'85 Bears: On top of world -- and Mongo, Fridge

Last year, Rick Telander and Mike Ditka teamed up to write In Life, First You Kick Ass: Reflections on the 1985 Bears and Wisdom From Da Coach. The Sun-Times has been featuring excerpts each Sunday this season.

This week: Bears reach pinnacle, destroy Patriots in Super Bowl XX

After what seemed like years, the game finally started. Actually, it almost began, then it was delayed a little bit because of too much smoke from the fireworks inside the Superdome or something. Noise, screaming, cameras everywhere. Everybody was uptight. Even McMahon. We got the ball, and on the second play, Jim called the wrong formation on a weak-side slant, and Walter got hit just when he was getting the ball and fumbled. The Patriots recovered at our 19-yard line. Oh, this is a great way to start. This is perfect.

McMahon had had his butt shot up by team doctor Clarence Fossier, probably with novocaine and a little cortisone in there. He also was wearing gloves. Indoors. Help me. He told me he was going to do it. He'd worn them in the last two games, which were cold as hell, but here it's 72 degrees, maybe hotter. I said, ''Is that the right thing to do?''

''I get a better grip on the ball,'' he said.

''OK,'' I said. ''Do whatever you want.''

But when he came to the sideline now, I said, ''What are you doing?''

''I messed up,'' he said. ''I called the wrong formation.''

When he called a Slant 24, it should have gone left to the weak side, instead of to the right. Maybe he got confused for an instant by the numbers, because, see, I numbered even to the left and odd to the right, which nobody else does. That was from coach Landry. ...

But this is the thing -- our defense didn't let New England move forward an inch after the turnover, not a single inch, and the Patriots had to settle for a field goal from the same spot. Talk about character. We had become a whole.

And the rout was on.

We scored the next 44 points. It was an ass-whipping. Plain and simple. Everything we knew we could do, we did. I don't think I've ever been prouder of a game plan in my life. They keyed on Walter like we thought they would, so we used him in motion or flanked him or used him as a decoy and let Suhey carry the ball. We hit them with so many missiles it was unreal. The first time we got the ball back, we hit them with a 43-yard pass to Gault. I wasn't going to play it tight. I knew going in this was balls to the wall.

Butler had two field goals early, then Suhey scored on an 11-yard run. It was only 23-3 at the half, but we were killing them. They had minus-14 yards of total offense for the half. We were making them go backward.

In the third quarter, we scored two touchdowns to make it 37-3. Then we had the ball at their 1, and I sent in Fridge. He plowed it over to make the score 44-3. I'd already put him in to block once and also to pass. That didn't work, and he got tackled while still looking to throw. He is probably the heaviest man ever to be sacked.

Tony Eason, I'm not blaming him, but I think our defense was so relentless that he got shell-shocked. I think he started looking for the rush, for who was going to earhole him or hit his back or his knees or slam him, and he couldn't concentrate on routes or receivers. I mean, wow, he did not complete a pass in the game. He was 0-for-8, oh for the Super Bowl. Steve Grogan came in later, but it was history. We annihilated the Patriots 46-10. Richard Dent was the MVP, and that was a great choice. He represented that incredible defense.

McMahon played well after that first series, with two touchdown runs and 256 yards passing. He wore all of these headbands, too, looked like a street sign, but he was very clever about it. One said ''Plato'' or ''Pluto'' or something like that, for a friend of his, one was for juvenile diabetes and one said ''POW-MIA'' for the war veterans. Not that I was watching his forehead. But this, I found out later, was famous stuff. This was what got the media excited.

When it was over, when the final second ran off, I felt this incredible sense of relief. The hype and the buildup had been so huge that I just felt totally drained. I didn't even notice the guys coming to pick me up. Some players grabbed Buddy and hoisted him up, and two guys got me. Looking at photos now, I see it was McMichael with my right leg and Fridge with my left. It scared me a bit, to tell you the truth. I'd never been lifted like that before. My hips and legs aren't in mint condition, you know. But it was a great feeling, too. Two defensive players were picking me up, although Fridge was part of the offense, too, of course. As I recall, they were very gentle.

I'm glad I had fun with William Perry. I did the stuff with him because he was a good player, and I liked him. I was going to have him run for a touchdown, catch one and throw one. It almost worked. I probably would have let him kick a field goal, too. Nah, I wouldn't have. I wouldn't have let Walter kick one. There were limits. People said I told William, ''I made you a hero,'' but I never said that. We just had a good time, that's all.

But what I realized after the game, after we were champions, 18-1, and big shots of the day, was that Walter Payton didn't score in the game. And that bothered him. And because it bothered him, it bothered me. McMahon had two short touchdown runs. Perry had one. Suhey had one. Walter had none. I didn't plan that. That put a damper on things later. I asked Walter, and he said it didn't bother him, but it did. I regret not giving him that honor. But we had a game plan, and he was the whole reason it worked because wherever he went, the Patriots' defense went. Later I explained this to him. I don't think he ever accepted it totally.

I was sorry about Todd Bell and Al Harris not being part of that Super Bowl season. But they got bad advice. In life, that happens. And it was true that Richard Dent was underpaid at $90,000. And he should be in the Hall of Fame. But where else was he going to make that kind of money? And whether I'm right or wrong, this is about team. And we were a team. Who knows what would have happened if you go back and change a thing here or a thing there? Maybe if Todd and Al had been on the team we wouldn't have won. That's why you do what you feel you have to do, with what you've got.

It's cold and it's cruel, this life. But it's great, too. It's all there together.

Excerpted from In Life, First You Kick Ass: Reflections on the 1985 Bears and Wisdom From Da Coach by Mike Ditka with Rick Telander. It can be found in bookstores everywhere. The hardcover book can be purchased from the publisher by calling (877) 424-BOOK or online at www.sportspublishingllc.com.