Will the '85 Bears Finally Go to Washington?

If Jim McMahon has anything to say about it, yes

There are plenty of fun pieces of trivia about the 1985 Super Bowl-winning Bears that we could have nailed. But here's a piece of trivia we didn't know until today: those 1985 Bears never had a trip to the White House. Fancy that.

That's why Jim McMahon seems to be holding out so much hope for the current administration. As he told the Chicago Tribune:

The tragic Jan. 28, 1986, Challenger Space shuttle explosion that claimed the lives of teacher Christa McAuliffe and six other astronauts postponed the Bears' scheduled visit to the White House.

"Obama is an Illinois guy. He knows the situation and what happened with us with the shuttle blowing up and everything," said McMahon. "That was the right thing to do. The focus should have been on that, but eventually we should have showed up there. I think we are the only [Super Bowl championship] team that hasn't gone."

There are two ways to feel about this, we think. One: McMahon should probably let it go. It was 25 years ago, and really, you won the Super Bowl. Who cares if you never went to the White House? Tragedy happens; let it be.

The other way is hey, you know, going to the White House and meeting the President of the United States -- the freaking President -- would be an amazing experience. Very few get to have it. Part of winning a championship is the ability to get to do cool stuff like that; McMahon has every right to lobby for a visit.

In the end, we'd probably go with number two. McMahon isn't exactly the most diplomatic type in the world, but he has a point. And besides, Barack Obama loves the Bears. He wouldn't want to invite the team's last Super Bowl winner for a quick White House visit? That, we believe, is called a win-win.

Eamonn Brennan is a Chicago-based writer, editor and blogger. You can also read him at Yahoo! Sports, Mouthpiece Sports Blog, and Inside The Hall, or at his personal site, eamonnbrennan.com. Follow him on Twitter.

Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
Contact Us