The Pro Football Hall of Fame's enshrinement ceremony this August will have a heavy Chicago Bears presence.
That is because three of the seven inductees announced are former Bears.
Devin Hester, Julius Peppers, and Steve McMichael were recently elected to the Hall of Fame. Peppers is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, while Hester got in on his third try and McMichael made it as a Senior Committee finalist.
Jared Allen was also a finalist who did not get elected to the Hall of Fame, but he only spent 1.5 seasons with the Bears. His glory days came when he was with the Minnesota Vikings.
Hester is the greatest returner of all time. Peppers is one of the most feared pass rushers in the game. McMichael might be the most underrated defensive lineman to play the game. All three are getting the recognition they deserve. Hester and McMichael spent the majority of their careers with the Bears.
The Chicago Bears still have five long-time players who deserve to have a bust in Canton, Ohio someday.
Charles "Peanut" Tillman
Tillman changed the game with the way he forced fumbles with his famed "Peanut Punch."
That punch is now a technique taught across all levels of football. Tillman forced 44 fumbles using that move. He also had 38 interceptions and eight touchdowns.
Tillman made two Pro Bowls and an All-Pro team. He also won the Walter Payton Man of the Year award. Despite not having a ton of accolades, he was one of the better corners in the game when he played from 2003-14 with the Bears (he played one more season with the Carolina Panthers in 2015).
Calvin Johnson is considered one of the greatest wide receivers of all time, yet Megatron struggled to produce when Tillman covered him. One of Peanut's most famous plays was when he ripped the ball away from Randy Moss during Tillman's rookie season.
Tillman will have to wait until the Senior Committee reviews his career as he has yet to make it to the voting's semifinals. If former Packers great LeRoy Butler is in for the way he changed the game, Peanut Tillman deserves to be in too.
Olin Kreutz
He might be one of the best centers to ever play the game. He was a six-time Pro Bowler along with making the All-Pro first team once (he also earned a second-team nod during his career). He was named to the All-2000s team.
He started 187 games during his career. Between 2001-2010, Olin missed just one game. Kreutz committed just 66 penalties during his 13 seasons with the Bears (he played four games in 2011 with the New Orleans Saints). He did not commit a holding penalty between 2002-2005.
Kreutz anchored one of the best offensive lines the Chicago Bears ever had in 2006 with Ruben Brown (who also deserves Hall of Fame consideration) and Roberto Garza as the guards and John Tait and Fred Miller as the guards. That offensive line along with the Bears' defense got Chicago to the Super Bowl that season.
Jay Hilgenberg
This is another center that deserves induction to the Hall of Fame.
Hilgenberg was named to seven straight Pro Bowls from 1985-1991. He was also named twice to the All-Pro first team and made the second team twice.
Hilgenberg took over the starting job in 1983 and only missed two games not counting the 1987 players strike. He played in three NFC Championship Games and blocked for Walter Payton when he broke Jim Brown's rushing record in 1984.
He was part of "The Black-N-Blues Brothers" line (a poster every Bears fan hung proudly from 1985 until 1993) that won the 1985 Super Bowl for the Bears. Hilgenberg along with Tom Thayer, Mark Bortz, Keith Van Horne, and Jimbo Covert protected Jim McMahon and blocked for Payton during that magical run to the franchise's only Super Bowl victory.
Hilgenberg will need the Senior Committee's recommendation to become a finalist to be eligible to be voted into the Hall of Fame. Covert is already a Hall of Famer and should have his teammate join him.
Lance Briggs
Brian Urlacher was the superstar of those famed Bears defenses in the 2000s. It was Briggs who the defense was funneling the runner toward to make the play.
He played weakside linebacker in Lovie Smith's defense. That was the second most important position next to the three-technique defensive tackle to have those defenses operating at an elite level. Yes, Urlacher's running all over the field made the defense special, but Briggs helped make it work.
Briggs was a star in his own right with seven Pro Bowl appearances. He also was a first-team All-Pro once and made the second time twice. He gets overlooked because while he was a star player, he played next to a generational talent in Urlacher.
Briggs could fly around the field just like Urlacher and that is why those two were so great together. Briggs played all 12 of his NFL seasons with the Bears where he made 1181 career tackles. That puts him in the Top 40 all-time in that category. He played in a Super Bowl and two NFC Championship Games. He also made 170 career starts.
The man deserves to have his Hall of Fame bust and hopefully, it gets placed next to Urlacher.
Matt Forte
He only made two Pro Bowls, but when you see the players he is compared to based on his career production, he deserves consideration. Pro Football Reference has Hall of Famers Franco Harris, Curtis Martin, and Earl Campbell as some of the player comps to Forte. He is also compared to Eddie George and Fred Taylor who should be in the Hall of Fame someday.
Forte never led the league in rushing, but he was a dual-threat running back who kept defensive coordinators up at night. He ranks 30th all-time in yards from scrimmage with 14468 during a 10-year career with eight being played in Chicago.
In 2014, he caught 102 passes for 808 yards and four touchdowns. He also added another 1038 yards and six touchdowns on the ground that season. He did not make the Pro Bowl or get named to the All-Pro team that season!
He did make the Pro Bowl in 2013 when he had 1933 total yards. He rushed for 1000 yards in five of his eight seasons with the Bears. He never had a season below 1000 total yards except during his final season when he was with the New York Jets.
Forte is in the same boat as Tillman and Hilgenberg in that he will need the Senior Committee to review his career to get Hall of Fame consideration.
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