Every day of the 2015 Chicago Bears season, Chicago Sun-Times Sports will revisit its coverage 30 years ago during the 1985 Bears’ run to a Super Bowl title.
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Will Packers nose out Bears for division championship?
Brian Hewitt
Originally published Aug. 12, 1985
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Alvis Forrest Gregg of Birthright, Texas, was madder than a steer with an ingrown horn.
In just two days his Packers would open their 1985 pre-season in Dallas with a 27-3 loss. And all around him evidence of disarray hung in the summer air like fresh manure.
Green Bay is a team many experts are picking to unhorse the Bears in the NFC Central. The Packers won seven of their last eight games in 1984 and averaged more than 31 points per game in the process.
But on this afternoon they stunk up their immaculate new practice facility, just across Oneida St. from storied Lambeau Field. Offsides. Dropped balls. Bungled reverses. That type of thing.
Child’s play
“We’ve been here now for almost three weeks,” said Gregg, pawing the ground with a foot. “And it’s time to stop doing childish things.”
Worse for Gregg that day, he had to tell reporters that quarterback Lynn Dickey had “muscle cramps” again and would not play against the Cowboys. Defensive end Mike Butler, back from the USFL, already had missed too many practices with a broken hand. And former all-Pro wide
receiver John Jefferson, a free-agent holdout, wasn’t even returning the Packers’ phone calls.
Earlier in the year a state Supreme Court ruling had guaranteed media access to the pending trial of wide receiver James Lofton and running back Eddie Lee Ivery, both charged with the sexual assault of an 18-year-old Milwaukee nightclub dancer. And Gregg had no assurances the judge setting the trial date wouldn’t wait for the season to end.
Then somebody told Gregg that agent Leigh Steinberg was in town to talk contract. Steinberg represents the Packers’ No. 1 draft pick, massive USC offensive tackle Ken Ruettgers.
Gregg got a mischievous look in his eye and said, yes, he planned to have Steinberg over for dinner. Somebody wanted to know what the main course would be.
Gregg, 51, paused for effect.
“Rat poison,” he spat. Two days later Ruettgers agreed to terms.
To be sure, the Packers have problems. But there are none in Green Bay comparable to, say, Tampa Bay losing defensive end Lee Roy Selmon; Detroit losing running back Billy Sims or the Bears losing valuable unity because of key defensive holdouts.
“Obviously we need to make our offensive line better,” says Gregg. “That’s why we drafted Ruettgers.”
Ruettgers’ size – 6-5, 275 – was the reason. Gregg’s two guards are 6-6, 289-pound Ron Hallstrom (described in the Packer media guide as a “monolith”) and 6-5, 280-pound Tim Huffman.
“Suddenly,” said one national magazine, “the Packers are collecting offensive linemen who can push-start a tank.”
The idea is to take advantage of new pass protection rules that make long, strong arms an offensive lineman’s biggest asset. And it’s a trend that probably will end the 13-year career of smallish and injured center Larry McCarren. Rich Moran, a 272-pound rookie from San Diego State is McCarren’s likely replacement.
Gregg and offensive line coach Jerry Wampfler moved Hallstrom and Huffman to the starting guard spots last year after three games. Sacks-allowed dropped from 32 in the first eight games to 11 in the final eight.
And that must continue for the injury-prone Dickey to be successful. Actually Dickey’s ailments may be overrated. He has started 31 of 32 regular-season games the last two years and thrown 57 touchdown passes in that span.
More germane is the question of Dickey’s mobility. “I have all the respect in the world for Lynn Dickey,” says Hallstrom. “But he’s just not a scrambler.” Randy Wright and former Giant Scott Brunner are more than adequate in reserve.
The anticipated loss of Jefferson shouldn’t be a problem. Philip Epps is faster and caught just as many passes as Jefferson last year. Rookie Walter Stanley from South Shore High School will probably be the No. 3 wide receiver.
Ezra pounds QBs
Defensively, the Packers are hoping right end Ezra Johnson’s back surgery will allow him to resume as their primary pass rusher. Butler will have to fight for playing time with 1984 No. 1 Alphonso Carreker at the left end slot. Smallish linebackers are offset by a defensive
secondary that is among the deepest and best in the league.
Distractions are the Packers’ biggest worry. “It has all the ingredients of a Sidney Sheldon best-seller – booze, an exotic dancer, professional football players,” wrote Wisconsin Supreme Court justice William Bablitch in an opinion dissenting his brethren’s decision to open the Lofton-Ivery trial.
But on the field, this year’s Packers have all the ingredients of a division champion.
