Fire Ryan Poles | Fire Ben Johnson

For Bears fans living during that time, it was definitely a “where were you?” kind of moment.

Walter Payton succombed to bile duct cancer six days prior. The following Saturday, a ceremony at Soldier Field took place (all these years, I kept thinking it was at Lambeau since they were playing there the next day). I watched part of the ceremony from a small TV at a bowling alley. That time, there was a league for kids our age. I was 13. The Bears changed the 30-yard line with “34.” I thought that was cool.

The Bears were playing the Packers at Lambeau Field the next day. I can’t remember why I was watching the game on the 13-inch TV in the kitchen. The Bears were pretty shitty that year. The Packers were determined to make it back to the Super Bowl after two years. The Bears, well, just sucked as usual. And that game was no different. Cade McNown got hurt early in the game. Jim Miller stepped in and imitated Cade McNown. Hey, Miller was actually cool. He played better as the season went on before being suspended for some steroid that he claimed was over-the-counter. The Packers were having an off-day and the Bears kept pissing away opportunities if I recall. Regardless, for one of the rare times in the 90’s, the Bears had a chance to beat the Packers.

Favre was doing his thing by driving the Packers down the field in the final minute. Before that, shitty Bears kicker Chris Boniol missed a field goal that would have forced the Packers to get a touchdown instead. Even back then, everyone assumed that the Packers were going to get the field goal for the win. It’s what the Bears were known for doing and to this day, still known for. But on this day, divine intervention took place. We as fans finally got a break with this team.

Ryan Longwell, who was pretty much automatic, just had to make a 28-yard field goal.

Nope. Blocked by a legend known as Bryan Robinson. After the game, he said he didn’t know he could jump that high and that Walter lifted him up. Just an amazing moment. Bryan passed eight years ago. I remember making a post about him here after that. The dude ended up being one of my favorite players after this moment.

At the end of the season, that loss was vital in keeping the Packers out of the playoffs. If memory serves correct, the tie-breaker went to the Lions because of the division record. The Packers had two separate three-game losing streaks and Ray Rhodes got fired after just one season.

That’s the funny part. When the Packers have a .500 season (rarely by the way), they fire the coach. They don’t care if it’s just one season. The Bears on the other hand, all these years, .500 results in contract extensions and a press conference afterwards vowing that better times are ahead.

Oh well.

This entry was posted on November 7, 2024 at 12:20 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.