New Pope Leo takes his pigskin seriously!

[True Dough]

Link to tweet

[sop]

1. Da Bears

[littlemissmartypants]

2. True, don't tease me like that...

He clearly said that the Chief's owners and that entire family are fascist Christian Nationalism freaks.

[True Dough]

3. Are you thinking of the

Arizona Cardinals, LMSP???

[littlemissmartypants]

6. Michael Bidwill has his own unique set of failings. ...

As a longtime friend and fellow Georgetown Prep classmate of Brett Kavanaugh it's understandable that he's been repeatedly accused of cheating, discrimination and sexual harassment. Maybe he needs Jesus. 😉

I miss football. Tho....

❤️

[rsdsharp]

4. If he's a Bears fan, he can't take football too seriously.

[True Dough]

5. Ha ha!

I'm no Bears fan, so I chuckled at that one, rsdsharp!

[ProfessorGAC]

7. You Can Hide Behind That Couch...

...but I know you're there!

[rsdsharp]

8. I ain't sceerd. I've seen you guys play.

Last edited Sun May 11, 2025, 09:27 PM - Edit history (1)

Has anybody ever explained to the denizens of Soldier Field that you can’t win in the NFL without a good quarterback?
The last really good one the Bears had was named Luckman. 😳

[ProfessorGAC]

9. That's A Silly Myth

Yes, it's been a long time, but we've had good quarterbacks since Luckman.
One won NFL championships during the Packer dynasty years, the other won a superbowl.
And yes, the fans know we need a good quarterback. The McCaskey's didn't., unfortunately. And they kept hiring GMs that longed for the days of the T formation.

[rsdsharp]

10. I'll give you Jim McMahon in 1985, though Da Coach ran him off.

I looked up Billy Wade, and was surprised. You’re right, he was pretty good. Not at the Unitas, Starr, Jurgensen level, maybe, but he was in a couple of pro bowls, and led the league in passing one year.

[ProfessorGAC]

11. McMahon Was Very Good In...

...'83, '84, '86, & '87, too.
But, his style kept getting him hurt. In '84 to '86, they won 41 games. And the winning percentage with Mac under center was better than the team's overall %.
You're Right, he & Ditka never saw eye to eye. The famous Rollerdome game proved that. Mac was hurt, didn't practice & Ditka had a hard rule of no practice no play. But, McMahon felt better on Friday and completely good on Saturday.
Fuller started. Bears were getting beat & the offense was lame. Mac starts bugging Ditka about seeing something out there.
To shut him up, he put McMahon in the game. In 6+ minutes, he threw TDS of 70, 25, & 38 yards & the Bears went out to a 30-17 lead.
Jim saw the field in slow motion. That was his greatest skill. He saw where the coverage would be & who would be open before anybody else did. Didn't have a fantastic arm, but was also pretty accurate.
The mn, Charles Martin essentially ruined his career. He came back to play, but that damage shortened his career.

[rsdsharp]

12. Martin's act was the most egregious thing I've ever seen on a football field.

I’ve seen harder hits, including late hits and out of bounds hits. I’ve seen dirty plays in the heat of the moment, but that was calculated to injure. It was so outrageous the officials picked up a late hit penalty against Jimbo Covert which would have offset.

A two game suspension wasn’t nearly enough. Jerry Markbreit should have carried through on his threat to let the Bears kill him if he didn’t leave the game.

[ProfessorGAC]

13. He Wore A Towell...

...with 4 or 5 jersey numbers representing the guys he wanted to hurt.
Forrest Gregg put him up to it; I have no doubt.

[rsdsharp]

14. That seems pretty out of character for Forrest Gregg.

[ProfessorGAC]

15. He & Ditka Hated Each Other

They both took the Bears/Packers thing too seriously.

[rsdsharp]

16. I don't doubt he disliked Ditka, and in a larger sense, the Bears.

That said, I’ve never heard anything about Gregg that would suggest such a thing. Lombardi called him the greatest player he ever coached.

Jerry Kramer said Lombardi’s “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing,” was only half the quote. The rest of it was “So long as it’s done fairly, within the rules, written and unwritten.” It’s unfathomable to me that a man who spent nine years playing for Lombardi, and who impressed the coach to the degree that he did, would order such a thing.

[ProfessorGAC]

17. How Many Packer Games Did You Watch In That Era?

They were a dirty team & had that reputation.
One didn't need to see them a lot to recognize that & I saw them at least twice a year, if not the late game of them & the Vikings or Lions, or Bucs.
You overestimate Gregg.

[rsdsharp]

18. You're welcome to your opinion. Unless you have proof, you libel Gregg.

Can you even show me one contemporary instance of someone in the NFL making that charge against Gregg?

[ProfessorGAC]

19. Not Necessary

I saw it with my own eyes.
I don't care if you don't believe me.
You've now turned a fun football conversation into a battle. Needlessly so.

There is this from a PACKERS website.

His next job brought him back to Green Bay to follow the failed nine-year stint of former teammate Bart Starr. Gregg succeeded in toughening the Packers a bit, but could do no better than Starr with an 8-8 record in his first two seasons. Once he cut quarterback Lynn Dickey in 1986, the team collapsed. The most noteworthy aspect of his Packer tenure was his 1-7 record against the Bears that was punctuated with several instances of dirty play. After two losing seasons, Gregg was fired again with a lifetime NFL coaching record of 75-85-1 His teams ran 48.5% of the time, which was 97% of the league average, and averaged 20 points per game on offense, while allowing 21 on defense.

[rsdsharp]

20. I agreed that Martin's conduct was egregious.

You attribute his conduct to someone else, thus defaming a dead man. When asked for proof, you say it’s not necessary, and then accuse me of causing a battle.

We’ll have to disagree. I’m not going to accept the trashing of a hall of famer just because you say so. I’m not sure what your quote proves other than the fact that he wasn’t a very good coach with the Packers, an assertion with which I agree. Neither was Starr. It doesn’t make either a headhunter.