CHIBears
How did You or a Family Member get into Da Bears?
I will never forget the day i asked my dad why he was such a devout bears fan. For context my dad lived in upstate New York for most of his life, being puerto rican and on his family’s farm.
He told me that everyone one day ( for maybe a holiday or assignment? ) Were all writing letters to their favorite sports teams, some were writing to the Jets, the Bills, the Patriots, the Giants etc. And wanting to be different, or rather not knowing a lot of football himself (Grandpa was more a yankees guy)
Chose to write a letter to the Bears at the time, and they sent him a box full of a thank you letter, a signed photo i think? and some trinkets. And then on 40 years later he’s still rooting em on.
I never asked where the box ended up however…
Discussion
‘85 bears got my dad into it, and the 2018 bears sucked me in 😭 god damn that team was fun
When mack went off the first game against the pack i was amped!
Fuck that game was such a roller coaster. May have been the best first half of Bears football I ever remember watching. Then the second half happened, ugh.
I was deployed during the 2018 season and all I hear is how good that team was and now I wish I was able to see them. The only game I was able to watch was the double doink game unfortunately
It was Mike and the '85 season that sucked me in. Also meeting Walter many time at work (A Restuarant), he was cool and we (the staff) always knew and left him and his family alone.
My cousin was a defensive lineman on the 85 Bears.
Born in 85. 20 minutes before bears and saints and my dad was telling my mom to hurry up so he could watch the game. I popped out he cut the cord and got to watch the game and said he knew id be the biggest sports fan for letting him see the best season of a team maybe ever
On the other hand everything has been downhill since you’ve been born
Except for winning the superbowl that year yup
Which player?
Mark Bortz
Oh, a backup lineman; one of my former childhood friends had a cousin that knew Stephen paea from the Lovie years.
My dad is from Wisconsin and my Mom is from Arizona, however Arizona didn't have a team back then so she fell in love with the '85 Bears. I lived in the suburbs of Chicago and had to make a choice to wear the Favre jersey or the Urlacher jersey. I made my choice 🐻⬇️
My dad.
I write him an angry letter in crayon, and tears annually.
here’s hoping this years letter is without the tears,,,
My dad as well. He was born in Chicago so even though I've not been there yet I still grew up with the Chicago teams. I did call him a handful of years ago to ask why he couldn't have been born in Boston though ha ha
You gotta come sometimes chicago is amazing!
I will for sure.
Sweet if you come for a game make sure it's an early one you dont wanna come from Boston to Chicago in dead winter lol
I'm not in Boston, just made the comment to my dad because they were in their run. I appreciate the advice though coming from Arizona.
Definitely DONT come during the dead of winter it will be a struggle to survive if youre only here for a week or two.
It takes me a couple of weeks to get used to super cold every year and im used to it lol.
It was 2013, I was roommates with a couple buddies who loved watching football. Prior to this, I was never really a sports guy. But as it goes, we would spend the weekend watching football. Beer, food & just hanging with the boys.
I grew to enjoy the experience. That eventually led me to the "who's my team moment?."
I chose the bears on a certain criteria:
Is it a team that would have any familial influence from? Do I personally know anyone who likes said team? Reason being, I wanted to choose a team that was 100% my own. Also, fuck the niners & raiders (California born).
- Is this team currently good? A contender? Reason being, I refused to be a bandwagon fan. I absolutely side eye people who choose teams that are currently dominating. That's some fair weather shit.
So long story short, I chose the bears. My packers roommate/friend was absolutely delighted.
I've been in the trenches since Mark trestman and Jay Cutler. I've lived in Chicago and caught some games.
It's been a long road since 2013 but it's gonna be navy blue and orange till death and beyond.
BEAR DOWN & FGB.
Dude, where the fuck were all of you guys when I was growing up??
I swear at least a quarter of California was swarming with fudge packing worshippers, when I was growing up.
Ahem… it’s FTP. Love the origin story.
Walter Jerry Payton.
I’m 46 yrs old from Nor California,and everyone in my family was 9er fans. I was obsessed with Walter and Jimmy Mac as a kid,and chose the Bears as my team at 5 years old.
Dude, I'm from Southern California, and my family are 49ers fans as well! 🤯
Mexican here... only bear in da fam. I think it was Tecmo Bowl that did it for me. 😅
Mexicano here from St. Louis
It took the Rams leaving for me. Also the only bear in da fam. The rest stayed Rams fans
Then they won another SB in L.A..
I moved to Chicago in the fall of 1984. 1985 made it look easy. 1986 should have been a repeat. Then came the desert.
Obligatory fuck you to charles martin!
My dad is a Vikings fan; he always would root against these teams called the Lions, Packers and Bears; I just so happen to see him root against the Bears the most. The rest is history. A sad history because this was around 06, after the we lost the SB…
yeesh that’s rough, hey atleast your here now.
We were a little late for 85 but me and my bro would watch the 85 season highlights vhs and go play football in the yard. Epic memories. But we’ve had season tickets in our family for generations…it’s a blessing and a curse
Grew up in California, dad was a 49ers fan.
7-year-old me fell in love with the 2006 Bears.
Uh, are you sure you didn't just copy and paste my memory, but switch the age from 6 to 7 in a shallow attempt to avoid getting caught??
My dad was born and raised in cali he grew up in a niners vs raiders household he wanted his own to team to scream at and really like Payton, so when they lost to the niners to The playoffs in 84 he swore up and down that they would win next year of course they did so he really threw himself into it, he got really into the history of the organization and he raised me as a bears fan
I’m in New York and only got to watch old Butkus and Sayers highlight videos. I can count on one hand the number of times the Bears appeared on live television here.
Which was still way better than watching the 70s Giants and Jets, and then came Sweetness.
‘and then came Sweetness’ yes. and come he did…
My mom went into labor during halftime of Super Bowl XX. It’s my birthright to be a fan for life!
2001: Mike Brown OT walkoff pick 6 against the 49ers had my parents cheering loudly from the living room. I (9 years old at the time) remember coming upstairs and watching the celebration and replay. That got me intrigued enough to watch them the next week.
The next week - last minute of regulation comeback from 2 TDs down...and another Mike Brown OT walkoff pick 6. From that point on I was hooked.
Edit: corrected the year
Same
My dad is from Chicago but I was born in Texas. He took me to the game when we played Dallas at Jerry world, must’ve been 2012 or so. After that I grew up a bears fan
It was 1964 and it was first football game we watched on a TV. And it was Packers-Bears. My brother picked the Packers, I picked the Bears. Packers won and he became a Packer fan and I became a Bears fan.
Was born in 85 to parents that were not sports fans at all, but grew up in Midlothian so was around Bears/Sox/Old Style culture. Never really watched much sports growing up, outside of the final game of the three-peat Bulls. I remember I was so excited when that happened and my old man was such a fuddy duddy about it, like "why do you care? You haven't watched them all season" when I was like 8 or 9. Thanks Dad.
In my late teens, started hanging out with a dude that really liked playing Madden on his PS(2?). I was terrible so I played D line or RB only. He ALWAYS played as the Bears and we played coop so I played as the Bears too.
Started watching some games. A year later I was at the same dude's apartment watching my first Super Bowl. That whole season I watched Hester return kicks and I literally called us winning the toss, taking the ball, and Hester returning the TD. It happened about 15 minutes after I said it. Die hard fan ever since that season, even tho they lost.
My poor son was born in AZ, but now he is also a Bears fan. Have pics of him as a literal newborn laying on me as I watched bears games. His first game out of the hospital was the conference championship we lost in 2010. I think he secretly resents me for it, but I also remind him he is the reason I'm now a Suns fan.
Bob Avellini, Walter Payton, Roland Harper, Brian Baschnagel, Alan Page, Doug Buffone were all my childhood heroes.
so real
my father was born and raised in decatur. it’s in our blood!
he was around my age, a little younger than i am right now when the 85 bears were the shit. he was also in his 30s living in the city during the bulls dynasty. he’s got the coolest stories.
Grew up on the North Side watching Sayers and Ditka.
Born in the near west suburbs. Baptized in bitterness, beer and brats. 😂 /s
I’m based in the UK, remember watching my first Super Bowl with some friends and that’s all it took, I was hooked! Next season during the first game I watched the bears were playing and I decided to cheer for them that game and then it just stuck! Now I’ve been luck enough to see the bears play in London and planning our first trip to Chicago!
Watched the 86 team as a 6 year old and Payton and McMichael have been my 2 fav players ever since.
My grandpa owned a drugstore on the northside of Chicago. One of his customers was George Halas. They ended up becoming friends and the rest is history. George Halas even took my uncle to training camp as a guest of his.
I was running around telling people I was a Steelers fan around 12 y/o. When my favorite aunt heard, she smacked me in the head and said no. We're a Bears family. Been a bear for the last 26 years.
I'll probably get downvoted for saying this, but that shit is fucked up. You should be allowed to root for WHOEVER you want!
Preferably not the fudge packers, though. 😉
Born into it…then spent about 11 years of my childhood in Western Wisconsin (the Favre years) earning black eyes on the playground every week defending our team.
Go Bears, FTP!
Chicago Born Bear on my Back with a Cub on the other side
My great grandparents immigrated from Schleswig-Holstein in the late 1800s and settled in Chicago. My grandpa was a Bears fan and lived there until his retirement (went to a community in Florida). Dad lived there until around 8-10 when his parents divorced and my grandma/his mom moved back to her hometown in Iowa. So even though I was born and raised in Iowa I adopted the sports teams of my dad (primarily Bears and Bulls).
wow, did you enjoy watching the bears fly out to Germany in 2024?
Wasn't the 2024 Bears' international game in London?
My great grandfather in the 1920s started going to games at Wrigley.
I’m from Michigan, growing up my whole family cheered like hell for the lions, but I was always stoked to watch that bears defense play on Sundays instead of the lions, over time they just became my favorite team ever. BEAR DOWN
I grew up and live in rural upstate NY. My brother is 6 years older than me and I always got his hand me down clothes. He had a couple shirts from the ‘85 team and it was a big deal to get his clothes when he outgrew them. So that was literally it. Been a Bears fan ever since. Years ago I was even paying for Time Warner cable (spectrum now) and directTV just so I could get the Sunday ticket and watch the Bears.
I wasn't raised watching football. One day out of boredom I picked up my little brother's Madden game on the original Xbox. Being from IL I decided I may as well play as the Bears. Became a fan just in time to see that crazy '06 season where they lost to the Colts (my brother's favorite team) in the Super Bowl.
absolute heartbreak. At least we hold the second fastest touchdown in a super bowl now…
Fastest touchdown. Second fastest score. Fastest was a safety in the Broncos Seahawks.
On the cover of the 1982 sports illustrated nfl edition was #34,I was not an NFL fan at the time,read the article decided I have to see if this guy is everything that was written about him:I fell in love with the player the team and the league BEAR DOWN
I was in 6th grade when the Bears made the super bowl vs the Colts. A week before the Division championship game vs New Orleans. My middle school teacher in the Heart of BearLand(the inner city) stopped teaching class and for a week we learned Chicago Bears History and even had to learn the super bowl shuffle as an assignment. Still know it by heart to this day. I convinced my dad to watch the game vs the saints with me and I'll never forget Robbie Gould kicking a game winner and the papers loaded with his image kicking some said " the GOULDen boy" others said "as good as GOULD" after that it was a wrap.
lol, i wish i had your teacher
Grew up in Detroit in the 90s. Took one look at the Lions and said "hell no!"
One of the closest teams from there was Chicago. The heartbreak started there
My dad is from Chicago and I am a bears fan because of him! He moved to central IL after college and that’s where I was born and still live. I always remember watching the bears with him but it wasn’t until my early 20’s that I got really invested.
I was 6 living in OK when SB XX was on. My dad said I just started asking about all the players and that was it. Now living in NE and never miss a game on TV. Went for my first home game last season and loved it even though the Pat's beat them. I got to chant Fire Flus so I felt like I belonged.
Ultimate goal is to retire to Chicago and just go to all the home games till I die.
my dad would go with you if he had the money lol
I was born in Puerto Rico and picked my teams as I got older and started to gain an interest in sports. We got the local station from Chicago and so all the games I saw were Bears games. Been a fan ever since. This was after the 85 team so I'm still waiting to see them win a chip. Been a rough ride but hopefully things will change soon.
it’s good to know we’re not the only puerto rican bears fans
Oh yeah, there are more than a few.
My uncle would take us kids to the Platteville, WI summer camp. The first Bear I met was Chris Zorich after camp one day. He was awesome and I was hooked as a Bear fan after that!
I was born in the suburbs to a family full of Cowboys fans on my mom’s side (mom’s side grew up in Dallas with my dad being from Kenosha) and grew up watching both teams equally ever since my family moved back here after a short 2 year stint in Dallas and having Cowboys season tickets during that time. The Bears were more of my secondary team up until 2020 when my honest to god high school classmate Cole Kmet got drafted by the Bears where I started to consider them more as my main team and Dallas getting dropped to second, which my grandma and uncle aren’t too happy about 🤣
what was he like before he got drafted?
I was born with an italian beef in one hand and deep dish pizza in the other. If your italian beef isn't dipped, are you even a fan?
Chicago Burbs, Grandma is a die hard fan, like yells at the TV still and she’s 89, fan.
maybe she should be our new owner lol
I grew up in the South Bend area. Both my dad and my step dad loved them. My step dad’s uncle played for them (he was a guard on the ‘65 championship team). I didn’t have much of a choice 🙂
I spawned in Illinois
My family were all Bears fans but I didn't get into it until the 2006 SB season when I was 26 years old. That season was false advertising.
My father in law is a bears fan. It's been passed down to me.
I ran track as a kid and loved Devin Hester because of how quick he was and how exciting he was to watch. So I chose the bears because of that
In indy, most of my family despised the Colts. Played madden 99 when it came out, some how ended up choosing the bears for once and lo and behold....my first completed pass on madden. I was ecstatic. Kind of followed the league from then on. Once the bears went to the superbowl I bet a friend at school if the bears win she would have to give me a kiss. Thank god that never happened. DA BEARS!
My dad was a Bears fan for years, same as my older brother. I wanted to spend more time with my dad so I started watching the games with him. Been watching ever since.
Watching Walter Payton as a kid and then they won the Super Bowl a couple years later. Fan for life.
25 years ago, I moved to the United States as a 17 year old. Stayed with my uncle the first few months we got there. He was a bears fan, and introduced me to football. Would even let me have an ice cold beer with him while we watched the game and he explained the rules to me. A lot of y’all are too young to remember, but that 00-01 season was special, we were the Cardiac Bears or the Comeback Bears (bunch of epic comebacks, Urlacher and Mike brown terrorizing opponents) and I’ve been hooked ever since. If only I had known then how painful the next 25 years of my fandom would be….
I was 11 in 1985. My brother is an Eagles fan which up to that point made me an Eagles fan. I really started to get into football and wanted to choose my own team. The Bears were everywhere. They had personality and embodied football. I chose to be a Bears fan that year. 40 years later, I’ve never wavered though, I probably should have stayed with the Eagles. The choices we make in our youth.
On a side note. All of my other sports teams are Philly teams. That’s right, I missed out on the Bulls because I’m a 76ers fan. At least the Phillies have given me joy.
Born in Chicago suburb my dad had seasons tickets. I listened to the 63 championship on the radio with my mom and older brother. That was it for me. Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers were icing on the cake. My son never lived in Chicago and he’s a Bears fan too.
Live in VA, didn’t want to be a Washington fan or a Dallas fan, which tends to be the split in the state. Just decided on Bears because I got interested late in football and already was a Bulls fan. Hard to justify the pick, but you can’t call me a fair weather fan I guess. Have visited Chicago though, so there’s that.
there needs to be more bears fans in va !!!
My dad was a full time employee from ‘77-‘93, director of film/photography/video. I worked for the equipment staff ‘86-‘90.
I was born into a family of hardcore packers fans.
My grandpa got drafted by them in the 40s. He never played for them due to serving the country instead but I have a few letters addressed to him from (and signed by) George Halas so that’s pretty sweet.
I'm 5th generation Chicagoan. My family was Chicago Cardinal fans before Bears fans. The Cardinals played in Chicago for 20 years before the Bears. When Papa Bear came to town they naturally eventually became Bears fans. I imagine The Cardinals leaving Comisky to play on the same field, Wrigley, as The Bears for a decade made it a lot easier to side with the better franchise. By the time I was born, everyone was Bears fans. Still, there was Chicago Cardinals apparel peppered throughout gramps house.
I did not know the Cardinals played in Wrigley for a time!
That’s going way back for sure! I think Halas & the Bears were only in Decatur, as the Staleys, for the inaugural NFL season and in Chicago ever since.
I believe they played in Chicago as the Stanleys for a season also
Correct. (Staleys, now the name of their mascot).
Did your dad used to watch the games at place called Tully's by chance? Sounds awful familiar.
not to my knowledge, but i’ll ask ig
Walter payton
Saw them smash the Jags last season in London (hi from the UK)... and that was it.
I've been playing Fantasy NFL for the last 6 season but never took the step to support a team. Here I am!
Respect for not instantly jumping ship the following week ✊.
I was born in Chicago 🤦♂️
Chicago born and raised. One of my high school classmates even played for da Bears.
Want them to change the losing Culture let’s get back to Kicking some Asss
Got into football in 85, admittedly started as a fair weather fan. The rest is (mostly sad) history.
My partner and his family are huge sports fans. My family was not. Moved in with his family after graduation and watched the Bears game every Sunday since then and over the years became a huge fan of football. It took a little bit of time maybe 2-3 years to get more into but as my brain matured, I realized football was actually fun to watch and have loved watching the bears for about 9 years!! Being older now, I love it even more that I understand football better!
I am originally from Minnesota!
Simple, I grew up outside of Chicago, my dad watched games and had snacks, I wanted snacks.
Never realized what that nut mix was gunna cost me…
Grew up in the burbs and every Sunday somebody had a get together to watch the game. My love for deviled eggs and ham roll ups started as well on Sundays with the Bears in 1983. At least from what I can remember.
I Went to a speaking event hosted by Chris Zorich; ever since then I’ve been a Bears fan.
Walter Payton was one of my dad's heroes
Born and raised a couple hours south of Chicago and grew up with Dad watching the Bears and the Illini so it was just natural that my brothers and I followed in his footsteps.
It's kinda like religion, whatever your parents brought you up with is the route you're generally going to follow.
It’s “The”
Blessed to be from the great state of Illinois
From northwest IN, there’s a lot more Bears fans here than you think. There used to be even more up until the Payton Manning era.
We're all masochist should be the reply for every bears fan.
I grew up in southern Indiana and my family were Bears fans before the Colts moved to Indianapolis, some gravitated to the horseshoe, but I stayed loyal to Da Bears. I was 5 during the Super Bowl Shuffle and remember it well. Walter Payton was my hero and I wore Roos religiously. I also loved me some Fridge. Being an Indiana kid I gravitated more towards basketball during my elementary and teen years, it was nice to be a Bulls fan during that time. Once I went to college I got back into watching football and just so happened the 2001 season was the first season where I got serious about not missing a game. That was a fun ride to get back on the bus, but it’s been a little bumpy since then.
born in rockford, illinois. dad and i watched them every sunday from when i was 3 years old
I was born 25 miles from Chicago, that's what it took for me. I became a Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks, and White Sox fan basically from the moment I was born.
Walter Payton ❤️ Sweetness
I’m a transplant from SoCal who grew up in Raider Nation. Didn’t have a team in adulthood though and I love Chicago so I adopted Da Bears.
i never really cared much for football growing up (back when Vegas had 0 pro sports teams). When i hit about 15 i started just picking an underdog team each year and seeing how they did. i’m always a sucker for the little guy showing up. one season i picked the bears…..
and the rest is history. 🐻⬇️
my uncle. my dad isn't in to sports and my mom got me into cubs/bulls, but my uncle bought me a Matt forte jersey for my 6th or 7th birthday and I was hooked. would (and still do) watch every sunday🐻⬇️
I was born in it. Molded by it.
Born in chicagoland
Two words: Walter Payton
I live in the upper peninsula of Michigan. My best friend was two years older than I was and he was a Bears fan. I always wanted to be like him, so I was a Bears fan. Been a fan since the since mid 70’s. Way too many Packers fans up here. Been taking a beating for a long time. Hopefully we can start giving it back to them.
Some of you merely adopted the darkness. I was born into it. Molded by it. I didn’t see the light until I was already a man.
Born into it. June 9th 1983 my grandpa brad Bear's Jersey for newborns to the hospital. I bleed orange all day everyday!!!!
My grandpa was watching the nfc championship game in 85. I was 5 years old. I saw Mike Singletary stop Eric Dickerson short of a first down.
Been bearing down ever since!
My dad was born in Winfield, outside of Chicago and was Bears fan. Also, I was/am a HUGE fan of Walter Payton.
Loved defense and the Bears were great at defense, plus stuff like this made me totally dig them when I was an impressionable kid back in the 80s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd8FAq-yk0s
By birthright
My Grandpa was born and raised near Wrigley Field. He told us as a kid they would pay the kids in tickets to clean up the stadium after Cubs and Bears games. He became a diehard fan of both and passed it down!
Born and raised in Chicago. That’s my team
Born and bred in the Chi. I was 5 when they won their only Super Bowl. Super Bowl shuffle was a hit.
When i got emancipated my friend's family let me stay with them for a few months while I worked through the process of renting a place they were bears fans so I became one
Moved to Chitown suburb in 1973 at age 10. Walter was drafted 2 years later, and the rest is history.
I’m from the NW of UK I have no reasons for this suffering
Born in Da Region. Bears games on TV every Sunday.
I became a bulls fan when i was really young and when i started getting into football the only logical option was the bears to continue the chicago tradition (im not from the US so my city doesnt matter for who i root for and no one in my family cares for the nfl)
Genetics. Generational.
Birthright
I was born w this curse.
I’m from West Virginia. I casually followed WVU football instead of the NFL, but when I moved to Chicago for a training program, I met and married a diehard Bears fan and have been drinking the Kool-Aid ever since. I only planned to live here one or two years before going back East, but it’s been 7.
No regrets.
Well…except I can’t get pepperoni rolls. However, giardinera is amazing.
Rams moved from St. Louis and I moved here around the same time. Kansas City was a close second interestingly enough
Watching games on Sunday with my dad. He had one of those large round pins that played the fight song by pressing a button. We’d play the song every time
Born in the mid-80s too young for the ‘85 Bears but young enough to know it was a thing! I was about 7-8 years old but I knew it was right to hate Don Majkowski. 🤣
I’ve experienced very few peaks and plenty of valleys
I live in southwestern Illinois & was raised in a baseball family (cardinal nation ⚾), but a lot of the guys at work are big football fans. The guy I work closest with is a massive Packers fan, so I initially started wearing Bears gear to troll him. I started watching games and following each season. From there it grew into a genuine love for the team.
My mom was a Bears fan and a Cubs fan. My uncles are too. She used to watch a lot of the games when they would come on, so I watched with her.
Turning TV 📺 on watching the 85 Bears 🐻 as a young kid.
From Indiana, no one in my family had a pro team except my cousins in Michigan. They didn’t want to root for the Lions, so here we are
Born in Chicago and raised a bears fan. My kids were not but I still raised them to be bears fans.
The 1982 NFL edition of sports illustrated had number 34 on the cover read the article and had to see if he was as good as the article was suggesting fell in love with the player fell in love with the team my younger brother is a die hard bears fan my son always has at least one article of bears merch on at all times hasn’t always been wine and roses but Chicago is my team forever and always BEAR DOWN
Geography
To modify a great song by Eddie Vedder:
When you're born in Chicago you're blessed and you're healed
The first time you walk into Soldier Field
Half family from Chicago other half northern Indiana before the Colts came to the Capital so all were Bears fans who witnessed the now mythological/fireside story of the 85 Bears
we're officially at "this thread" point of the off-season. You can set your watch by it, lol.
I was born in a suburb of Chicago. That’s all it took.
Aurora born, oklahoma raised, florida currently. Been bears fan probably since birth. Cubs fan too. I've been lucky enough to see both teams win a championship.
Who do people in Oklahoma root for? Cowboys?
Cowboys or chiefs except the weird ones the root for bears lol
Not the Cowboys. That’s like a Sooners fan rooting for the Longhorns.
respectable answer indeed
You merely adopted the Bears.
I was born in it. Molded by it.
Why, I hadn’t seen a playoff game until I was a young man, and by then it was DISAPPOINTING.
Yup, born straight into the pain
This guy born in the greater Chicagoland areas
Bandwagon