Robert Quinn entered 2021 viewed as the worst free agent signing in Chicago Bears history. An aging, injury-riddled pass rusher well past his prime who stole $70 million from the franchise in exchange for two sacks. The lowest sack total he’d managed in almost a decade. With one game left to play, he exited 2021 with the Bears’ single-season sack record. Eclipsing Richard Dent’s 37-year old mark of 17.5 on a cold day at Soldier Field with his 18th of the season.
Yet the fact he got the record in itself wasn’t the entire story. It gets even better. The moment came against the visiting New York Giants. Quinn’s first-ever sack occurred way back in Week 2 of the 2011 season. The opposing team that day? The New York Giants. It gets even better though. Kevin Carter set the St. Louis Rams single-season sack record in 1999 with 17. A record Quinn broke in 2013 with 19. He did it in grand fashion too, racking up the 16th, 17th, and 18th in one game against Tampa Bay. Their quarterback that day was rookie Mike Glennon. The quarterback for Quinn’s record-breaker on Sunday? Mike Glennon.
Oh and just for good measure, it was also his 100th career sack.
That is a level of football serendipity that people don’t get to see too often. For Quinn to reach two gigantic milestones on the same plays, against a team that witnessed his first-ever sack and a quarterback he set a similar record against before is just too incredible to contemplate. Never mind he did all of this at 31-years old following the worst season of his career. In a year where Khalil Mack was lost after six games, Akiem Hicks missed large chunks of time, and the defense endured a Covid outbreak too.
All the while he just kept racking up sacks. It is arguably the best comeback season of any player in Bears history. Short maybe of Gale Sayers topping 1,000 yards a year after his horrific knee injury in 1968.
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Robert Quinn is now entering the Hall of Fame conversation
He became just the 39th player in NFL history to reach the 100-sack mark for his career. It is usually around this time when the talks can begin about whether a player is approaching gold jacket territory. Several players in the 100-sack club are enshrined in Canton. That includes Charles Haley who has the same number as Quinn for his career. However, Haley also had five Super Bowl rings. So it’s a safe bet he must either get one of those or keep adding to his total.
The good news is he’ll have a great chance to do the latter next season. Barring an unexpected change, Mack should return 100% healthy from his foot injury this season. With him back to drawing so much attention from opposing offenses, it should continue to give Robert Quinn priceless one-on-one opportunities. If he looks anything like the player he’s been in 2021, that means plenty more sacks are coming his way.
Good news for Bears fans.
Then again, a new regime might see things differently. They may decide that Quinn won’t get any better than he was this season. So they’ll look to trade him while his value is still high. Get back some draft picks to rebuild one of the oldest rosters in the league. Not an uncommon strategy, but one that may prove difficult with his contract. Either way, the story of how he reached this point should be retold for years to come.
