Statistically speaking, you could likely pick any full time starting NFL QB and say the same thing if you’re comparing then to past QBs. Hell, shitty QB Daniel Jones’ stats are better than Jim McMahon’s.
But I get your drift. The Bears suck at drafting and/or developing NFL QB’s. I hated hearing Pace’s idea of getting a QB every year. Then he drafts one in 6 years. Love it.
For the 2012 draft, the Bears were all-in on Jay Cutler (hee hee), trading to get his safety blanket Brandon Marshall and drafting Alshon Jeffrey in the 2nd round. They certainly weren’t looking for a QB in that draft. (Sorry, I just noticed the Bears used their first round pick on Shea McClellin. Bwahahahahahahahahahaaa!) Better than the Broncos, who drafted Brock Osweiler, and the Browns, who drafted Brandon Wheedon, rather than Russell Wilson.
The Bears are a lot of things, but racist at the QB position ain’t one of them. They drafted and started Vince Evans in the 70s and had a couple glorious Kordell Stewart years. There were plenty of critics of Mahomes and Watson before the draft, no one was talking about them as can’t miss prospects.
And while I take your point about comparing modern QBs to historic ones, I think my statement still speaks volumes. Trubisky sucks…a lot. And there were a lot of QBs putting up 3500-4500 yards in the 80s and 90s, it’s not like Trubisky would be in the top 10 of any team’s list not named the Bears, Browns or Jags. Well, maybe the Packers, Colts and Patriots…but that’s for a different reason.
Just looking through the list of players who played QB for the Bears. Some names I forgot about:
Doug Flutie
Chris Chandler
Dave Kreig
George Blanda
My favorite, though, is Mike Hohensee, who went undefeated with a passer rating of 92.1 and a 4 to 1 td to int ratio**. Better stats than a ton of Bears QBs.
**This was during the strike shortened 1987 season and Hohensee was a replacement player. Knowing that reminded me of Ditka’s anti-player stance during the strike and made me smile once again knowing how the Bears blew so many opportunities with that great defense in the 80’s.
You can berry-pick any draft to make any team look foolish, but over the long term their competence becomes more clear. The current Bears only have two first round picks from the last ten drafts who are currently active, productive players on their roster. That tells you a lot.
You’re being facetious, right? He was 2-5 in seven starts, with 7 TDs and 12 INTs.
And we’re now at 43 years without them drafting another black QB. And, in the 36 years since him, they’ve had 8 games starting a black QB. Out of roughly 576 games. And it’s not like they had studs like Brett Favre or Aaron Rodgers taking year after year of starts. They were starting guys like Rick Mirer, Craig Krenzel, Peter Tom Willis, and Steve Stenstrom.
And, again, I’m not accusing them of knowingly refusing to draft, develop, or start black QBs. Heck the Packers record could easily be even worse statistically. It’s much more of an unconscious thing. Of course, YMMV.
Some fun trivia. Mike Tomczak had a higher passer rating with the Browns than he ever did with the Bears. And with the Packers, his passer rating was higher in 4 out of 5 years he started with the Bears. Doesn’t mean anything, reallly, just fun to know.
It does tell me a lot. It tells me they trade away their 1st round draft picks a lot (for Cutler and Mack). It tells me careers in the NFL rarely go for 10 years. It also tells me that they’re not very good at hiring GMs who draft well.
So let’s count Mack as a successful first round pick. That makes three. Over the same time period, the Steelers have seven.
I fear I’m not being clear. I agree with you that the Bears are not very good at drafting and/or developing offensive players. Their recent track record with first round picks is pretty awful. I think the only difference in opinion we have is that those facts bother you and amuse me. Sorry.
No worries, I thought we were on the same page. My BIL is a Steelers fan and loves to get a rise out of me with stats like these. Not to mention their three head coaches in the last 50 years.
If it’s any consolation, my favorite player of all time was, and will always be, Walter Payton.
And … ::searching quickly around the thread for Airman Doors:: … Steeler fans are obnoxious as hell.
And the incomparable Henry Burris, Jason Campbell & Jake Blake. It’s not like there’s been a mountain of bad to mediocre black QBs for the Bears to try out that they bypassed. And there’s that whole Lovie Smith thing. As has be repeatedly pointed out, the Bears don’t really draft any QBs, black or white. I’m sure there’s some subconscious racism in the league still, but trying to single out the Bears is trying too hard.
I half-seriously attribute the Bears’ offensive woes over the last 30+ years to Walter’s Curse – the unforgivable breach in football karma created by Ditka’s failure to let Payton score a touchdown during their Super Bowl XX rout of the Patriots.
(If you’re just tuning in … Payton had always said his ultimate career ambition was to score a TD in the Super Bowl. The Bears only made it once during his career, and they were destroying New England. In a short goal-line situation, where it should have been a no-brainer to hand off to Payton, they instead handed off to 300-pound defensive lineman Walter Perry who had become a celebrity by scoring in such situations. Payton was far too classy to ever make a stink about that colossal snub, but the football gods are far less forgiving.)
I have a confession. I was a Bears fan. Hard to avoid when your Mom and Dad are both from Chicago (one from the West Side one from the South Side). So I was raised as a Bears fan, and absolutely worshipped Walter Payton, especially his 1977 MVP season. Then, around the age of 13, I got a bunch of books about the history of the NFL. I read them, and, with the coaxing of my Packer backer neighborhood friend, switched my loyalty. I loved that the Packers was owned by the community. I loved the history with Lombardi, Starr, and the Ice Bowl. And, in a small teenaged rebellion, it pissed off my Dad, so I became a Packers fan. I only regretted my choice once, in 1986, when Charles Martin’s cheapest shot in NFL history took out Jim McMahon. But I never gave up my love for Payton. And my hatred for Ditka for screwing him over. So I was thrilled that the Bears, thanks in large part to Ditka’s idiocy and ego, only won one Super Bowl despite having one of the greatest defenses ever.
In that era, when Forrest Gregg was the Packers’ coach, I was embarrassed to be a Packer fan. Not only were they not very good, but Gregg, in his enthusiasm for “tough” players, wound up, instead, with a team full of goons and felons.
I’ve contemplated doing the same. There’s a lot to admire about the Packers, and unlike many Bears fans I don’t reflexively loathe Green Bay. So I’ve asked myself, why continue to root for this endlessly frustrating team? Why not just decide to root for one that has its act together?
But I just can’t.
“Walter Perry” lol ok
Give the man the respect he deserves and call him Fridge.
Oh shit! William Perry.
(Please, Mr. Payton, it was an honest mistake! Don’t let the football gods curse me any more!)