1985 Bears Coverage: Pro Bowlers miss out on parade

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.

Pro Bowlers miss out on parade

Brian Hewitt

Originally published Jan. 28, 1986

Their hearts were thousands of miles away; their minds thinking about the La Salle St. ticker-tape parade and the people with whom they wanted to share their freshly minted Super Bowl XX victory.

“It would have been nice to have been there,” said center Jay Hilgenberg. “That’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”

Instead, the Bears’ Pro Bowl contingent, minus Walter Payton, settled for Hawaii. Temperatures in the mid-70s greeted them when their plane landed. In three hours they would attend an NFC team meeting.

Head Bandit Jim McMahon wore a sweatshirt decorated with a smiling drawing of a quarter moon overlaid with a red circle and a slash – No Mooning. A reporter from Rolling Stone magazine tagged along for the eight-hour ride from Dallas to Honolulu that followed a 75-minute leg from New Orleans to Dallas.

On the first part of the trip, offensive tackle Jimbo Covert helped stewardesses bus trays. Middle linebacker Mike Singletary and strong safety Dave Duerson tried to nap.

But, Duerson said, “I’m too tired to sleep.” He had been partying with teammates until 5 a.m.

Super Bowl XX MVP Richard Dent listened to his headset. Defensive end Dan Hampton relaxed. But linebacker Otis Wilson, making his first trip to the Pro Bowl, was like a little kid when Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula singled him out for special congratulations. Shula was like a little kid when he introduced his son, David, to Covert in the first-class cabin.

The Bears were the stars of the show.

They are the world champions.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” Hilgenberg said.

Payton’s wife, Connie, sat across from Singletary’s mother and tended to Payton’s young daughter, Brittney. Brittney is teething. She was running a fever.

Payton will board a plane in Chicago today and join his teammates in Honolulu one day late. The game is Sunday at Aloha Stadium. Many of the players will stay on in Hawaii for extended vacations. “I may not come back until July,” Hilgenberg said.

Several Bears considered returning to Chicago for the parade before heading to the Pro Bowl. But the NFL requires them to be at a Pro Bowl “press day” this morning in Honolulu.