Bears Trade McMahon to Chargers : Chicago Gets Conditional Draft Pick, End to Ditka Feud

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Quarterback Jim McMahon, whose feud with Chicago Bear Coach Mike Ditka overshadowed his on-field exploits in recent seasons, was traded Friday to San Diego.

He is expected to be in uniform for the Chargers’ exhibition game against the Bears in Chicago on Saturday night, but it is doubtful he will play.

“Ditka and I didn’t speak at all during training camp, and I figured something was going on,” McMahon said. “And I guess I was right.

“I’m very relieved. . . . I feel sorry for the rest of the guys who’ve got to put up with it.”

McMahon, who will turn 30 on Monday, was competing with Mike Tomczak and Jim Harbaugh for the Bears’ starting quarterback job this season after being plagued by injuries for the past five years.

He completed four of six passes for 47 yards in the Bears’ 28-20 exhibition victory over Miami on Monday night.

“We decided to go with the young quarterbacks. Jim McMahon is a starting quarterback and I couldn’t give him that guarantee,” Ditka said. “It was a tough decision. I don’t like to make those decisions.

“I wouldn’t say things had soured, but this was a perfect fit. They needed a starting quarterback and it’s an ideal situation for Jim. We’ll find out if it’s ideal for us.”

The Bears’ compensation is conditional, depending on the success of McMahon and the Chargers. It could be as high as a first-round pick in the 1990 draft or as low as a third-round pick.

McMahon cleared his locker early Friday after talking briefly with Ditka.

He said the coach told him: “We made a deal. We appreciate all you have done for us in Chicago.”

It was with McMahon at quarterback and Ditka as coach that the Bears won five consecutive NFC Central Division titles and the Super Bowl in 1986.

“Mike Ditka believes he can win with anybody,” McMahon said. “Look at the trades that have happened over the last couple of years--getting rid of the likes of Wilber Marshall, Willie Gault, Mike Richardson, Otis Wilson.

“He thinks his coaching gets it done; now I don’t have to deal with that anymore. I’m relieved.”

An indication that a trade my occur came when Ditka started Tomczak in last Monday’s exhibition with Miami and then said Harbaugh would start against San Diego.

Ditka said the trade simplified matters for the Bears.

“We now have two guys competing for the starting job instead of three. Yes, he could have been our starting quarterback. I’ve proclaimed all along that any one of the three could start.

“My feeling is he needs a change of scenery, a new coach,” Ditka said. “I think he’ll be happier. His health is fine.”

Ditka said the thing he will remember most about McMahon is the 1985 season.

“He backed up everything he said about the Super Bowl and went out and did it,” Ditka said.

The Chargers have sought a quarterback since Dan Fouts retired before last season. Their quarterbacks--Mark Malone, free agent David Archer and second-round draft pick Billy Joe Tolliver--were ineffective in a 20-3 preseason loss to Dallas last weekend.

McMahon said Coach Dan Henning told him he wouldn’t play Saturday night.

“But I told him I do want to get involved with the team right away. I probably will dress. . . . Maybe I’ll sneak my way in there,” he said.

The Bears drafted McMahon in 1982 out of Brigham Young University, where he set 71 collegiate passing records. McMahon became the first quarterback the Bears had selected in the first round since Bob Williams of Notre Dame in 1951.

McMahon was benched for two games during the middle of the 1983 season but after that he started every game when he was healthy.

McMahon had a 49-17 overall record as a starter and was 35-3 in his 38 regular-season games since the 1984 season.

He was, however, prone to injury. In the 11th game in 1984 he suffered kidney lacerations against the Raiders and missed the rest of the season.

He missed three games in the middle of 1985 but came back and led the Bears to a 46-10 Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots. He missed nine games in 1986, including a playoff loss to Washington.

McMahon played only seven games in 1987 because of various injuries but started the playoff game against Washington in a 21-17 loss.

Last year, he suffered a knee injury in the 10th game and was out until the playoffs. He did not start, but played late in the 20-12 fog-shrouded playoff against Philadelphia and started in the 28-3 loss to San Francisco for the NFC championship.