Bears’ Bite Is Worse Than Bark

When the Chicago Bears’ defense takes the field in a game, it barks. Like a dog.

Linebacker Otis Wilson was asked by reporters what kind of a bark it was. Was it a woof-woof, or was it an arf-arf?

Wrote Ira Berkow of the New York Times: “He said it was a woof. More of a woof.”

Wrote Alan Greenberg of the Hartford Courant: “He said it was an arf. Hey, anybody who knows anything about the Chicago Bears knows that they say arf-arf.”

Obviously, an interpreter was needed.

Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post passes along some of his favorite pre-Super Bowl quotes:

John Hannah, on facing William Perry: “I’m going to hit The ‘Fridge as hard as I can and hope that it moves.”

Pete Brock, on being impressed by the Chicago defense: “Don’t ask me to name names because anyone I leave out will be gnawing at my ankles in the pileups.”

Mike Singletary: “I certainly expect to see a lot of low scoring.”

Trivia Time: In what Super Bowl was the winning coach a graduate of the same school as the Most Valuable Player? (Answer below.)

Chicago Coach Mike Ditka told The Sporting News: “You know what George Halas would do if he were coaching this team? He’d take a copy of the ‘Super Bowl Shuffle,’ call a team meeting, then put it on the floor and jump all over it. But this is a different era. You have to be flexible. You can’t legislate like it’s still 1963. This team is loosey-goosey. But when it comes time to play, they’re ready.”

Add Shuffle: Steve McMichael was one Bear who objected to the making of the video.

Because it was presumptuous?

“No,” said McMichael who hails from Freer, Tex. “If they had done it to a country-western tune, I would have liked it.”

Add Ditka: Writes Skip Bayless of the Dallas Times Herald, noting that Ditka wasn’t exactly hailed as the next Tom Landry when he was a Cowboy assistant: “In reality, Jim McMahon runs Chicago’s offense, Buddy Ryan the defense, and Ditka serves as a genius of a motivator.

“Ditka is almost the team’s mascot--the guy in the Bear’s suit. He is the gargoyle out front, the snarling hood ornament for one big, bad machine, the rabid rabbit’s foot from Chicago’s championship past. Ditka should roar like the MGM lion before the ‘Super Bowl Shuffle.’ ”

Said Tom Landry when asked how the current Bears compared to the championship team that included such meanies as Ditka, Doug Atkins, Ed O’Bradovich and Joe Fortunato: “Those ’63 Bears make these guys look like pansies.”

From New England linebacker Andre Tippett, saying he respects the Chicago offensive line, which includes ex-Iowa teammates Mark Bortz and Jay Hilgenberg: “Basically, they’re all fighters. If I had to go into a shady area with them, I wouldn’t worry because they wouldn’t run out on me.”

The most memorable quote from Super Bowl XIX? Said San Francisco running back Roger Craig when asked what he was thinking as he scored his record third touchdown in the 38-16 win over Miami: “I was thinking I had just crossed the goal line.”

Trivia Answer: The 1970 Super Bowl. Head coach Hank Stram and quarterback Len Dawson of Kansas City both were from Purdue.

Quotebook

Former Chicago defensive back Doug Plank, who wore No. 46, for which the 46 defense was named, on how he played: “I went into a game with two goals. One, just try to knock somebody into next week, and, two, just make sure they weren’t looking when I did it.”