What is the greatest Chicago Bears hit of all time? It’s a tough question. There have been so many over the past century it is almost impossible to count them. Still, a little recollection brings up some utter classics. The devastating shot Dick Butkus gave to Charlie Sanders in 1971. Or the de-cleater Gary Fencik leveled on Jimmy Robinson in 1977. Yet when people really think about it, there is one hit that stands above the rest.
It came late in the 1985 season. The Bears were cruising to their 15-1 finish and in the midst of hammering the Detroit Lions in the finale. Their iconic defense was in its usual form, suffocating almost everything the Lions tried to do. Much of that was thanks to the tone set early the game courtesy of linebacker Wilber Marshall.
The starter for Detroit most of that season had been veteran Eric Hipple. However, with the playoffs out of reach, they decided to put in backup Joe Ferguson to finish out the string. Ferguson made it three passes into the game when an ill-advised scramble put him square in the crosshairs of Marshall, who proceeded to knock him into Tuesday.
A fun story followed the Chicago Bears hit felt ’round the world
Butkus’ and Fencik’s hits were both great, but they were on wide receivers. Marshall had the rare opportunity to get his in on a quarterback, which makes it a little more special. Not to mention it came during a championship run on arguably the best defense ever. According to Will Larkin of the Chicago Tribune, he was ribbed about it after the game.
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Ferguson recovered to play four more seasons but to this day refuses to talk about the play. Marshall was not penalized but was fined $2,000 by the league.
In Rich Cohen’s 2013 book “Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football,” coach Mike Ditka said: “I can still see the lick Marshall put on Ferguson. My God, I thought he’d killed him.”
Ditka suggested Marshall’s teammates could help pay his fine, an idea met with laughter. The 11th overall pick out of Florida in 1984 took advantage of the USFL’s bidding war with the NFL to sign a four-year contract worth $494,000 per year. It made him the third-highest-paid Bear behind Walter Payton and Jim McMahon.
The best part is Marshall wasn’t done with Detroit. A year later when the Lions visited Soldier Field, it was Hipple’s turn to feel the linebacker’s wrath. In the opening minutes of the game, Marshall came screaming in on a blitz. Hipple never saw him coming. The linebacker planted him face first into the turf, forcing a fumble. Marshall then scooped it up and ran it 12 yards for a touchdown.
No team was happier to see him leave Chicago in 1988.
