We don’t really have a bear season in central Illinois, but in January 1986, we came close. I count myself among the Chicago Bears fans who consider the 1985 team to be the greatest football team of our lifetimes. The squad was full of superstars and huge personalities, and they played a nearly perfect season with only one loss to the Miami Dolphins.
After shutting out the New York Giants (21-0) and Los Angeles Rams (24-0) to win the NFC title, the Bears were headed to their first Super Bowl, and the fans were thrilled. Much of the nation fell in love with a punky QB named Jim McMahon; the game’s greatest running back, Walter Payton; and a ferocious defense that devoured just about everything in its path. The Bears’ “Super Bowl Shuffle” song and dance became a sensation.
At the time, I was a junior majoring in journalism at Illinois. While I watched that phenomenal season from afar, I could not have predicted that the Bears would Super Bowl Shuffle on my own campus streets! Before heading to New Orleans for the game, the Bears were looking for an indoor practice facility to escape Chicago’s snow and freezing temperatures. Just a month earlier, the university had installed an air-supported bubble over the playing surface at Memorial Stadium, allowing the Fighting Illini a place to practice for bowl games and work out during the offseason. It was just what the Bears needed.
The team chose Jumer’s Castle Lodge in Urbana as its headquarters and arrived on January 15 with hundreds of fans surrounding the hotel and flooding the adjacent Lincoln Square Mall, hoping to catch a glimpse of the players. Security at the hotel was especially tight, with players and staff being the only people allowed through the doors.
I jumped at the chance to sneak into two press conferences with my little tape recorder just to witness the activity with the more than one hundred media members who followed the team to Champaign-Urbana.
Evenings were clear on the team’s schedule, so the players took full advantage of staying in a college town. Since this was before cell phones and social media, the community shared information by word of mouth, and soon enough, the hunt was on. It seemed like everyone spent those four days on continual “Bear Hunts” at the area watering holes and restaurants.
When folks found out that McMahon was on campus or Dan Hampton and Steve McMichael were in downtown Urbana, stampedes of fans trying to get a glimpse of one of the stars soon followed.
My roommate and I ran into William “The Fridge” Perry, who was out on a walk in Urbana. He was cordial but didn’t seem to want to talk. (It was an actual “Bear Encounter!”) We saw several other players in the bars, but it was enough just to watch and let them enjoy an evening out.
I’m not sure any of the Bears players had to buy a drink the nights they were in Champaign before leaving on January 18. It was a locked-in crew who were chasing history, and they must have gotten in some good practices, since the team went on to crush the New England Patriots 46-10 in the Super Bowl about a week later.
I can’t believe there has been a more exciting three-night period in the history of Champaign-Urbana than the time we were all on Bear Patrol.
This story was published .