Super Bowl XX Is a Side Show for Jeff Fisher

It was possibly the only time in Jeff Fisher’s career as a punt-return specialist for the Chicago Bears that he left a football field untouched.

“We had a press conference today,” said Fisher from his New Orleans hotel Friday. “There were about 3,000 reporters. They had us all out on the field, lined up at tables by position. The quarterbacks were on the 50-yard line, the running backs were on the 40-yard line. . . . The media came over and started interviewing players. I sat for about five minutes and no one came up to me. So I walked into the locker room.”

It was hard to swallow for the five-year veteran who, last season, returned punts for more yards than any other player in the National Football League except the Rams’ LeRoy Irvin.

“There were about four other guys on the injured reserve who were also in the locker room,” he said. “We grabbed a taxi and went back to the hotel.”

After playing for the Bears for four seasons, the graduate of Taft High and seventh-round 1981 draft pick from USC will sit out--like he has all season--what will be the biggest game of his teammates’ careers: Super Bowl XX.

Fisher, 27, injured his ankle in a preseason practice while the Bears were using a practice site for the first time.

“I happened to find the only hole on the field,” he said.

“A week before we played the Vikings in week three, I had surgery. I was on crutches for three days and walked around in a cast for four weeks.

“I started jogging and was ready to play again in the 10th week.”

His only problem was that the Bears weren’t ready for Fisher, who last played against San Francisco in the 1984 National Football Conference Championship game. Chicago didn’t place any players on the injured reserve list, so there wasn’t a spot for Fisher to fill.

“We have the fewest number of guys in the league on the injured reserve list,” he said. “All but two of us are ready to play.”

That’s why Fisher will be eating his heart out today when his teammates take the Superdome field against the New England Patriots at 2:17 p.m.

Everything isn’t lost, however. Fisher will get the Super Money--$36,000 if the Bears win, $18,000 if they lose--and possibly an NFL championship ring (“If they give them to the injured reserve,” he said).

And he’ll at least be able to say he helped coordinate the NFL’s toughest defense against the NFL’s biggest surprise offense, the Patriots.

“I’ve been helping Buddy Ryan on the sidelines,” Fisher said about the Bears’ defensive coordinator. “I’m very important to him and, in that respect, that’s very important to me. It makes feel like I’m really part of the team.”

Ryan, who directed the Chicago defense to playoff shutouts over the New York Giants and the Rams, sometimes uses 11 defensive fronts and 13 pass coverages.

“Buddy’s defenses are based on certain personnel being used in certain situations,” said Fisher, who lives in Libertyville, a Chicago suburb. “He can’t keep track of who’s in the game and who’s not. He relies on me to let him know who’s in there. I also keep track of down and distance.”

For Fisher, that’s better than nothing.

“I’m not bitter at the organization or the general manager or the coach,” he said.

“And I’m not jealous of my teammates. There are 45 guys, no, there are 55 guys,” he said, remembering the injured reserve players, “who have made this team what it is and what it’s going to be on Sunday.

“I don’t feel sorry for myself. I’m excited to be here.”