Interesting tidbit on Neal Anderson...would you have drafted him knowing this?

[Jeff George]

Everyone thinks Neal flamed out of the league because of the hamstring.

And while his best days were behind him when he left the game....turns out it WAS NOT because of injury.

8 years was his plan before he was even drafted by us...

He was great and yeah...I still would have drafted him knowing that.

What the Bears seemed to forget though was to plan for it. Ditka and Wanny did not draft or sign ANYBODY to groom that was worthy of being his successor.

I guess they thought he was bluffing.

http://florida.scout.com/2/366654.html#/2/366654.html

 

[Penny Traitor]

...oh my god...


Why do I keep opening your threads?!?


I need a twelve step program or a shock collar.

 

[malcore]

A 9 year old article on a player who retired over 20 years ago. Quite the revelation. I am shocked by Anderson's stubbornness, and would never have drafted a RB in the mid 80s at the end of the first round knowing he had no plans to play for more than a decade. What an asshole.

 

[policeman]

...oh my god...


Why do I keep opening your threads?!?


I need a twelve step program or a shock collar.

Slow time of year, summer reruns, training camp still a ways off, idle curiosity or sheer boredom draws you back to Jeff George threads time and again.

 

[Omeletpants]

Nice find. Thanks for posting it

 

[HeHateMe]

This was the most interesting and relevantthread I've read by OP in forever.

 

[Mongo_76]

What the Bears seemed to forget though was to plan for it. Ditka and Wanny did not draft or sign ANYBODY to groom that was worthy of being his successor

The Bears drafted a RB in every draft from 1987 to 1992.

 

[Jeff George]

A 9 year old article on a player who retired over 20 years ago. Quite the revelation. I am shocked by Anderson's stubbornness, and would never have drafted a RB in the mid 80s at the end of the first round knowing he had no plans to play for more than a decade. What an asshole.

Looks like we got a few posters who haven't hit puberty yet, so talking about past Bears just doesn't make it for them.

It's a Bears forum children. Meaning all Bears talk is fair game. Past and present.

 

[winterwarz]

This guy's right ^

 

[Jeff George]

The Bears drafted a RB in every draft from 1987 to 1992.

Yeah and they were some real studs...

Johnny Bailey
James Rouse
Mark Green

only Muster was memorable but he was the fullback.

 

[DMelt36]

Wasn't there a murder of one of his family members that had a serious effect on Anderson, too?

 

[malcore]

1. This was known from day 1 with Anderson. He stated clearly that was his goal early on.

2. If they thought he was bluffing, why did they choose not to re-sign him after the '93 season?

3.The "murder" DMelt is referring to was Anderson's dad being charged in the death of his girlfriend/fiancee in '91.

4. A RB aiming to play for 8 years in the mid '80s is not a bad goal, and shouldn't have deterred anyone from drafting him.

5. The "studs" in line to replace him in '94: Lewis Tillman, Robert Green, Tim Worley, Bob Christian and Raymont Harris. (Merril Hoge came here to die that year)

6. Anderson was a great Bear.

 

[malcore]

Looks like we got a few posters who haven't hit puberty yet, so talking about past Bears just doesn't make it for them.

It's a Bears forum children. Meaning all Bears talk is fair game. Past and present.

I wasn't expressing distaste for the subject matter in itself, nor was I saying you should not post it. I was criticizing for presenting old information as new. This is not a revelation.

(And if you didn't get it, I was calling Anderson an asshole, sarcastically, not you.)

 

[Omeletpants]

Anderson was a real departure from Walter, as great as he was.

Anderson was a slasher with an incredible burst of speed as he broke through the line of scrimmage. I thought he was just terrific. Given that Walter was so great for so long it just seemed natural that Anderson would replace him and for many there wasnt that massive let down when Walter retired cause Neal had been around a year preparing to take over.

 

[malcore]

Great ST player in his rookie year also. And didn't he play fullback for a stretch in Payton's last year? I will always remember the 80 yard TD against the Pack in '88, the first year after Payton left.

 

[Unannounced Fart]

I'll always remember him for the HB sweep that he was so good at. His speed around the corner was amazing. But yeah, he got fat and out of shape towards the latter part of his career.

 

[mecha]

I thought the dude's knee blew up. I remember the significance of that being they didn't have the technology to repair that then like they do now.

 

[Jeff George]

I thought the dude's knee blew up. I remember the significance of that being they didn't have the technology to repair that then like they do now.

Nah he had a nagging hammy the last 2-3 years there.

Thats whats cool about the article in the opening thread here. Most folks (myself included) thought he faded away because of the hammy. But his plan was to retire after 8 years. I never knew that.

 

[Jeff George]

1. This was known from day 1 with Anderson. He stated clearly that was his goal early on.

2. If they thought he was bluffing, why did they choose not to re-sign him after the '93 season?

3.The "murder" DMelt is referring to was Anderson's dad being charged in the death of his girlfriend/fiancee in '91.

4. A RB aiming to play for 8 years in the mid '80s is not a bad goal, and shouldn't have deterred anyone from drafting him.

5. The "studs" in line to replace him in '94: Lewis Tillman, Robert Green, Tim Worley, Bob Christian and Raymont Harris. (Merril Hoge came here to die that year)

6. Anderson was a great Bear.

Only Worley and Christian were there in '93 (Anderson's last year). So yeah...NOBODY was groomed.
They siigned Worley off the street shortly after the '93 season started and they realized Neal had nothing left.

Christian was a fullback behind Craig Heyward.

Ditka would've been smart to draft a RB high in '91 or '92 if he knew Neal was bailing soon.

I remember they were high on Darren Lewis coming out of the '92 season and then he just DISAPPEARED. Anyone remember what happened to him?

 

[malcore]

Only Worley and Christian were there in '93 (Anderson's last year). So yeah...NOBODY was groomed.
They siigned Worley off the street shortly after the '93 season started and they realized Neal had nothing left.

Christian was a fullback behind Craig Heyward.

Ditka would've been smart to draft a RB high in '91 or '92 if he knew Neal was bailing soon.

I remember they were high on Darren Lewis coming out of the '92 season and then he just DISAPPEARED. Anyone remember what happened to him?

But Anderson didn't just retire from the Bears with them hoping he would come back. He was an unrestricted free agent and the Bears did not offer him a contract.

But you're right, at that point the Bears as a team and an organization were headed for the trash heap. Wasn't Raymont Harris a 4th round pick after they picked up Tillman as a FA?

And wow, I forgot all about Darren Lewis:

"Despite his spectacular college career, Lewis' stock fell quickly after he tested positive for cocaine at the NFL Combine. He was selected in the sixth round of the 1991 NFL Draft (161st overall pick) by the Chicago Bears. Lewis was the only player to test positive for drugs at the combine, and Chicago general manager Bill Tobin said that he thought a different player had tested positive. Tobin considered not inviting Lewis to minicamp.[3]
After recurring problems and limited playing time, the Bears released Lewis in late 1993 shortly after he was involved in a domestic dispute. He played in 33 games for the Bears, starting five of them and totaled 431 rushing yards in his career."