2017 NFL Draft: All-time top five Chicago Bears first round draft picks

Jim McMahon, 1982, #5 overall

Jim McMahon will never make it to the Hall of Fame. You won’t confuse him with Joe Montana or Dan Marino, two of his contemporaries. However, two of those three players have a Super Bowl ring, and McMahon is one of them. Additionally, he sure had as much fun as a player can have without winning multiple titles. In fact, he might have had MORE fun than the other two.

McMahon, also known as the “Punky QB”, made it his mission to do whatever he could to have fun in life. The most amazing thing about him is that he went to a Mormon school, BYU, and played professionally for a team stuck in tradition as much as the Chicago Bears. He ended up fighting as many battles against athletic directors, coaches, and front office personnel as he did against pass rushers.

When you think of the Bears of the eighties, you think of brash, trash-talking players with extra swagger. McMahon was the embodiment of that Bears attitude. His philosophy was that it didn’t matter what you did during the week, as long as you perform on the field. He didn’t care if you liked what he did or said, he was going to say or do what he wanted and if you didn’t like it, that was YOUR problem.

Of course, what made him a legend was helping the Bears win the Super Bowl. When you win titles in Chicago, you become a legend. When you do it with the flair McMahon had, you become larger than life.

In addition, he had some iconic games. Who can forget the game against the Minnesota Vikings in 1985? He spent two days in the hospital that week but made the trip to Minnesota. Head coach Mike Ditka refused to put him in, but with the team losing 17-9 in the third quarter and McMahon pestering him all game long, he relented.

After just seven passes, McMahon had THREE touchdown passes. He led the Bears to a comeback victory 33-24. Things like that just happened with McMahon around.