So now we have Dent, Hampton, Singletary, Payton, and Covert in the HOF from that 80's team. I've always though Fencik should be under consideration as well. Still a tragedy for all Bear fans that they didn't win more than one Super Bowl. Never even got back to play in a second game. As time goes on I find myself blaming Ditka more and more for that as well as McMahon, who didn't seem to respect his body on or off the field.
Ditka bears some of the blame. He simply didn’t have the coaching chops to keep up with the Gibbs/Walsh/Parcels trio in the NFC, especially after Ryan left for Philly.
I think Charles Martin’s cheap shot in 86 had as much to do with McMahon’s continued health issues as anything else. That killed his 86 season and then he never played in more than 12 games in a season again for the rest of his career. Still the dirtiest play I’ve ever seen in an NFL game.
Another big factor was Finks leaving the front office after 1982 and then Jerry Vainisi leaving after 1986, followed by the Bears deciding bizarrely to just not have a general manager any more. These were the guys that built the team. Both left because of ownership meddling in football operations.
The loss of Finks especially hurt. He was a certified football genius who in addition to putting a good chunk of the 80s Bears together, built the Purple People Eater Vikings (he brought Buddy Ryan - Minny’s D-line Coach - over with him to the Bears) and then the Johnson-Jackson-Mills-Swilling Saints.