As someone who never saw him play I always wondered how good he was. I know he wasnt a pass rushing Dlinemen and more of a run stopper at NT he did mange 29.5 sacks tho. Is he on par or even better than a guy like Vince willfork?
I was wondering today who would be the closest modern-era player comparison to William Perry, if one exists. Also curious, do you think WP would have done as well in today's pass-heavy league?
edit: and while I have the mic, what do you think the trade value on Fuller is? So many question marks on him... a sixth?
Note: As I am typing this, Morgan Freeman is reading it back to me....It's weird yet sublime.
I was not born before or during 1985-86. It would take me 2 more years to see the light of the sun. I was born toward the end of the glory days of Ditka and Payton, of the Punky QB and the Refrigerator. I was born and gained memory in the Wannstedt era. I did not enjoy watching the Bears and the Packers because we would either get close and lose, or completely fall flat from the beginning of the game. And so, having to sit through a Packers game was worse than taking a belt from the old man, because there was no hope that it would end soon. I had heard many stories about Walter Payton from my father, how Sweetness was beheld by every Bear fan. I had never seen him play and would not until many, many years later on YouTube. This is special, as much as my father revered over #34 during my childhood, the day came that Walter Payton passed away due to liver cancer. 15 years and 6 days ago from the time of this post.
The next game that week was against the hated Packers. My father and I could not stand to watch it at home, so we decided to do something nice together and listen to it in the car. We went driving through southwestern Wisconsin (a lovely countryside with a decent cafe in Prarie du Chien) away from Mount Carroll and listened to the game instead. And as the game progressed, the Bears took the lead, and had the lead until the last few minutes of the game when Brett Favre would do like he always did, and put the Packers in game winning range. I could see the clouds starting to roll in. The announcers on Bears radio were prepared for the let down, as it had happened time and time before. "Well, if Longwell makes this kick, the Packers will win it." Their voices sullen, depressed, and without all hope. But this would not be another normal day, for reasons still unknown to this day, divine intervention would step in.
Thankfully, I was not home to hear Pat Summerall's awful call of the moment, nor to hear John Madden slobber all over Favre's knob as he had done before. Instead, I heard the witnessing of a small miracle.
"Snap is back, the kick is up-BLOCKED! BLOCKED! BLOCKED! BLOCKED!!!"
I did not have to be at Lambeau Field in person to see three grown men in a cramped radio booth to know they were jumping up and down. Brian Robinson was the giver of the last earthen miracle of one Walter Payton. The Bears had won. The clouds started to part, the sun shone down over Grant County, WI. Voices of sullen despair had turned into cheers and cries of hope. The Packers were sullied in defeat. Brett Favre was sullied in defeat. In that moment, wars around the world came to a sudden standstill. The ills of the world were cured. The economy was surging forward. The government was working properly. If even for a brief moment, all was right with the world.
Even after that, beating the Packers still provides quite the bright spot. But after November of 1999, there will be none brighter, than the Walter Payton Game.
