Devin Hester's TD ... then the Bears lose. (AP; Scott Strazzante / Tribune)
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- The last time I sat in this press box, I was convinced I would be writing a story for the ages impossible to put into words.
I am only a few seats down from where I watched Devin Hester return the opening kickoff in Super Bowl XLI 92 yards to give the Bears a 7-0 lead over the Indianapolis Colts and everybody in Chicago the false notion that something magical, historical actually was going to happen. It didn't, of course.
Long after Hester's return, for reasons that have haunted the Bears for three years since that moment, former offensive coordinator Ron Turner stopped calling plays for former running back Thomas Jones and -- as quickly as you can say trust me - the Bears became former Super Bowl contenders. The rest is history -- the kind that's been much less fun to record.
Trailing 19-14, the Bears had the ball and momentum facing a second-and-one at the Colts' 45 early in the third quarter.
Instead of taking the gimme and keeping hope alive, Turner called a pass play that resulted in a sack and an 11-yard loss. On the next pass play, third-and-12, Rex Grossman fumbled the snap and the Bears began the slow, painful descent into becoming a team it didn't want to be.
There are plays that stand out about every Super Bowl: Hester's return, Reggie Wayne's TD reception when the Bears blew a coverage, Kelvin Hayden's interception return for a TD when Muhsin Muhammad gave up on the play.
But that second-and-1 call is the one, three years later, that is every bit as memorable for the wrong reasons.
Riding over to Sun Life Stadium earlier today on the media shuttle bus, it struck me how fresh all those memories remain even though so much has changed about the Bears franchise in the past three years.
On that day in 2007, Grossman arrived for Super Bowl XLI on top of the football world: He was 27 years old and the quarterback of a team playing in a Super Bowl. Three games later, into the next season, he had lost his job. Ron Rivera was one of the hottest assistants in the NFL calling defenses for a young, aggressive bunch. He would be fired by the end of that month. Thomas Jones left it all on the field in the loss to the Colts, exemplifying the spirit his idol, Walter Payton, made the standard for Bears running backs. He was traded away to the Jets for draft picks.
This isn't brought up to scrutinize Bears front-office decisions that already have been over-scrutinized. This is simply to marvel at how fleeting success can be in the NFL, in any walk of life, really, and why moments such as the ones facing the Colts and Saints today will be celebrated and savored.
Peyton Manning and Drew Brees might play in more Super Bowls; and they may not. Jim Caldwell and Sean Payton may coach in other Super Bowls; and then again they may be two seasons away from their own hot seat. Can anybody really promise Pierre Thomas this isn't a once-in-a-lifetime experience? Nope.
All that really can be guaranteed is that at 5:28 p.m. CT when the opening kick of Super Bowl XLIV finally sails into the Miami sky, thousands of flash bulbs will go off to capture the moment.
And if the Colts are the kicking team, you also can bet they will cover the opening kickoff better than the last time they were here.
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Haugh, how can you write that the bear's front office has been overly-scrutinized too much for their bone-headed moves (i.e. trading Jones, firing Rivera). All bears fans should still be fuming about those front office decisions, including you to hopefully provoke the idiots that own the bears to finally do something about our lousy GM Angelo.
This article is worse than you supporting the idea that Soldier Field needs turf. Turf ARE YOU KIDDING ME! We're not a bunch a $%#$@@ like Minnesota. All football should be played on grass like they did in the old days. A little dirt never hurt anyone. Quit being a whimp Haugh.
it hurts to see the saints teams with most of the same players that got trashed by Bears in nfc championship 3 years ago now makes it to S.B. and beats the Colts team with most of the same players who beat the Bears in that rainy day in Miami where the defense was horrible and the offense played very strange.it hurts to see that Saints and the Colts stayed the course and did not try to fix what was not broken.but the Bears 3 years later are light years apart from them because the ignorant fans in chicago can not appreciate a good team and the bastards in media feeds on that fact and the retards in Bears front office succumb to these two groups.I mean how can Rex Grossman who outplayed Drew Breeze in that nfc championship be benched after 3 games the following season and Thomas Jones let go to another team for nothing.Chicago deserves having a looser footbal team until the team is sold to some one with a passion for football not for money.
David, what lost the Superbowl for the Bears against the Colts was on display yesterday in full blown color: blitzing the arrogant Payton Manning. Lovie(the so called guru of defense)choked when he was at the most important venue of NFL with the Bears and it was not the first time: he had choked before at the Superbowl with the St. Louis team when he was their defense coordinator.St. Louis had a great quarterback back then but,it was Lovie who was "taken-to- school" as it has been exhibited "getting done to him" so often with the Bears. What can validate his coaching resume?
Great article as usual David. I have to say it did seem magical and the bears did seem like they were meant to win.
I remember how crushing it was when we lost and how I vowed to hate the colts until the bears won a super bowl, and even though I said to all my friends I didn't care who one, something deep inside me wanted the Colts to lose and lose bad to the Saints so that I may find some redemption from that lose. I think I can finally lay that grudge to rest now.
And I remember how I saw all the little coaching problems we had during the year appear in that game. I said to myself at the beginning of the second half that the defense had to give payton another look to stop him but lovie's unwavering scheme got picked apart. I ron rivera at least learned from his mistake with the chargers. And let's not get into Rex's problems..
Despite your reassurance that this wasn't meant to spark up some controversy, on can't help but to think where we would have been the last three year if we kept jones, or fixed th O line, or kept rivera (although I'm pretty sure jones had a verbal agreement with the organization and wanted to leave).
As a die hard fan it hurts the most to see problems that seem obvious to you for years never address like: the offensive line and the secondary. And for moment it does almost seem like the owners are purposely hurting you, trying to rip your heart out. But no matter what you do you still keep tuning in, reading blogs and articles, watching horrible games, in the hopes that somehow it will magically turn around and get better.
Like the super bowl in one moment you could be on top of the world with your team, and just in the same moment you can feel like you heart was ripped out. Just think, the Saints fans are on top of the world right now but what about the fans for the Colts? They probably feel like we did our super bowl season, like the saints fans did when we knocked them out. Sometimes I wonder where would are bears team have stood in history if they won. Would they have been one of the best defenses in history? Would we be saying they were better than the 85 bears? Would we have had our second super bowl shuffle? And I wonder, especially now with reservation, if we'll ever be back. But there always is hope. Here's to next season...
This is perfect, i was about to make a post about how stupid chicago fans are and then the first poster is displaying how stupid they are for me. Lets just take what he said and add this, if the Colts were the Bears last night Chicago fans would be saying we need to fire everyone, clean house, are defense gave up 25 points in one half, are QB threw a pick to the house that cost us the game. Fire everyone clean house, OH WAIT ONLY BEARS FANS ACT LIKE THAT AFTER A LOSS THIS JUST SHOWS IT CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE, I BET THE COLTS DONT BENCH MANNING AFTER THIS LIKE THE BEARS DID TO REX. AND NOW EVERYONE HATIN ON CUTLER. I wish we had better fans, the house cleaning i would is with our 4th phase, the fans. Go ahead and hate im waitin....
AWW Haugh,
Why'd you have to bring this up???
I had the (EXCRUCIATING) experience of viewing this game on re-run the other(WITH teeth FIRMLY CLENCHED), LOL the outcome was STILL the same.
It STILL chaps my hide that if we just had a DECENT QB, Manning would still be Super Bowl less. It was almost "Comical" to see Rex Grossman- fumble snaps, trip all over the place and throw that dumb-dumb-dumb interception in the 2nd half. That play KILLED the team, it's momentum and embolden the Colts...
Another play that stood out was- The Bears had a 2nd and 1-. And Turner "split-out" the RB Jones, Rex lost a snap and the play went from a 2nd and 1, to 3rd and 12. Just a bad-bad-bad call on Turner's part.(why Lovie didn't dump Turner on that play call alone) was perplexing.