The 50 Greatest Players in Chicago Bears History. Robert W. Cohen
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Название: The 50 Greatest Players in Chicago Bears History
Автор: Robert W. Cohen
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Спорт, фитнес
isbn: 9781493046997
isbn:
7 • Five-time division champion (1932, 1933, 1934, 1937, and 1943).
8 • Three-time NFL champion (1932, 1933, and 1943).
9 • Four-time First-Team All-Pro selection (1932, 1933, 1934, and 1936).
10 • Three-time Second-Team All-Pro selection (1930, 1931, and 1937).
11 • NFL 1930s All-Decade Team.
12 • #3 retired by Bears.
13 • Named to NFL’s 75th Anniversary Team in 1994.
14 • Number 35 on the Sporting News’ 1999 list of the 100 Greatest Players in NFL History.
15 • Number 19 on the NFL Network’s 2010 list of the NFL’s 100 Greatest Players.
16 • Elected to Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.
The centerpiece and unquestioned leader of the Bears’ defense for more than a decade, Mike Singletary spent 12 seasons in Chicago starring at middle linebacker, serving as team captain for squads that won six division titles, one NFC championship, and one Super Bowl. The second-leading tackler in franchise history, Singletary recorded more than 100 tackles 10 times, earning in the process 10 consecutive trips to the Pro Bowl, eight All-Pro nominations, and two NFL Defensive Player of the Year trophies. A member of the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team, Singletary also landed spots on the Sporting News and NFL Network’s respective lists of the 100 Greatest Players in NFL History and a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Born in Houston, Texas, on October 9, 1958, Michael Singletary experienced considerable adversity during his formative years. The youngest of 10 children, Mike lost two of his brothers by the time he turned 12 years of age, with one dying of smoke inhalation and the other in an automobile accident. Further burdened by the divorce of his parents, Singletary recalled, “My mom needed me to be the man of the house. She said life is hard but it’s what you make it. It’s all about those who get off the ground and continue to do right and pray and keep God with you.”
Developing a love for football at an early age, Singletary grew up rooting for the Dallas Cowboys, while honing his own skills as a middle line-backer and offensive guard in junior high school. Enjoying his play along the offensive line, Singletary recollected, “I really loved the trap play and getting the linebacker who had no clue where I was coming from. I liked using a low center of gravity at guard, and I carried that over to the way I played middle linebacker.”
Continuing to develop his football skills at Houston’s Evan E. Worthing High School, Singletary starred at middle linebacker for three seasons, expressing the satisfaction he derived from manning that post by saying, “It was the freedom to be able to make a big play anywhere at any time, as long as I was willing to hustle to get there. Being in the middle, I was able to see the ball and work on my vision and technique and mechanics. I was in a position where I could dictate where the defense was moving. I was going to put the defense in the best position.”
Mike Singletary anchored the Bears’ defense from his middle linebacker position for 12 seasons.
Courtesy of George A. Kitrinos
After studying film of Singletary in action, Baylor University assistant coach Grant Teaff offered him an athletic scholarship, recalling, “I looked at it for exactly four minutes, shut off the projector, and said ‘I’ll take him.’ On the first play, he smashed a runner up the middle. On the second play, he ranged to the sideline and knocked a guy out of bounds. On the third play, he got an interception.”
A four-year letterman at Baylor, Singletary recorded a school-record 662 tackles, with his exceptional play earning him All–Southwest Conference honors three times and All-America recognition in both his junior (1979) and senior (1980) years.
Selected by the Bears in the second round of the 1981 NFL Draft, with the 38th overall pick, Singletary arrived at his first pro training camp with defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan expecting great things from him. However, like any other rookie, Singletary found himself being treated harshly by Ryan, who referred to him only as “Number 50” during the early stages of his career. After slowly earning Ryan’s trust, Singletary broke into the starting lineup by midseason, after which he went on to start all but two of the team’s next 174 non-strike games.
Although the Bears compiled a losing record in each of his first two seasons, Singletary gradually emerged as a team leader during that time, calling all the signals on the defensive side of the ball, while influencing his teammates with the incredible focus and extraordinary level of intensity he displayed on the playing field. Nicknamed “Samurai Mike” for his aggressive style of play and passion for the game, the 6-foot, 230-pound Singletary discussed the approach he took to his craft, saying, “Hitting people has always been my style . . . I’m not tall, but sometimes small things are the most dangerous. It’s like a snake when it’s coiled. You don’t know when it’ll strike, and whoosh, it’s got you.”
Making an extremely strong impression on Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann, Singletary drew praise from his frequent foe, who said, “People say the eyes are the windows to the soul. Well, if you played opposite Mike Singletary, you saw everything that was going on in his soul because those eyes were just lit up—they never blinked.”
Theismann continued, “Nobody was more prepared than Mike Single-tary. I think two things make Mike Singletary unique—his intelligence and his passion for the game. Nobody played it with more passion than Mike Singletary . . . I can close my eyes today. I can see Richard Dent. I can see Mike Singletary. I can see Wilber Marshall. It was like chaos. Mike was the centerpiece of it all. Mike held it together.”
Theismann then went on to call Singletary “an extremely bright guy,” saying, “He had to be to play that kind of defense. God gives us athletic ability. What you do between your ears is what makes you a great player. That’s the area where Mike really excelled. Being able to get people lined up, knowing how to flow, how to run under blocks if you need to, how to take on a big 300-pound guard, shed him, and go make a play. And the intuitive nature of reading plays.”
After being named team captain in 1983, Singletary began a string of 10 straight seasons in which he recorded more than 100 tackles, leading the Bears in that category on eight separate occasions. In addition to gaining Pro Bowl recognition in each of those campaigns, Singletary earned All-Pro honors eight times, being named to the First Team seven times and the Second Team once. And, with the Bears fielding one of the league’s top-ranked defenses throughout most of that period, Singletary received much of the credit, being accorded NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors in both 1985 and 1988.
As Singletary established himself as the focal point of the Bears’ defense, he developed a symbiotic relationship with Buddy Ryan, with teammate Otis Wilson stating, “He knew exactly what was going on. That was Buddy’s guy. He was really a coach on the field . . . Mike was a student of the game. He studied six, seven, eight hours of film.”
Noting that Singletary’s hard work paid off, Bears safety Gary Fencik claimed that the СКАЧАТЬ