One would imagine Jim McMahon would be the first to say he'd want to play quarterback in this modern NFL era. Why not? It's curtailed to his position more than ever before. The rulebook is slanted to gives QBs the maximum chance to excel and they're making a ridiculous amount of money on top of it. Not to mention they're protected like crazy.
He wouldn't have to take the vicious hits he sometimes did with the Bears back in the 1980s. However, people might be surprised to hear him say he's glad he doesn't have to play nowadays. His reason? It doesn't seem like much fun. That might seem a bit odd but it's important to remember that McMahon is a rebel at heart. He loved doing things that were considered controversial.
So try to imagine what things would be like today with social media and cell phone cameras rampant. He told Larry Mayer of ChicagoBears.com that there was a lot more freedom from prying eyes back when he played.
“We were damn good for one and we had a lot of personalities on that team,” McMahon said. “I think back then everybody had a radio show or a TV show. We were out in the public a lot more than a lot of people were at that time.”
The ’85 Bears had a whole lot of fun out in the public, at a time when cell phone cameras and social media didn’t exist.
“I’m glad we didn’t have that kind of stuff around back then because we wouldn’t have had as much fun as we did,” McMahon said.
Jim McMahon always has a unique, insightful perspective
It's interesting to wonder if the that 1985 Bears team would've survived the onslaught of attention and criticism they likely would've received. Then again this is the same team that recorded the Super Bowl Shuffle before they'd even won the game. So it's clear they weren't afraid of negative publicity provided it was in the name of having fun.
Every good era of sports needs that rebellious personality who goes against the grain. Why do you think Baker Mayfield is so popular these days? It isn't because of his talent. There are other guys who can do what he does. It's his brash personality and willingness to say things that others wouldn't dare to. A lot of people love that in a player.
McMahon was that type of guy, and it's why he remains so revered to this day.
