Two Chicago Bears greats, Jim Covert and Ed Sprinkle, have made the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The pair were named in a class of 10 senior candidates, three contributors and two coaches as part of the hall's celebration of the NFL's 100th season.
Covert spent eight seasons in Chicago and was the top offensive lineman on the great 1985 Bears team that won the championship. Against pass rushers already in the Canton, Ohio, shrine such as Lee Roy Selmon and Lawrence Taylor, Covert allowed a mere 4 1/2 sacks. He was voted a Bears captain in his second season.
The team congratulated him on social media Wednesday, writing on Twitter "etched in history."
Sprinkle was called “the greatest pass rusher” that George Halas ever saw. In his 12 pro seasons as a linebacker, defensive end and end on offense — yes, another two-way star who once was dubbed “the meanest man in football’’ — he made four Pro Bowls and the 1940s All-Decade Team.
The Bears called him a "true Monster of the Midway" on Twitter Wednesday.
The additions of Covert and Sprinkle bring the Bears' total Hall of Famers to 30, the most of any NFL team.
Also going into the hall are former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, Harold Carmichael, Donnie Shell, Steve Sabol, Bobby Dillon, Winston Hill, Duke Slater, Alex Karras, Bill Cowher and Jimmy Johnson.
