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Chicago Bears jersey number history. It's a fun topic for casual fans. It can become a serious topic for the more superstitious ones. Often people can become convinced a players' fate is tied directly to which number they decide to wear. Going with #53 at linebacker? Feel free to update travel plans to a new team within a couple years. Meanwhile #81 has been very kind to both the wide receiver and defensive line positions over the long decades.
Football, like many other sports, can be weird that way. Perhaps no position explains this better than the quarterbacks. The position has been so underwhelming for so long that fans have resorted to categorizing by levels of bad. They range from okay to utterly horrific. Often even the simplest details like jersey numbers are factored in because people like using math. This despite hating it so very much in school.
So this leads into the inevitable question. Based on jersey history, which quarterback(s) might Chicago want to steer clear of in the upcoming NFL draft?
Bears jersey number history at QB
Deshaun Watson (#4)
- Connor Barth
- Jay Feely
- Brad Maynard
- Moses Moreno
- John Roveto
- Steve Fuller
- Jim Harbaugh
- Steve Walsh
Patrick Mahomes (#5)
- George McAfee
- Billy Stone
Mitch Trubisky (#10)
- Louie Aguiar
- Doug Brien
- Rudy Bukich
- Henry Burris
- Al Campana
- Todd Collins
- Bobby Douglass
- Jaret Holmes
- Dirk Johnson
- Max Komar
- Olindo Mare
- Tommy O’Connell
- Connor Shaw
- Kordell Stewart
- Peter Tom Willis
- Marquess Wilson
DeShone Kizer (#14)
- Ken Gorgal
- Brian Griese
- Wayne Hansen
- Santonio Holmes
- Deonte Thompson
- Willie Thrower
- Eric Weems
The results are fairly clear. Kizer and Trubisky both have their fair share of volume, but not much in the way of value. Specifically the string of quarterbacks who wore #10 and #14 was a parade of disappointment. Even the other positions failed to conjure any former Bear of even reasonable esteem. Not a good sign.
It might be a surprise that the #5 had so few entrants on the list but that's because it's retired. Two players have worn that number in Chicago history dating back to the 1920s. Two. Mahomes though got a welcome boost because one of those players to wear it was George McAfee, a three-time NFL champion and Hall of Famer. So there's the answer to that. However, the nod would go to #4 anyway.
Improvement is never bad
It's hardly a who's-who jersey compared to others but there is no doubt the quality easily outstrips the others. Good news for Watson. Three notable quarterbacks wore it, all of whom had a positive impact on the franchise. Steve Fuller was the reliable backup on the 1985 Super Bowl team. Jim Harbaugh and Steve Walsh both got the team to the playoffs once or twice. Again, not ideal but something to work with. It also included a very solid punter in Brad Maynard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSAbYd1yfcw
Of course this will lead neatly into the next question. What does Bears jersey history have to say regarding Mike Glennon? Fair question. Also not an answer the 27-year old quarterback may want to hear. Rather than take a new number, Glennon decided to stick with his preferred #8 that he wore in Tampa Bay. Understandable enough, but also indicative of a man who didn't do his homework.
See, the #8 has somewhat of a luckless reputation in Chicago. Specifically regarding the quarterbacks position. Among the brigade of ugly include names like Jimmy Clausen, Vince Evans, Rex Grossman, and (gulp) Cade McNown. That literally might be the lineup of the worst QBs the Bears have fielded during the Super Bowl era. A bad omen if ever there was one.
So if nothing else, switching to a quarterback who wears #4 like Watson would be at least a step in the right direction. The number they might want to shoot for in the future, or even convince Watson to wear? That would be #9. Why? The last two quarterbacks to win a championship in Chicago, Jim McMahon (1985) and Bill Wade (1963) wore that digit.
