I was a kid living on the South Side when the Bears drafted a running back out of Jackson State, and he was a local superstar pretty much immediately. I kept wondering, "Who is this Walter guy? Is he the same as Walterscheid? And who is Eddie?" Anyway, I fell in love with the running back position, and fell in love with the Bears. When I played HS and a year of college ball, I was too fast (and too skinny) to play RB, so I switched to WR. Being a Bears fan back then sucked; the Bears were basically Walter Payton and a bunch of stiffs, so predictably the Bears weren't very good.
I caught what games I could when I moved away from Chicago, but still paid attention from afar.