Days until first game - jersey #s

[G08]

I can't believe ya'll!!

[UOK]

To be fair, nobody mentioned Jordan Howard yesterday. I kind of also look at this list as an opportunity to point out lesser-known guys who had these digits.

[Otis Day]

Exactly.

[The Marshall Plan]

[Otis Day]

Stayin in the same lane, dimunitive RBs:

[docc]

He should be remembered..sad ending for a great player

[Otis Day]

DD was a stud. Loved that guy from ND on.

[Otis Day]

Cecil Turner, 1968-73, FL/PR/KR. He went to the Pro Bowl in 1970 as a KR after have 4 return TDs. This is still an NFL record. Those would be the only return TDs he would have for his career. Hester had 5 in his career.

[Otis Day]

The first #20 I remember, Joe Taylor. DB for the Bears from 67-74. Recorded 15 ints for the Bears. He was originally drafted by the Giants in the 15th rd in 67. He died in 2001 at the age of 61.

[Otis Day]

Gary Huff, one of the many awful QBs to play for the Bears. He started 22 games for the Bears from 73-76. He compiled a 5-17 record. He threw 34 ints and only 12 TDs He was the 33rd overall pick by the Bears in the 73 draft. He would finish his shitty career with the popsicle Buccaneers (2 yrs) where he would throw another 16 ints in only 6 games. Now that is what you call suck.

[Boris13c]

Gary Huff, one of the many awful QBs to play for the Bears. He started 22 games for the Bears from 73-76. He compiled a 5-17 record. He threw 34 ints and only 12 TDs He was the 33rd overall pick by the Bears in the 73 draft. He would finish his shitty career with the popsicle Buccaneers (2 yrs) where he would throw another 16 ints in only 6 games. Now that is what you call suck.

so I wonder how much Huff's "mint" card is worth? I'm guessing they have to pay you to take it

[UOK]

[Boris13c]

In total, only eight players have worn the number in team history: Gary Huff, Devin Aromashodu, Eddie Royal, Josh Morgan, Joe Anderson, Harper Davis, Carl Ford and Ray Stachowicz.

given that list, Aromashodu is the clear winner of best to wear the number

[docc]

Ah..Aroma De Shoe..
no longer on a teams roster..

[Otis Day]

TZAK!! Another in a long line of inadequate QBs. He benefitted from the staunch D the Bears had whenever he played. Example, 1986 he went 7-0 as a starter. During that span he threw only 2 TDs but had 10 ints. He was 21-10 as a Bears starter with 33 TDs and 47 ints. He was frustrating to watch. Threw a pretty ball, but too many times to the other team. He was just like the subsequent #18, Kyle Orton, a placeholder and a guy that benefited from a great D.

[Boris13c]

Kyle Orton ... I still maintain if the Bears had improved the team around him, they would have been a contending team for years ... his last year as a starter for the Bears showed plenty of promise IMO ... missed the playoffs by 1 game

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... i/2008.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[G08]

^ He was SO bad, Boris.

SO SO Bad.

[Boris13c]

^ He was SO bad, Boris.

SO SO Bad.

I disagree

he did a job as a rookie thrown into the fire that would have been admired by most teams, but of course since the Bears fans were still crying about losing Grossman, by default, Orton sucks ... which was unfair to the job and effort Orton provided

and if developed as most teams would do, he would have been fine with an improved supporting cast

I hope the current staff is improved in the QB development department, or in 3 years time, you'll be talking about Trubisky in the same manner you talk about Orton, and the newest latest and greatest QB draft pick will be in the hopper to be ruined and disparaged

[UOK]

I would describe Orton as "serviceable." He was a conservative game manager who followed orders and never improvised. He could take a hit and get back up; he was rarely injured. He couldn't run a complex offense and he had no deep ball to his game, so the playbook was limited and turnover opportunities were few.

He was a Bears fan's wet dream, in other words.

[wab]

God... UOK's epic Orton post back on the "other" site was one of my favorite things ever.

[UOK]

God... UOK's epic Orton post back on the "other" site was one of my favorite things ever.

Was it the magazine? Here you go.

Oct. 4th 2007 UOK Magazine

SMOKEY RIDGE, WV- I moseyed along the edge of the practice field watching the Bears go through their practice routine. The receivers jogged out their patterns, linemen were on collision courses with a tackling sled, coaches weaving in and out, blowing whistles and talking to players over water. The scene appears to be pretty standard fare, but there's one particular player who stands out among the rest: quarterback Kyle Orton.

Orton, 24, hasn't seen much action lately. Not since the 2005 season when he was part of an 11-5 Bears team that won the NFC North. Since then, he's had a year and a half to get acquainted with the bench and has received very little playing time.



As I caught up with Kyle, he revealed to me that his career was on it's wane. "I'm retiring after this season," he murmured through his long and whispy beard. "The game is fun, that's not a question. But I'm destined for other things."

Things, he says, like the Smokey Pole Mountain in Chutgut, West Virginia. Orton spends every summer there, trapping and spending quality time with his dog Shooter. "I find a lot of peace and solitude on Smokey Pole," says the former Purdue star. "Plus I can poop on the ground and stuff."



[Orton and Shooter on a mountain retreat circa summer 2004]

Teammates have noticed a change in Orton, especially his ever-growing facial hair. Center Patrick Mannelly isn't surprised. "We've been watching his beard get longer and longer every day. It's sick...it's cool to watch him drop back to pass, because he looks like God from the one painting, all blowing in the wind, pretty sick." Defensive coach Bob Babich pointed out that Orton's beard has saved lives. "There was a baby bird that had fallen out of it's nest. Kyle scooped the little guy up, popped it into his beard, and the damn thing grew up big and strong. Hell, it might still be in there."

Kyle doesn't mind the comments or criticism of his beard, now almost Santa-Claus-like in girth. "It provides essential warmth against the cold, not only of a Chicago winter, but of the frost nights spend huddling against a fire on a frozen mountain." There have been internet myths spread around on the web, the most popular being that Orton's beard has eaten a prostitute, others citing the beard as being the burial site of Jimmy Hoffa.

I let Orton go back to practice. He casually lopes a spiral down the field, and it caromes off of the stone hands of Bernard Berrian. Orton pulls out an old corncob pipe and plays a song on his famous gutbucket. "...Ol' molasses pappy dun scrum a wildcat, buckshot whiskey my pappy," sings the young gunslinger, as teammates stare in confusion.

Kyle Orton certainly is a weird, yet colorful addition to this Bears roster.

[wab]

God... UOK's epic Orton post back on the "other" site was one of my favorite things ever.

Was it the magazine? Here you go.

Oct. 4th 2007 UOK Magazine

SMOKEY RIDGE, WV- I moseyed along the edge of the practice field watching the Bears go through their practice routine. The receivers jogged out their patterns, linemen were on collision courses with a tackling sled, coaches weaving in and out, blowing whistles and talking to players over water. The scene appears to be pretty standard fare, but there's one particular player who stands out among the rest: quarterback Kyle Orton.

Orton, 24, hasn't seen much action lately. Not since the 2005 season when he was part of an 11-5 Bears team that won the NFC North. Since then, he's had a year and a half to get acquainted with the bench and has received very little playing time.



As I caught up with Kyle, he revealed to me that his career was on it's wane. "I'm retiring after this season," he murmured through his long and whispy beard. "The game is fun, that's not a question. But I'm destined for other things."

Things, he says, like the Smokey Pole Mountain in Chutgut, West Virginia. Orton spends every summer there, trapping and spending quality time with his dog Shooter. "I find a lot of peace and solitude on Smokey Pole," says the former Purdue star. "Plus I can poop on the ground and stuff."



[Orton and Shooter on a mountain retreat circa summer 2004]

Teammates have noticed a change in Orton, especially his ever-growing facial hair. Center Patrick Mannelly isn't surprised. "We've been watching his beard get longer and longer every day. It's sick...it's cool to watch him drop back to pass, because he looks like God from the one painting, all blowing in the wind, pretty sick." Defensive coach Bob Babich pointed out that Orton's beard has saved lives. "There was a baby bird that had fallen out of it's nest. Kyle scooped the little guy up, popped it into his beard, and the damn thing grew up big and strong. Hell, it might still be in there."

Kyle doesn't mind the comments or criticism of his beard, now almost Santa-Claus-like in girth. "It provides essential warmth against the cold, not only of a Chicago winter, but of the frost nights spend huddling against a fire on a frozen mountain." There have been internet myths spread around on the web, the most popular being that Orton's beard has eaten a prostitute, others citing the beard as being the burial site of Jimmy Hoffa.

I let Orton go back to practice. He casually lopes a spiral down the field, and it caromes off of the stone hands of Bernard Berrian. Orton pulls out an old corncob pipe and plays a song on his famous gutbucket. "...Ol' molasses pappy dun scrum a wildcat, buckshot whiskey my pappy," sings the young gunslinger, as teammates stare in confusion.

Kyle Orton certainly is a weird, yet colorful addition to this Bears roster.

Yesssssss

[Boris13c]

that was good work UOK

[Otis Day]

Probably the best player to wear #17. Played 10 years for the Bears, 59-68. Started 132 of 136 games played. He had 37 ints, 3 returned for TDs. First team all pro in 63 and made the pro bowl 3x.

[Boris13c]

Sean Payton

Undrafted quarterback Sean Payton toiled in the AFL and CFL before catching on with the Bears during the 1987 NFL players strike.

[Otis Day]

Boris going deep. Mark Rodenhauser played center on that team and I lived in the same dorm with him for a semester at ISU.

Tried to find pics of Ike Hill but was not successful. Found the jersey, but he wasn't in it.

[makaur]

that was good work UOK

Agreed.

I also remember one of UOK’s signature blocks...something like “Neckbeard the Pirate.” I remember sitting in my cube at work laughing my ass off to that one, I think it was after one of Orton’s classic multi-interception games.

Of course, my favorite UOK artwork was the time Olin Kreutz got into a locker room fight and like the next day, UOK’s signature block was a fist punching through a wall or something and it said, “The name’s Kreutz, bitch!”

Good times....

[Otis Day]

George Musso, Collinsville, IL. native and graduate from small Millikin College in Decatur. Played for the Bears from 1933-44. He was a 3x Pro Bowler and 4x NFL Champion. He made the NFL's 75th Anniversary All Time Team. He played on both sides of the line. Inducted into the HOF in 1982.

[Otis Day]

George Musso, Collinsville, IL. native and graduate from small Millikin College in Decatur. Played for the Bears from 1933-44. He was a 3x Pro Bowler and 4x NFL Champion. He made the NFL's 75th Anniversary All Time Team. He played on both sides of the line. Inducted into the HOF in 1982.

[Boris13c]

Blanda's history went something like this. The Bears drafted him in the 12th round of the 1949 draft and signed him as a backup quarterback and kicker for a $600 signing bonus. He didn't actually become a starting quarterback until his fifth year in the league, when he led the NFL in completions in 1953. But after suffering an injury the next season, he lost his job to Ed Brown, and rather than continue on as simply a place-kicker, he retired in 1959.

After a year off, Blanda returned with the new Oilers squad in the new AFL, and that's when he became a superstar, leading the league in yards in 1961 and 1963 and in completions from 1963-65. The Oilers won the first two AFL titles, but by 1967, the team felt he was too old at the age of 37 and cut him.

That's when the Raiders, led by Al Davis, picked him up to back up quarterback Daryle Lamonica and to kick (immediately that season, the Raiders won the AFL title). In 1970, Blanda had one of the most magical runs of his career.

hindsight is always 20-20, but I wonder what the Bears, and Blanda, would have accomplished had he spent his entire career in Chicago?