97 Days Until Kickoff: 97 in Bears History
There are 97 days until Bears football returns to Chicago. The Bears have a historical history being one of the league's oldest organizations. Let's look back into history of #97.
Recent History: Willie Young/Nick Williams/ Mario Edwards-
Over the past few seasons, the numbers were passed between veteran pass rushers who all alternated in the rotation getting after the opposition. 2014-2017 Willie Young donned the number. Young surprised many during his time in Chicago by having the best play of his career. In his first four seasons with the Lions, Young only recorded 6 total sacks. During his four-seasons in Chicago, Young accounted for 26 sacks. 2018-2019 Nick Williams was the next to take on the number. Williams was a reserve and only started in 5 games in Chicago(all in 2019). Despite limited play time, he was able to record 42 tackles and 6 sacks. This was enough to earn him a 10 million dollar contract with the Lions where Williams would go on to start. The most recent to wear the number is Mario Edwards Jr. Edwards was the 35th overall selection in the 2015 draft. Edwards never quite found his footing in his first few seasons. Edwards impressed coaches recently earning a contract extension with Chicago.
2000s- Mark Anderson was drafted by the Bears in the 5th round of the 2006 draft. In his rookie season, Anderson only started 1 game but recorded 12 sacks, this was enough to finish 2nd in the DROY voting. After his tremendous rookie campaign, Anderson went on to start a majority of the games the next season but did not live up to his rookie season. Anderson would go on to only have another 9.5 sacks in his 5 seasons with the Bears.
