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270 “Gaining a thousand yards in a fourteen-game season”: Bob Greene, “For the record: Go, Jim Brown, go!” Chicago Tribune, November 23, 1983.

271 Now being held at the University of Wisconsin–Platteville: “ ‘Nobody Awes this Football Team,’ ” Chicago Tribune, January 4, 1985.

271 In the lead-up to 1984, however, Payton: Pierson, “Payton,” Chicago Tribune, September 2, 1984.

272 “Sometimes a seed has to be planted”: Kevin Lamb, “Bears Try to Avoid Another Slow Start,” The Sporting News, September 10, 1984.

273 “They’re a bullshit team”: Telander, “On Top of The Pack,” Sports Illustrated, September 24, 1984.

273 Harris led Payton by thirty-four yards: Pierson, “Walter will pass Franco quietly,” Chicago Tribune, September 20, 1984.

274 “As far as I’m concerned”: Bernie Lincicome, “Payton has only Brown left to chase,” Chicago Tribune, September 24, 1984.

274 The Seahawks released Harris: Pat Mealey, “Franco Harris Mum On Release By NFL Seahawks,” Jet, November 26, 1984.

274 In fact, Payton never even viewed footage of Brown: Telander, “On Top of The Pack,” Sports Illustrated, September 24, 1984.

275 “There were a lot of people that hated Ali”: Mike Freeman, Jim Brown: The Fierce Life of an American Hero (New York: Harper, 2006), 175.

275 “My feeling is you’re a sportsman”: Smith, “Only his record will fall,” Chicago Tribune, October 7, 1984.

276 When asked by Michael Janofsky of: Michael Janofsky, “Payton: Team Player On the Move,” The New York Times, October 7, 1984.

276 His game pants, meanwhile, were nothing: McGrane, Sweetness, 13.

279 Moments later, Payton accepted a call: Janofsky, “Call From Reagan Caps Payton’s Day,” The New York Times, October 9, 1984.

CHAPTER 19

280–81 “It’s like a boxer”: Steve Delsohn, Da Bears! (New York: Crown Archetype, 2010), 1.

281 Shelby Jordan, the Raiders’ offensive tackle: Rollow, “Raiders snarl back from locker room,” Chicago Tribune, November 5, 1984.

282 As he walked off the Metrodome turf: Pierson, “A 1st for Bears,” Chicago Tribune, November 26, 1984.

282 The lifespan of an NFL running back: John DeShazier, “New Orleans Saints backup running backs hurt Pierre Thomas’ chances of getting paid,” The Times-Picayune (New Orleans), August 24, 2010.

283 “I asked Ed [Hughes, the offensive coordinator]”: Pierson, “Fresh out of Luckmans,” Chicago Tribune, February 16, 1997.

283 “If Rusty Lisch were the little Dutch boy”: Lincicome, “Lisch second best in battle of third stringers,” Chicago Tribune, December 10, 1984.

284 The Bears were listed as: Verdi, “It’s a Tale of Two Cities,” Chicago Tribune, January 6, 1985.

284 “We’re not going to lose the game”: Pierson, “‘We’re Not Going to Lose,’ ” Chicago Tribune, January 6, 1985.

284 “We know what we have to do to win”: “Payton Might Be Punter Against San Francisco,” The Washington Post, January 1, 1985.

285 “What stood out,” wrote Christine Brennan: Christine Brennan, “Bears Are Sacked Nine Times en Route To a 23–0 Defeat,” The Washington Post, January 7, 1985.

285 San Francisco coach Bill Walsh termed it: Rich Roberts, “For Once, Two Favorites in Super Bowl,” Los Angeles Times, January 7, 1985.

285 “When you wait ten years”: Verdi, “Payton is Brought Down—Hard,” Chicago Tribune, January 7, 1985.

285 On the morning of February 25, 1985: Della L. Palmer, “NFL Star Walter Payton Wins Black Athlete Award,” Jet, February 25, 1985.

288 “This is my eleventh year, and nobody”: Robert W. Creamer, “Payton’s Place,” Sports Illustrated, September 9, 1985.

289 What irked Payton most was the emergence: Mike Berardino, “Refrigerator Chilling Out in Aiken,” The Augusta Chronicle, January 28, 1996.

289 He had a twenty-two-inch neck: Delsohn, Da Bears!, 18.

290 “Unfortunately, when the 49ers beat us”: William D. Murray, “Sports News,” United Press International, October 14, 1985.

290 Here was a coach who, two years earlier: Gary Pomerantz, “Bears Have Found the Right Mix,” The Washington Post, October 15, 1985.

291 He inserted Perry, thus far: Pierson,