The Rise & Self-Destruction of the Greatest Football Team in History: The Chicago Bears and Super Bowl XX

Great reading. I couldn't put it down. Anyone who remembers that '85 season (the 'Fridge, Ditka, Buddy Ryan and the 46 defense, the domination during the play-offs) will love the inside stories about how that season came to be and why that dominating ride ended way too soon.

There were plenty of tidbits here and there throughout the book to keep me interested. There were some things in here I didnt know about and I felt the book did its job adequately. It's worth a read.

How could you go wrong for a Christmas present to a Bear's fan? My cousin loves this book and reads it when his beloved team isn't playing.

This story of a football team illustrates a much more profound element of human psychology - how to handle success. Whether success is a relationship, career, business, or any other endeavor, the lessons here are to be heeded or the result will invariably be the same. To put this in context, the 1985 Chicago Bears football team is arguably the best ever assembled in the modern era. While other teams may have had more success over time, or had 1 less loss, this team is widely regarded as the most dominating. In addition to the on-the-field success, the team created media stars like Mike Ditka, Jim McMahan and "The Fridge", along with established all time greats like Walter Payton, Mike Singletary and Dan Hampton. So what happened? How did it blow up so fast? A classic tale of forgetting to continue what made you successful in the first place. The players and the team became successful by playing harder, and using an almost desperate intensity to how they played the game from a play design perspective to personal and individual motivation. At first this focus (the 46 defense, the frenetic play style) took the league by surprise and gave them a decided advantage, but like most of us with any kind of success, once it was achieved they forgot to keep changing to adapt to the world they created. In addition, they succumbed to the temptation of starting to believe their own press, and became infatuated with their own greatness. Once that happens, it slips away quickly. The detail behind the strategy success and infighting that eroded the spirit of the team, are depicted clearly. After reading this book, which is full of delicious insights and salacious comments amongst the team about each other, it is hard to find where to place the blame. Everyone seemed so wrapped up in the media circus that they all seemed to drift away from the mission. For the football fan, this is a great book, full of strategic detail and player reactions. For the person who wants to better understand the dynamics of how to keep themselves or their organization from getting too full of themselves and their success, the lessons here are easy to see, though often difficult to avoid. The book is written exceptionally well, in that it flows easily, is always interesting, follows a nice chronological progressions, and does what it intends - describe the amazing success and quick burn out of perhaps the greatest football team ever assembled.