Miraculous overtime victories. A rumbling interception return. A look back at the 2001 Chicago Bears, an exciting — and unexpected — 13-3 team filled with characters, tough guys and special moments.
As legend has it, Jim Miller was asked during the 2001 offseason what he thought the Chicago Bears’ record would be that year.
Miller wrote down a prediction, and it was a sealed in an envelope and placed in the desk of Dean Pope, a longtime employee in charge of preparing film for coaches and the front office.
The Bears were coming off five consecutive losing seasons, and it looked as if it would be a year of transition in more ways than one.
Vice president of player personnel Mark Hatley departed in May in a “mutual” decision. Six weeks later, Jerry Angelo was hired as the team’s first general manager in 15 years. Surely, Angelo would be looking to hire his own head coach with Dick Jauron entering his fourth season. The team was preparing for its final training camp at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, and plans to rebuild Soldier Field at the end of the season had been finalized.
In Las Vegas, the over/under for Bears wins was seven — lowest in the NFC Central behind the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and, yes, Detroit Lions.
“I knew even before we went into the season,” Miller said. “Dean Pope and Dave Hendrickson in the video department, they said, ‘Hey, will you write down what you think our record is going to be this year?’ Jeff Joniak always laughs about it because Jeff was in there too. I said, ‘You guys don’t realize how good this team is.’ ”
Pope and Hendrickson, through a team spokesman, had vague recollections of the event, but it’s as if it happened yesterday for Joniak, who was just beginning his now-21-year run as the team’s play-by-play voice on WBBM-AM 780.
“It was during the weightlifting portion of the offseason program,” Joniak said. “That’s the story I have perpetuated. I’ve talked about it almost every year with Jim, and we have a good chuckle. Whether they remember or not, it’s burned in my memory. Whether it’s theater of the mind or reality, it’s a good story. That was a great season. There were so many good things about that season.”
At the end of the season, the envelope was opened and Miller’s prediction was revealed.
13-3.
“Exactly what we finished,” Miller said.
As the 2021 Bears wrap up their bye week, returning to work Monday at 3-6 and on a four-game losing streak with an offseason of transition possibly ahead, here’s a look back 20 years at what remains one of the most unexpected seasons of success and excitement in Bears history.
April-June: Offseason change — in the front office
In an unusually timed moved, the Bears announced they and Hatley opted to part ways on April 30, eight days after the draft and after the heavy lifting of the offseason was complete.
“The Bears deserve to be well respected by people within the league and media and public and the fans,” Ted Phillips, who was promoted to CEO and president two years earlier, said the next day. “I sense that hasn’t been anywhere close. We don’t have the level of respect that we need, in my mind. To bring in a strong football person will help solve that.”
Phillips and Hatley, who was hired in 1997, agreed talent on the roster had been upgraded and both effectively said it was time to move on as Hatley wasn’t going to be considered for the GM role. The Bears were 4-12 in 1997 and 1998, improved to 6-10 in 1999 and slipped to 5-11 in 2000 when they started the season 1-7.
Less than three weeks later, the Packers hired Hatley.
“I really liked Mark and I thought I had a really good relationship with Mark,” Jauron said. “Tried to talk him into staying with us, at least I gave it my two cents’ worth. We both knew that the pieces were there and after the drafts and that offseason, it was right there. I can remember us having that conversation. He knew it. He thought it was there too and it was coming. I felt really badly when he left.”
Hatley’s final offseason was highlighted
