Rank the Top 5 Bears Blunders since 2000

[Pegger]

Have to wonder how all this would have played out if George "Mugs" Halas Jr. hadn't died in 1979. He was the president/GM at the time. If he stayed in relatively good health over the years we probably wouldn't have known much about the name McCaskey. The greatest blunder may have been committed by Papa Bear himself. After 60 years of building one of the greatest franchises in the history of sports at the time, he left the team to his sister, Ed and her sons. It's understandable family was important to Papa Bear but it is interesting he left all he built to his sister. I assume he believed Ed would be able to take over the reins since he was VP of operations for 10 years before Papa Bear passed. Once Papa Bear died, Ed move on to chairman of the board and gave the reins to his son Michael, making him team president. This is basically where the McCaskey legacy begins. I would not give Michael much credit for the great teams of the mid 80's. Finks built the core of that team before he left. Actually, Finks left a much bigger footprint on the Bears teams from the 80's than any McCaskey, including Ed. Everyone knows what the Bears have accomplished since the 80's. Would have been interesting to see how the last 30 years would have went if Mugs didn't die and would have been running the team.

The content of your message was informative, but the formatting is a nightmare. I started reading, got up, got a coffee, then had the ability to fight through the block of solid text. IMHO you put a good amount of thought in your post. The odd return key would help that message be read by dummies like me.

 

[Leomaz]

The content of your message was informative, but the formatting is a nightmare. I started reading, got up, got a coffee, then had the ability to fight through the block of solid text. IMHO you put a good amount of thought in your post. The odd return key would help that message be read by dummies like me.

I believe Virginia Is Papa Bears daughter not his sister

 

[Leomaz]

Have to wonder how all this would have played out if George "Mugs" Halas Jr. hadn't died in 1979. He was the president/GM at the time. If he stayed in relatively good health over the years we probably wouldn't have known much about the name McCaskey. The greatest blunder may have been committed by Papa Bear himself. After 60 years of building one of the greatest franchises in the history of sports at the time, he left the team to his sister, Ed and her sons. It's understandable family was important to Papa Bear but it is interesting he left all he built to his sister. I assume he believed Ed would be able to take over the reins since he was VP of operations for 10 years before Papa Bear passed. Once Papa Bear died, Ed move on to chairman of the board and gave the reins to his son Michael, making him team president. This is basically where the McCaskey legacy begins. I would not give Michael much credit for the great teams of the mid 80's. Finks built the core of that team before he left. Actually, Finks left a much bigger footprint on the Bears teams from the 80's than any McCaskey, including Ed. Everyone knows what the Bears have accomplished since the 80's. Would have been interesting to see how the last 30 years would have went if Mugs didn't die and would have been running the team.

He left the team to his daughter Virginia who was married to Ed.

 

[Bust]

He left the team to his daughter Virginia who was married to Ed.

yah she promised not to sell the team. She kept her word. I wager the next person(s) it is passed down in her will may state same in the fine print.

 

[Leomaz]

yah she promised not to sell the team. She kept her word. I wager the next person(s) it is passed down in her will may state same in the fine print.

I’ve never seen the story of her promising not to ever sell the team……very interesting

 

[Ej63090]

Emery fucking up the Arians interview. I feel like him and Cutler would have been a perfect fit.

 

[airtime143]

1. Grossman and Orton getting brought back in 08.
I can forgive drafting the guy, but had they moved on instead of bringing them both back, Cutler never happens, the first rounders are never lost, and who knows who is on the bears at this point.
Even had they drafted a bust, we would have had another couple shots at it under our belt.

2. Hester as a #1

3. Trestman.

4. Fox.

5. Mack. Awesome player, but too much given up for him for such a mediocre team.
That is a move for a very good team on the verge of a super bowl.
He made an impact, but at the end of the day we all knew this team needed time and turnover to be legit contenders and at that point mack will be mundane, yet his cost will still be felt.

 

[SlickWilly]

I think trading Thomas Jones could be replaced with drafting Benson. Rbs are replaceable so they could have moved on from him when the time was right instead of paying him. Drafting Benson was premature and Benson was a fucking idiot though. Wasted draft capital

Also personally I I would put trestman and emery ahead of Olsen

When they drafted Benson, Thomas Jones still hadn't hit a 1000 yard season 5 seasons into his career. I don't blame them for taking Benson because Thomas Jones didn't do shit until the 2005 season.

 

[SlickWilly]

Trading for Cutler wasn’t a blunder, you don’t know what you have until you get him….. resigning him twice was a huge blunder.

You could say the same thing about Benson, which you said was a mistake.

 

[SlickWilly]

by popular request:

5 - David Terrell - 8th overall pick in 2001....

4 - Cedric Benson - This was a complete no brainer. They already had a good RB on the team (Thomas Jones) and spent the 4th overall pick for this dud. Wasn't a need and ultimately ended up downgrading the position when Jones left. In fairness Benson's career was decent when he was resigned by the Bengals, so not a complete waste.

3 - Dan Bazuin - 2007 2nd round selection that was cut before the season started. Never played a down in the NFL. Finding anything about him on the internet is actually kinda hard.

2 - Frank Omiyale (Oh-My-Fail) - After bouncing around on 2 teams in 2 years and getting one start the Bears offered him a 4 year deal with decent money at the time. Why?

1 - Honey Bears - This is a long standing item that predates 2000, but how can you go the past 20 seasons without brining back cheerleaders? It might be more accurate to have 20 straight entries for every year without cheerleaders.

As a reference point, here's how the Eagles introduce their Cheerleaders on an annual basis:

I really wish people would do more research on this. Thomas Jones was not good at the time they drafted Benson. Average at best.

 

[Chicagosports89]

When they drafted Benson, Thomas Jones still hadn't hit a 1000 yard season 5 seasons into his career. I don't blame them for taking Benson because Thomas Jones didn't do shit until the 2005 season.

I definitely didn't remember that. So that makes sense

 

[Caveroamer]

I'll take it further back. top 5 blunders in my life as a Bears fan.

1. the Fishbowl
2. Not letting Walter Payton run it in for the TD in the super bowl.
3. Kevin White/Cedric Benson/Shae McClellon (it's a tie here of 3 players drafted high who contributed jack.)
4. Rick Mirer
5. Trestman

 

[Caveroamer]

I tend to believe every bad personnel or coaching decision has its genesis with some on-field blunder that forces the Bears hand. The reason Marc Trestman and Phil Emery came around to terrorize Bears fans for two years was because the 2010 NFC Championship disaster. That basically spelled the end of Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo while also creating this impetus to be an outside the box organization as an antidote to the stodginess of Smith.

Yes. Trestman was a reaction to feeling lovie was too old school and conservative. John Fox was a reaction to Trestman's failures as an "innovator". A return to conservative and experience. Matt Nagy was a reaction to how that failed and trying to take a swing offensively again.

 

[SD Bears]

1. Trubisky. Monumental fuck up by Pace. Trading up from #3 to #2 to take him is an all-timer for not just the Bears, but the league as a whole.

2. Mel Tucker. Teams were consistently dropping 40-burgers on the Bears. It was the worst defense in the history of the organization. I still get flashbacks.

3. John Shoop. The offensive equivalent to Mel Tucker. I don't have the numbers but I can confidently say his regime produced the worst offense in Bears history. Shoop calling plays for Jonathan Quinn was unwatchable and vomit-inducing.

4. The Mistake by the Lake. Only the combo of Michael McCaskey and Ted Phillips could have looked at the new stadium plans and thought, "I like it - it's a great design. Let's do it."

5. Trestman over Arians. Decided by a fake press conference put on by Phil Emery. Emery lasted 3 years and is now a scout for the Falcons. Enough said

 

[Leomaz]

You could say the same thing about Benson, which you said was a mistake.

But we had a pretty good running back. We didn’t have a pretty good quarterback.

 

[Leomaz]

I really wish people would do more research on this. Thomas Jones was not good at the time they drafted Benson. Average at best.

Thomas Jones was a good running back at the time.

 

[Leomaz]

When they drafted Benson, Thomas Jones still hadn't hit a 1000 yard season 5 seasons into his career. I don't blame them for taking Benson because Thomas Jones didn't do shit until the 2005 season.

He did have over a thousand yards from scrimmage and showed he could be an every down running back. He showed that in 14 games in 2004 with 1375 yds from scrimmage

 

[PrimeTime]

I believe Virginia Is Papa Bears daughter not his sister

My bad, I knew she was his daughter. I was on a plane yesterday, babbling into my phone, passing some time.

 

[SlickWilly]

Thomas Jones was a good running back at the time.

No he wasn't. He was average at best. You're the fucking king of hindsight.

 

[SlickWilly]

He did have over a thousand yards from scrimmage and showed he could be an every down running back. He showed that in 14 games in 2004 with 1375 yds from scrimmage

Now switching the goal posts and using total yards from scrimmage just to get over 1000 yards.