Awesome footage, commentary and analysis prove just how bad Chicago Bears quarterbacks were. You won't believe the crazy statistics that these guys put up!
A story I heard was that someone made the comment that Bobby Douglass could throw the ball through a barn door, to which Hank Stram made the comment "He'd have to hit the barn first".
The chemistry between Concannon and Gordon was undeniable. When Concannon went down the next season, Gordon's production dropped, manily because Nix or Douglass could not consistently get the ball to him...
Its amazing the Bears are the oldest or one of the oldest franchises in nfl history and yet you can count on one hand the number of great / really good qbs they've had and still have a few fingers left..alot of great, even hall of fame linebackers and tailbacks for sure but for some reason the qb position has perpetually been subpar to say the least🤷🏽♂️
The #1 passer in Bears history is universally hated by fans to this day, #2 played wearing a leather helmet, and #3 will be coaching for the NCAA championship tomorrow night.
Jack Concannon - one of the coolest quarterback names ever. Bobby Douglass was a fullback/linebacker who happened to play quarterback. He was tough and had a cannon for an arm, but he just couldn't win. Running for your life every game will do that to you. I don't think Bobby Douglass was wearing a helmet. It was more like the helmet was wearing him.
The 70s NFL was nothing like it is today. Pass interference and roughing the passer were only suggestions. Having a 55% completion stat was not all that bad. Throwing for 2000 yards was considered the upper end of the NFL. This was basically a halfback league. 👍
Yes, you are exactly right in all accounts - anything over a 50% completion percentage was considered very good, in fact. The game was played totally differently than today where they throw so many short passes to bump up their completion percentages.
This was also before the 1978 rule changes to make the game more pass friendly, with some Steelers players and fans believing that it was targeting them. Ironically, Steelers QB Terry Bradshaw benefited from the rule changes, and would go on to win NFL MVP, Super Bowl XIII, and Super Bowl MVP.
And in all this futility the Bears wasted to careers of Butkus and Sayers, who never saw a post-season game. How sad. That Cowboys-Bears tilt in 1971, was the one Tom Landry switched his QB's on every play. Staubach and Morton were competing for the starting job, so Coach Landry tried this head-scratcher. Near the end he had Craig finish the game. Roger thought he was finished in Dallas. Then the Man in the Hat made the historic decision to go with Staubach. 10 straight wins later The Cowboys were World Champions. The rest is America's Team History.
Thanks for the video. Lifelong Bear fan who started following the Bears in 1970. Yes, I have suffered thru some dismal quarterback play! Bobby Douglas had a cannon for an arm! Butkus and Sayers careers suffered on these miserable teams. Shout out to the memory of all the past Bears players.
Thank you for watching. How 'bout a shout out to two #65's with the same last name of Jackson? Randy Jackson who wore it from '67-'74, then Noah Jackson who wore it from '75-'83. Randy played Left Tackle and Noah played Left Guard.
Some GREAT footage! Unfortunately, it didn't get much better with Bob Avellini and the Bears were so desperate that they actually traded a 1st round pick to Cleveland for Mike Phipps that the Browns turned into HOF'er Ozzie Newsome.
bobby douglass held the quarterback rushing record (968 yards) for 34 years, found out he tried pitching in the white sox organization, he pitched for the triple a iowa oaks who would have a lot of great players pass thru, douglass pitched in 4 games, 7 innings, walked 13 and didn't get a strike out.
8:10: It is so funny today watching those games back then when a receiver goes across the baseball dirt infield to catch a touchdown pass and celebrates in the third base baseball coaching box.
I was amazed to learn that Dick Butkus achieved a pair of touchdown passes each on botched snaps! I forget if they took place in the same or separate seasons though. It definitely appears that Bears fans didn’t have a whole lot to cheer about from 1970-1974. I think that may have changed in 1975 with the arrival of a certain rookie running back from Jackson St?
Butkus got one touchdown and one extra point (the extra point came in the game against the Eagles in '72 Week 13). Payton put the Bears back on the map, for sure.
@@brianthomas2434 Well, they did have winning seasons in 1977 and 1979 and made the playoffs on both occasions, though they were immediately eliminated both times.
Gary "hospital ball" Huff. Douglass was as tough as woodpecker lips. Douglass led the league in getting his head gear torn off. Brutal. Douglass a 1970's Tim Tebow.. Thanks brother appreciated.
6:30-Wow what a missile! And 12:40! -As a fan I never saw that before nor knew of it. Awesome. Holy cow, 18:25, again? Wow and Butkus just passed away so it means more to me now seeing this. Good old 51.
Supposedly George Farmer, Bears WR, had fights with Douglass for throwing short passes too hard and smashing his fingers badly. Huff sucked and threw short yardage sideline passes a lot. Great job, super footage and stats to remind us Bears fans who lived in that era how bad they were.
I remember having a Bobby Douglass football card as a little kid. It seemed like he should have been better than he actually was. He had a lot of tools.
1:42 This is one of the most unique sights I've ever seen in football history...thanks NFL. Also, I had no idea that the Bears had such a confounding situation with their home stadium choices prior to entering Soldier Field.
I forgot about those stadium troubles. While watching I thought about how nice it would have been had they stayed in Dyche Stadium, but naturally, Evanston residents would have none it.
As a 60 plus years Packer fan, I can relate. Between Bart Starr and Brett Favre we had a list of Doggos that can rival anyone Jerry Tagge, Carlos Brown, David Whitehurst...on and on it goes.
Now you're both bringing up so many best-forgotten memories of the quarterbacks my Raiders have had since their last Super Bowl victory (1983). Except for David Carr, Rich Gannon, and (at times) Jeff Hostetler, try spending your Sundays stuck with the likes of Marc Wilson, Jay Schroeder, Vince Evans, Rusty Hilger, Jeff George, David Klingler, Aaron Brooks, Dante Culpepper, Marquis Tuiasosopo, Rick Mirer, and JaMarcus Russell.
Bobby Douglass was the original Tim Tebow. 2 left handed TE's playing QB. Did you catch Dick Jauron on the pick 6 return for the Lions. He would go on to coach the Bears. It was also great to see crabby old Abe Gibron stalking the sidelines. Cool music too.
Abe looks like he didn't miss too many meals and that he got his monies worth at the all-you-can-eat buffets. Every time I see footage of him I think of those song lyrics "Jeremiah was a bullfrog"
@@markgardner9460 Remember the World Football League? Abe Gibron coached the (very) short-lived Chicago Winds WFL franchise that played in Soldier Field in 1975. After losing out on signing Joe Namath (after having promised he'd be in a Winds uniform), the team lost all credibility. As a result, all the promotional material for their one home game in 1975 could trumpet was, "The Return of Abe!". Needless to say, it didn't excite Chicagoans and only about 1000 showed up. Even as a 13-year old kid with very little faculty for discernment, I could tell that they were pathetically grasping at straws. They went out of business forever shortly thereafter (having lastly only 5 games), as did the rest of the WFL not long after that.
Given the physical abilities of Bobby Douglass, it makes you wonder how good he could have been had he worked with a really good QB coach, and played with a better group of receivers. Maybe he still wouldn't have been that good, but the potential was certainly there. Nice interception at at 18:18 by newly hall of famed Ken Riley. It looks like he caught the ball one handed, but it's hard to tell for sure.
Douglass lost his helmet more that anyone I ever saw. He threw the ball with zero touch. One play I remember the Bears had the ball on the other teams 3 yard line. Douglass rolled to his left with an open receiver 5 yards deep in the end zone. He threw the ball so hard, it hit the receiver in the face so hard it knocked him down, and the ball went flying about 15 feet in the air and out of bounds. God, he was terrible.
But the man was tough as a big truck. Always too bad their offense so primitive. Elsewhere he might've been better. Easy to see in these before my time highlights... Still interesting to see that athlete who was the only offense. Bears were a mess yet fielded a team...😉
BTW you have on tape two of my favorite Bobby Douglas hilites - the point after the touchdown the Dick butt is caught in the end zone very athletic, and the 65 yard frozen rope to Jim Seymour in the back of the end zone against the bills it’s probably in my top five most incredible throws and reveals Douglas Arm Strength
4:40, gale sayers chasing alan page into the end zone. gale was done by 1970, after the injury, he only played in 2 games in 1970 after making a great comeback in 1969.
Great upload and analysis. Always liked Douglas,.The stats /numbers cited may not be the best , but the video shows what a great athlete and open field runner he was. Here, once he gets past the Raiders D-line, he easily outmaneuvers all 3 LB's which then leaves George Atkinson the job of tackling him . Given his options are neither after the whistle nor from behind, he clearly is not up to the task. 14:58
Thank you very much. You make good points. It should also be noted that the Bears running game was woeful, so they had a lot of 3rd and longs. Defenses pinned their ears back and put big pressure on the Bears QB's, so it's understandable that their completion percentages would be less than the league average.
@@scoop1127 Seems like the fans (and Certainly Walter Payton) deserved better. Still chaotic situation with city "leadership" and the Stadium issues.....
I started watching Bears in 1970 at 8yrs old. I remember watching Bobby's passes bouncing off receivers and those brutal but effective runs. Not sure but I think Bears wanted to switch him to RB but he refused. Abe Gibron was from my old home town Michigan City IN. Dad layed carpet at his house. Thanks for posting.
As a kid I remember watching Douglas (when the games weren’t blacked out). For some reason I chose to be a Bears fan. Why did I do that to myself? The long list of horrible QBs started with Concannon.
Douglass broke his wrist in that Bills game in 1970, but somehow finished the game. That's why he didn't play again that year. Too bad: We would've learned how bad he was a little faster than we did.
Sid Luckman was the last great QB for the Bears. Defense won the 85 championship. Jim McMahon was only an average quarterback. Same for Jay Cutler. Let’s see if Justin Fields can be a franchise quarterback
2:05 Wow - The placement of the end zone at Wrigley Field is ridiculous. And the back corner of it being occupied by spectators is equally ridiculous....
I am not sure that the Bills coaches want Allen running like a man possessed much like Douglass did - like when he lost his helmet and stuck his head into the Packers' Fred Carr's chest in order to fight for a first down.
They don't call it the Windy City because of the weather. Anyway, I always liked Douglass. Even though he was a crappy passer, he was gutsy af. How many times did he lose his helmet on a play? It must be his own unique stat.
I've read that it's in reference to a tornado that blew through the city, as well as local city officials who were windy or full of hot air, as well as high winds that blew through the downtown skyscrapers.
In that same time frame, the QBs who won Super Bowls were: Len Dawson (Chiefs), Johnny Unitas/Earl Morrall (Colts), Roger Staubach (Cowboys), Bob Griese (Dolphins).
...and Dawson and Unitas were castoffs, while Morrall was a journeyman and Staubach a 27 year old rookie in 1969 (29 years old during the Super Bowl game)
Same here, from Detroit, I remember the field mics would pick up Bobby Douglass, he had such a gruff voice, I guess...Huuuutt. Huuuutt Hike. Great, great video footage!!!
They lost a coin flip with the Steelers in 1970 to see who would draft the consensus Number 1 Quarterback Terry Bradshaw. The rest as they say is history!
I remember that there was always talk the bears were going to convert Bobby Douglas to a tight end. So after this group of QBs the bears got Mike Phipps, Bob Avellini and Vince Evan’s . Waiting for your video on those 3. Story of the franchise really, no QBs.
It was mentioned that in 1970, after the 4TD game against Buffalo, the Bears went back to Concannon. Reason: Douglass suffered a broken wrist in that game. If that didn't happen, Douglass probably starts the rest of the year. The head coach, Jim Dooley was enamored with Douglass. Dooley was also not a man of his word. In 1969, Virgil Carter started a game vs. Green Bay in Week 13. Carter completed only 2 of 10 passes. At halftime, he asked Dooley not to pull him from the game. Dooley said he wouldn't, then promptly said Douglass would start the 2nd half. Carter was enraged, called the Bears a "chicken s**t organization (or something of the sort). Whatever was said, George Halas didn't like it, and Carterdidn't play anymore that season. He would go on to Cincinnati, where he was coached by Bill Walsh. Carter didn't have much of an arm, but was an accurate short to meduim passer. This was the beginning of the West coast offense
I want to say that after that one great game that Douglass had, it was discovered that he had broken his wrist during the game. They had to shut him down.
Wow! In 1974 my team, the Washington Redskins, had Kilmer as the starting QB, Sonny Jurgenson was the back up QB and Joe Theisman was the 3rd string. You guys in Chicago had it Huff, I mean rough, lol.
I probably watched a few of these Bears games back in the day as an 8th grader. Bobby Douglas was the best (or worst). I shook the hand of Brian Piccolo at some point around this time
Where was the game played between the bears and saints with Concannon? It appeared like both end zones were painted one for the saints and the other was painted for the bears, like a neutral field game.
Douglass was always my favorite from those years because he could run and wasn't afraid to get hit. A pretty good arm too. If he was playing today, I think he'd be a pretty big star.
Bobby Douglass was a great, gutsy runner, but in seven years on the Bears, his pass completion percentage was an abysmal 42%. In 1972 he started 14 games and completed 37.9%. A QB passing for under 50% wouldn't get a sniff today.
@@69FOSTER You’re right but in those days they threw the ball downfield practically every play. Yards per completion was 13-14 yards. Nowadays the passes are a lot shorter and less yards per completion.
@@Rusty571000 Agree, plus passing offenses have evolved by leaps and bounds. In1972, Norm Snead completed 60% of his passes, but that was a result of many of his throws being all "dink and dunk" passes. Len Dawson had the second best percentage among full time starting QB's at 57.4%. That year, Joe Namath and Billy Kilmer threw the most touchdown passes with 19 each.
@@69FOSTER I wouldn’t bet any money on it and am too lazy to look it up but I wouldn’t doubt if every modern NFL QB has a higher completion percentage than Dawson. Do you think it’s because they’re playing more zone today? I’m probably full of it as I just pulled that out of my @$$. 😂
I remember watching Bobby Douglass play. It was always exciting mainly because you never knew exactly what was coming next. If he could of been "refined"...who knows?
It's kind of amazing that they could throw for so few yards, and score so few touchdowns. Imagine betting on a QB to throw for less than 50 yards, and winning.
Can you imagine watching a Sunday morning football show with people arguing their points as to whether or not Bobby Douglass would throw for 50 yards against The Purple People Eaters? Great thought.
@@markgardner9460 And the Bears averaged 162 rushing yards per game in 1972. That was back before people realized that throwing the ball gained more yards than running the ball, I guess.
As if Bears quarterbacks from 1975-79 were a big improvement. (Edit) How good would Bobby Douglass have been if the Bears had a QB who could throw? Having him be the Christian McCaffrey guy in their offense...holy crap!
I saw Bobby Douglas make that TD run as a seven year old kid at Cleveland Stadium in 1972. I was with my father and former Chicago Bear Gunner Johnson.
@@markgardner9460 His name was Fordham "Gunner" Johnson. He played for the University of Wisconsin and later was a Lt. in the US Marine Corps during WW2. He was drafted by George Halas and played end for maybe two seasons with the Bears in the late 1940's. He then became an international sales executive with BF Goodrich and traveled the world. He worked with my Dad. He took his old contract, copied it and erased his name. He then signed me to play for the Bears for $15.00 a game. My number was 00. 😂 I was thrilled. I have been a Bears fan ever since. 😄
I was told. But cannot confirm that one of the end zones at Wrigley field was built over one of dugouts. Using heavy plywood and putting dirt on it. Padding on cenent bricks.
Think about those Kansas teams with both Bobby Douglas and John Riggins in the same backfield. I remember those years. I’m an old guy.😂 Lost to Penn State in the Orange Bowl.
This was before Walter Payton was drafted in the 1975 NFL Draft. During his time, the Bears offense became Payton and 10 other guys (without looking it up, do you know who the Bears QBs were during Payton’s time, besides Jim McMahon, Steve Fuller, or Doug Flutie)?
I do, but I'm going to save the names from '75-'79 until I publish that version of this video. I'll probably address the other QB's at some time, too. Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@tomv4408 Evans had a looooooong career. I remember when the Bears drafted him in '77, 6th Round (USC), the talk was of converting him to Safety. ~~He left the Bears in '84, went to the U.S.F.L.'s Chicago Blitz. Blitz were coached by some guy named _Marv Levy,_ who succeeded some other guy named _George Allen._ 😉
Of course at the end of Walter's career, there was _Mike Tomczyk,_ from Calumet City IL. and Ohio State U. He played for the Bears, Packers, Browns, and your _Pittsburgh Steelers._ There was another Mike, last name I couldn't remember, had to peek: _Mike Phipps._ The Bears gave the Browns a First Rnd. Pick to get him. That pick became *_Ozzie Newsome._*
I was thinking that Walter Payton should’ve been the Bears QB. Sounds crazy but I think in today’s game he would be a QB. He had the strongest, most accurate arm of any Bears player on the roster. You could’ve given him the option to either run or pass with his insane athletic ability. Jimmy McMahon is still to me the best Bears QB of the last 70 years in a Bears uniform. Who was the Bears first 4k yard passer? Erik Kramer back in 1995. He was really good for a couple years in Chicago. Btw: Love your videos, I’m an old school NFL history freak. Whatever happened to Dick Gordon? Seemed like he was the only guy making big plays back then. I wish the Bears somehow could’ve gotten Joe Ferguson in the mid 70s to go along with what Jim Finks was building in Chicago. Finks was really one quarterback away from having a solid contender
I read where Dick Gordon wanted a big pay increase after his fantastic 1970 season, but tight-fisted George Halas would not give in. That lead to a lot of acrimony and Gordon played out his option after the 1971 season. He was signed by the Rams as a free agent and the Bears received the Rams first round draft choice in 1974 as compensation (turned out to be defensive lineman Dave Gallagher out of Michigan). Gordon only caught 3 passes for the Rams in 1972. He was released by the Rams after week 5 of the 1973 season. The Packers signed him as a free agent in 1973, but he didn't catch any passes for either team in 1973. In January 1974, the Packers traded him to the Patriots for Tight End John Mosier, but Gordon never suited up for the Patriots.
Believe it or not there are worse QBs than these.At least Douglas could run,keep plays alive.I saw some worse modern day QBs. That Douglas run against the Browns was so cool!!!
Concannon is my earliest recollection of a Bears QB. They were terrible. They finished 1-13. I can still remember a play I saw on TV where Concannon stepped away from center to call timeout and the center essentially snapped the ball to a St. Louis Cardinals player for a Cardinals TD. I don't think it was this 1970 season, though. Must've been a season or two before. Any further back and I wouldn't remember as I was too young to care.
I give it to you, you actually found enough Bears qb footage to put this together, my wife is a Bears fan. I I made her watch historical footage of the Bears. If you're a fan of a team you better know the history...me I'm a Raiders fan.
The Bears have a poor history of QB's since 1970. Since 1970 the best Bears QB was probably Jim Harbaugh. That's pretty pathetic. I'd rather have him as the next coach.
Wasn't that Harbaugh who was mercilessly being chewed out on the sidelines by Ditka after throwing an interception to a Vikings player that cost them a win?
Yes ,the Bears led 20-0 and Harbaugh called a audible and Todd Scott picked it off and scored, Minnesota got momentum and rallied to win 21-20.It was 1992 Ditka's last year as head coach in Chicago,and he had some very heated words in the locker room!
