Top Five Bears Tragedies: Part 4
The bears have been around for over one hundred years at this point, we've had many triumphs and many failures. As much as we celebrate our victories we also need to remember our failures. So here is part one of my top five bears tragedies.
MULTIPLE PLAYERS FROM THE BEARS' 1985 CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM FACED CHALLENGES LATER IN LIFE
The Chicago Bears of the mid-'60s to early '70s may have boasted stars like the aforementioned Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus, but as their Pro�Football Reference franchise history page shows, those teams weren't very good overall.�In fact, it wasn't until the mid-'80s that they once again became consistent contenders � the peak of this period, undoubtedly, came when the 1985 Bears defeated the New England Patriots, 46-10, at Super Bowl XX. Unfortunately, life away from football hasn't been kind (or wasn't kind)�to many of the top players on this championship-winning unit.
Walter Payton, the bruising running back ironically nicknamed "Sweetness,"�was just 45 when he died of cancer in 1999, and while he was a beloved player on the field, his 2011 biography, "Sweetness:�The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton" painted the picture of a flawed man who secretly dealt with depression and abused pain medication even after he retired (via�ESPN). Over a decade later, Pro�Bowl safety�Dave Duerson died by suicide at 50 in February 2011, leaving a note asking that his brain be studied for the possibility of CTE.�
It also hasn't been easy for the likes of William "Refrigerator"�Perry, the charismatic, touchdown-scoring defensive lineman, and Jim�McMahon, the hard-partying "punky QB" who was nonetheless a talented signal-caller for the Bears. Perry's health and financial problems have been well-documented through the years, while McMahon, who suffered a string of concussions and other injuries during his playing career, was diagnosed with early-onset dementia in the late 2000s (via
