1997 Chicago Bears season
Encyclopedia
The 1997 Chicago Bears
season was their 78th regular season
completed in the National Football League
. The club posted a 4-12 record under head coach Dave Wannstedt
. It was the club's first 4 win season since the club posted a 4-10 record in 1975
.
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
season was their 78th regular season
Regular season (NFL)
The National Football League regular season begins the weekend after Labor Day. Each team plays 16 games during a 17-week period. Traditionally, the majority of each week's games are played on Sunday afternoon, with weekly games on Sunday night and Monday night, and occasional games on Thursday...
completed in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. The club posted a 4-12 record under head coach Dave Wannstedt
Dave Wannstedt
Dave Wannstedt is current Assistant Head Coach/Inside Linebackers Coach for the Buffalo Bills in the National Football League. He was most recently head coach of the University of Pittsburgh football team, a position he held for six seasons. Wannstedt is also the former head coach of the Miami...
. It was the club's first 4 win season since the club posted a 4-10 record in 1975
1975 Chicago Bears season
The 1975 Chicago Bears season was their 56th regular season completed in the National Football League. The club posted another 4-10 record, in the first season under Jack Pardee.-NFL Draft:-Schedule:-Standings: -References:...
.
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | TV Time | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 1, 1997 | at Green Bay Packers Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions... |
L 38-24 | FOX 12:00pm | |
| 2 | September 7, 1997 | Minnesota Vikings Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960... |
L 27-24 | FOX 12:00pm | |
| 3 | September 14, 1997 | Detroit Lions Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and... |
L 32-7 | FOX 12:00pm | |
| 4 | September 21, 1997 | at New England Patriots New England Patriots The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National... |
L 31-3 | FOX 12:00pm | |
| 5 | September 28, 1997 | at Dallas Cowboys Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas... |
L 27-3 | FOX 3:15pm | |
| 6 | October 5, 1997 | New Orleans Saints New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League .... |
L 20-17 | FOX 12:00pm | |
| 7 | October 12, 1997 | Green Bay Packers Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions... |
L 24-23 | FOX 12:00pm | |
| 8 | Bye | ||||
| 9 | October 27, 1997 | at Miami Dolphins Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League... |
W 36-33 | FOX 12:00pm | |
| 10 | November 2, 1997 | Washington Redskins Washington Redskins The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,... |
L 31-8 | FOX 12:00pm | |
| 11 | November 9, 1997 | at Minnesota Vikings Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960... |
L 29-22 | FOX 12:00pm | |
| 12 | November 16, 1997 | New York Jets New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League... |
L 23-15 | NBC 12:00pm | |
| 13 | November 23, 1997 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West... |
W 13-7 | FOX 12:00pm | |
| 14 | November 27, 1997 | at Detroit Lions Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and... |
L 55-20 | FOX 11:30am | |
| 15 | December 7, 1997 | Buffalo Bills Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League... |
W 20-3 | NBC 12:00pm | |
| 16 | December 14, 1997 | at St. Louis Rams St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,... |
W 13-10 | ESPN 7:15pm | |
| 17 | December 21, 1997 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West... |
L 31-15 | FOX 12:00pm | |
Standings
| NFC Central | ||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green Bay Packers 1997 Green Bay Packers season The 1997 Green Bay Packers season concluded with the team winning its second consecutive NFC championship, but losing in a 31-24 upset to John Elway's Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXII... |
13 | 3 | 0 | .813 | 422 | 282 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1997 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season The 1997 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season began with the team trying to improve on a 6-10 season from 1996. The 1997 season was notable for several reasons... |
10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 299 | 263 |
| Detroit Lions 1997 Detroit Lions season The 1997 season marked the Lions qualifying for the playoffs. Bobby Ross replaced Wayne Fontes as head coach. The highlight of the season was Barry Sanders becoming the third player in NFL history to rush for at least 2,000 yards in a season.-Staff:... |
9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 379 | 306 |
| Minnesota Vikings 1997 Minnesota Vikings season 1997 was the 37th year of season play for the Minnesota Vikings and the 78th regular season of the National Football League. The Vikings finished with a record of nine wins and seven losses. Their record was good enough to qualify for a wild card berth... |
9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 354 | 359 |
| Chicago Bears | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 263 | 421 |
Roster
| Chicago Bears 1997 roster | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
Tight Ends
|
Offensive Linemen
Todd Burger Todd Richard Burger is a former professional American football player. Burger grew up in Clark, New Jersey and is a graduate of Arthur L. Johnson High School. He attended Penn State University where he played four years under legendary coach Joe Paterno. In his professional career, he played in... G Andy Heck Andrew Robert Heck is a former American football offensive lineman in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins, Chicago Bears, and Seattle Seahawks. He is the current offensive line coach for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars. He attended W.T. Woodson High School... T Chris Gray (American football) Christopher William Gray is a former American football guard of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round of the 1993 NFL Draft... C Jimmy Herndon James Scott Herndon is a former professional American football player who played offensive tackle for five seasons for the Chicago Bears and the Houston Texans. He also played for the Jacksonville Jaguars.... T Greg Huntington Gregory Gerard Huntington is a former American football center in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Chicago Bears. He played college football at Penn State University and was drafted in the fifth round of the 1993 NFL Draft.... C Todd Perry ----Todd Perry is a presently inactive tour professional tennis player from Australia.Perry turned turned professional in 1998. He played more doubles than singles, and his most usual partner was the Swedish Simon Aspelin... G Chris Villarrial Chris Villarrial is a former American football guard who played with the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills in the National Football League. He played college football at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.... G Casey Wiegmann Casey Peter Wiegmann is an American football center for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 1996... C Defensive Linemen
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Linebackers
Daryl Carter Daryl Carter is a former linebacker in the National Football League. He was a member of the Chicago Bears during the 1997 NFL season.-References:... OLB Bryan Cox Bryan Keith Cox is a former American football linebacker who played twelve seasons in the NFL from 1991 through 2002. He was a member of the New England Patriots club that won Super Bowl XXXVI... ILB Ron Cox For the football player of the same name see Ron Cox .Ron Cox , is a driver in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. He was the 1999 Rookie of the Year in that series, and has 31 top-ten finishes so far. He is also a veteran of the U.S. Army... ILB Sean Harris Sean Harris is a British actor, who is best known for his performance as Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis in the film 24 Hour Party People. He grew up in Norwich, Norfolk, where he lived until he was 23.... ILB Barry Minter Barry Antoine Minter is a former National Football League linebacker for the Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns.Minter played college football for the University of Tulsa... LB Anthony Peterson Anthony Peterson is a professional boxer.-Amateur career:Peterson had an outstanding amateur career, and was the 2003 National Golden Gloves Lightweight Champion. In 2004 he lost twice to Mexican American Vicente Escobedo at 132 lbs which cost him his place in Athens... LB Jim Schwantz James William Schwantz is the Mayor of Palatine, Illinois. He is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League for the Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys, and the San Francisco 49ers.... LB Defensive Backs
Special Teams
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1997 Chicago Bears draft choices
| Round | Pick | Name | Position | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 38 | John Allred | TE | USC University of Southern California The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university... |
| 3 | 69 | Bob Sapp Bob Sapp Robert Malcolm "Bob" Sapp is an American kickboxer, mixed martial artist, professional wrestler, actor, comedian and former professional American football player. Sapp currently has a combined fight record of 21–21–0, mostly fighting in Japan... |
G | Washington University of Washington University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University... |
| 4 | 105 | Darnell Autry Darnell Autry Harrington Darnell Autry is a former American football player who played college football at Northwestern University. In his sophomore season, he helped lead the Northwestern Wildcats to the Big Ten Championship and the 1996 Rose Bowl... |
RB | Northwestern Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees.... |
| 4 | 108 | Marcus Robinson | WR | South Carolina University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House... |
| 5 | 141 | Van Hiles | DB | Kentucky University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky... |
| 6 | 196 | Shawn Swayda | DL | Arizona State |
| 6 | 200 | Richard Hogans | LB | Memphis University of Memphis The University of Memphis is an American public research university located in the Normal Station neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee and is the flagship public research university of the Tennessee Board of Regents system.... |
| 6 | 201 | Ricky Parker | DB | San Diego State |
| 7 | 210 | Mike Miano Mike Miano Mike Miano is a former American football player who played the position of defensive tackle. He is currently a Physical Education and Health teacher for Department of Defense Education Activity... |
DL | Missouri State |
| 7 | 233 | Marvin Thomas | DL | Memphis University of Memphis The University of Memphis is an American public research university located in the Normal Station neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee and is the flagship public research university of the Tennessee Board of Regents system.... |