letting you know who I'm picking as of right now. I really at this point in two, two seasons into my podcast, I was really hoping by now I'd have feedback from people so I could ask you who would you put?

on your bears top 20 list and then maybe we could have social media interactions and then it would help me make my decisions and things of that nature. I think.

just going to dive into this here. I'm going to start and I'm going to go ahead and say this is my this is my guy. And here's what I'm going to also do. If I feel there were guys that were on a certain plane at the same level, you might get a twofer for one of those spots. So that's my way of being able to throw in a few more guys without necessarily having necessarily having to drag this segment on for.

too too long.

I'm going to hit you with I'm going to give this guy my number 20. He he was on that. And yes, you are going to find ⁓ some guys. Most of these guys are probably going to be on that 86 Bears Super Bowl winning team. mean, that was my senior year in high school. So that's. At my age now, it's not the halfway point in my life, but at that point, that's the most significant thing for me with the Bears.

But I also realized that as I was putting my list together and it's not going to be all guys from that era. So I'm going to hit you with my number 20 and I'm going to give this guy, he's going to be at my number 20 simply because a record that he held with the Chicago Bears while playing with the Chicago Bears.

a record he broke in 1995. And that record stood. Until the final game of this 2025 preseason and my number 20, my number 20 is going to go to that old central division. Well, it was the old central. I think at that time it was the central division. Now we're in the north, but.

to our old friend who came over and played with ⁓ one of our division opponents who when he, the bear signed him at the time. I don't think a lot of bears fans were happy about that because he came over from the lions, but I'm going with number 20.

Erik Kramer.

That's how we know him. We know him as Erik Kramer. He was born William Erik Kramer. All right. ⁓ He played in the Canadian Football League as well as the National Football League. He attended John Burroughs High School in Burbank, California, Pierce College. He transfers to North Carolina State University. Doesn't get drafted. Nobody comes a calling, right? ⁓

Did see some action in 1987 when he played for the Falcons as a replacement player during the strike. That's interesting. My cousin played for the bears during the strike in 1987. In fact, that's he, the semi-pro football leagues in Chicagoland folded because a lot of those guys went and played with professional teams during the strike. And that's around the time that was, I was a year out of high school.

As growing, had a little bit of a growth spurt. got a little bit bigger and my cousin was playing semi pro ball and he was starting to kind of talk to me and get me interested in playing. And then they disband the league because these guys, most of all the teams folded because guys went and played during during the strike with the NFL. And then by 1998, somebody 1988, somebody had I'd run into through my job.

was playing and kind of recruited me to go out and play. And that's where my career began. ⁓

Then he spent some time in the Canadian football league with the Calgary Stampeders. And then we know he went on to play for the Detroit Lions. He played in 13 games and for the Lions in 1991. So he goes on and he signs as a free agent with the Chicago Bears in 1994. He was there for five seasons.

And in his first two full seasons as a starter, 95 and 97, he was highly productive, passed for over 3000 yards. He became the all time Chicago Bears leader in single season passing yards, throwing for 3838 yards in 1995. This record stood for 30 years until it was broken by our Caleb Williams at the end of this season. So that's my number 20.

On the top, the top, my top.

my goodness. You ever have one of those moments or those days where you just struggling to speak? I cannot speak today. I do not know what it is. I do not know what it is. Holy crap. Now I'm putting a fat guy on the list. Coming in at number 19 for me on my top 20 all time Chicago Bears. I'm going with the ultimate of fat guys.

⁓ something that all of us fat guys aspired to be, well, not only a NFL player, but a decent NFL player for the Chicago Bears during our great Superbowl run. And he's a fat guy who scored touchdowns, was given an opportunity to throw for a touchdown in the freaking Superbowl. And I don't think he completed the pass. That's neither here nor there, but I'm going to let you in and say,

When you open the door, the light goes on. Now, if you remember that you're about as old as I am. My number 19 on my all time top 20 Chicago Bears is William Anthony Perry. We know we love him as William the refrigerator Perry. Here's a guy who comes to the Chicago Bears. He's drafted by the Bears. He's like barely six foot two.

but he's like 335 pounds. He's big. He's got the fat rolls hanging out and he's fast. I mean, there's a scoop in score. We saw him pick up. There's he, he got touchdowns in the super bowl that a lot of us bears fans feel Walter Payton should have had. Oh, but that's okay. Cause sweetness was a great guy. He was good with it. The bears won. That's all you need to know. Right? So, uh, William, the refrigerator, Perry plays at Clemson.

He's got a brother, Michael Dean Perry, I think his name was, who ended up playing in the NFL for a long time. So he was very extremely athletic. In high school, I was an offensive guard and a middle linebacker. As a middle linebacker, I had interceptions, I recovered fumbles. I did run an interception back for a touchdown that was called back on a clipping penalty, but...

Is a fat guy. You always want that chance to get the ball. Now, I was pretty good. I was fast, agile. A lot of times when we played our full contact, full tackle football without equipment, we were always playing other neighborhoods. A lot of times I always played middle linebacker. A lot of times I played fullback. Hand me that ball off. Let me run. Let me score. I'm going to take guys. I'm going to drag guys. I love to hit with. I played with reckless abandon. So.

I had good hands. I could catch a ball for a fat guy. So every fat guy dreams of getting to the NFL and he's in the trenches playing on the line. But then you call that one play. We saw that yesterday in the Broncos game. Oh, Crum, think his name was number 73. He reports in as eligible and Bo Nix hits him for a touchdown. Every man's dream. So coming in at number 19 for me.

is the ultimate fat guy, William the refrigerator Perry. Love me some refrigerator Perry. All right. So that's number 19 on my bears all time top 20 list. ⁓ Now this is where we get into.

I want to get a couple of more fat guys in there, you know what saying? And I do, I think I got some of the guys here. let's see, I'm coming in, where did it go? ⁓ I'm coming in at numbers 18. Numbers 18, this is a dual spot for me because I do believe that these two players are... ⁓

Kind of, I want to say that they're top leading scores at their positions for the bears. And I do believe they come in at number one and number two on that list, but.

I still like both of them. I like one more for his style of play and his grit. And I like the other one because there's some finesse with this guy. Right. So. ⁓

Well, you know, there's going to need to be a big space out here. Just edit it out. And I'm going at number 18. I'm going with two guys here. They are two kickers. They are two special teams, guys. I'm going with Robbie Gould and Kevin Butler. All right. Butler, once again, because he was on that Bears Super Bowl winning team. And quite frankly, again, that was a

big game in a big moment in my life that shaped me as a Bears fan. there's going to be the one face mask bar, Kevin Butler, and he'd go in and he was a chubby guy as a kicker. know, he was just like kind of remind me before we got the replacements with the Keanu Reeves movie, that kicker there coming out, got the cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Kevin Butler kind of looked or just. ⁓

Epitomized like I don't give a fuck. think at. Kevin Butler to the Bears in the 80s was like John Crook in the Phillies, and there's that famous saying where some woman criticizes him because he looks like he's fat and out of shape or whatever, you know, and she's like, yeah, you should be a better shape for an athlete. And he's like, ma'am, I'm not an athlete. I'm a baseball player, you know. So but football, you kind of got to be an athlete. But Kevin Butler, that guy and then Robbie Gould, Robbie.

Gould was just a beast for the Chicago Bears. He kicked in 166 games. His extra point percentage was right at 99. Or 99%. And I think Cairo Santos has kind of overtaken him now in his hundred games. He doesn't have the percentage there that Robbie Gould had. And you know, hell, Kevin Butler didn't even have

great, great ⁓ field goal percentage either. But the list for Chicago Bears, all time leaders and kickers looks like now it's. ⁓

Let see if I can pop this stat in here.

change this.

So these three are ranked by field goal percentage. Looks like Cairo Santos is number one. But lately here, Santos has missed too many kicks. I don't feel like I need to or want to put him on the team. Then you have Robbie Gold, Paul Eddinger, and then Kevin Butler. So Gould and Butler are number two and number four on the scoring for our list. But it just seems like those guys to me, when I watched them play,

They were kind of clutch and you know, they kind of did Robbie Gould dirty. I think it was something like a million bucks that they wouldn't give him. And he goes on to kick for like eight or nine more years in San Francisco. And a couple of years ago when he was looking or thinking about retiring, you know, I thought maybe the bears would pick them up again. But, ⁓ you know, that, hasn't happened, but you know, Cairo Santos now has been kicking he's six years with the bears. know, Robbie Gould was.

He was our kicker for like 11 years. And that's why dude is on my list, you know, as a special teams player. That's that's the category I'm putting them in. So right there, that was numbers 20, numbers 19 and numbers 18 on my list, depending on how the Bears Rams game goes this afternoon. If we.

We win that game and we're playing in the NFC championship game. We'll have some Bears highlights and recaps and then we'll get to number 17, 16 and 15 on the list. If the Bears get knocked out tonight, we'll finish the last two episodes of the football season, recapping the rest of the playoffs and finishing out our. Mackie shows top 20 all time Chicago Bears.

That's all I got for you this week.

We'll see you when we see you. Peace.