The STRANGEST Quarterback Situation in Chicago Bears HISTORY | Bears @ Lions (1971)

Prior to a 1971 NFL game between the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears, Bears head coach Jim Dooley decided to move into Bobby Douglass' apartment to make sure he and his new starting quarterback were on the same page. As crazy as that plan sounds, it actually worked. This is the story behind that bizarre incident, as well as what might've turned out to be the most tragic game in NFL history (the Chuck Hughes Game)
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#nfl #bears #nflthrowback #football #lions
Members of the 1971 Bears:
Bobby Douglass
Jack Concannon
Kent Nix
Cliff Hardy
Jerry Moore
Joe Taylor
Cecil Turner
Cyril Pinder
Don Shy
Bob Jeter
Jimmy Gunn
Ross Brupbacher
Charlie Ford
Jim Grabowski
Bill Tucker
Jim Harrison
Ray Ogden
Gale Sayers
George Farmer
Garry Lyle
Dick Gordon
Ron Smith
Joe Moore
Gene Hamlin
Dick Butkus
Rich Coady
Larry Rowden
Doug Buffone
Glen Holloway
Randy Jackson
George Seals
Jeff Curchin
Tony McGee
Jim Cadile
Steve Wright
Dave Hale
Bill Staley
John Hoffman
Earl Thomas
Mac Percival
Jim Seymour
Willie Holman
Ed O'Bradovich
Bobby Joe Green
Bob Wallace
Jim Dooley (head coach)

[@BackupQuarterbackHighlights]

My favorite Douglass quote is _”Bobby Douglass could blast a football right through the wall of a brick house...if he could hit a f***ing house in the first place..”_

[@rickarnold7778]

That's really very funny!

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

Yup. Maybe that's why he played for Kansas.

[@robertkeefer1552]

I love NFL films showing Abe Gibron yelling at Douglass to come over for a chewing out.

[@chadwickwhite6107]

"DOUGLASS!!!!" 👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆

[@84sp84]

And the exasperated finger hook too.

[@84sp84]

@Matt Joseph as they say, you can’t make chicken salad with chicken s##t.

[@rickarnold7778]

As a teenager, I remember watching the Jets play the Bears. For some reason, I seem to remember that it was the first time the two teams met in the regular season after the NFL/AFL merger. Abe Gibron was the head coach. Something happened, and the Bears were penalized. I'll never forget how Gibron went totally ballistic, and started screaming at refs. from on and off the field. The Bears ended up getting repeatedly penalized, probably for unsportsman like conduct by Abe Gibron.

[@andrewpadaetz5549]

"You're ruining this game...you make it like a circus!" That's at least one of the sound bites from Gibron that NFL Films made famous.

[@DolFan316]

Douglass played ten years and only once threw more than 5 TD passes in a season (9 in '72) which makes his 4 TD passes VS the Bills even more bizarre.

[@dallasbrubaker6054]

@Matt Joseph And the Lions were mediocre, then and now.

[@armorybrunotjr.3204]

The four touchdown effort against Buffalo was Bobby Douglass's only start of the 1970 season. He broke his wrist and was out for the year.

[@natevart4156]

@@armorybrunotjr.3204exactly ppl are misinformed

[@marcdaley]

The living arrangement came to an abrupt end when Dooley insisted on spooning. This became the inspiration for the Adam Sandler/Jack Nicholson classic Anger Management

[@DillonDigitalVideo]

Actually, it became the inspiration for the Steve Martin/John Candy classic "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles"... "THOSE AREN'T PILLOWS!!!!!"

[@adamplace1414]

I'd say the worst three game QB stretch involved Nathan Peterman - and to tell you how bad it was, for 2.5 of those games, he was on the bench.

[@chrisrifkin3670]

I bet his qb rating was so bad that he would have been better off spiking the ball on every play

[@olofpalme63]

This is such a great doc., I'm going to remaster it in 1440p with additional footage, same narration.

[@JahNuhThunDeeTheOneAndOnly]

Why is it that the Bears have not only been unable to find a franchise quarterback since the 1940s, but they can’t even find a consistently decent starter for the most part?

[@olofpalme63]

...the McCaskey's

[@hotdogwater7037]

cuz they dont let the best guy play. they (the mccaskeys) make them play the most expensive. they promise to start a guy without making him earn the job (see- andy dalton, rex grossman, MIKE GLENNON)

[@carlweaver3243]

They have no leadership in the Front Office. They don't have a Football Guy at the top to make important decisions. The GM has made huge mistakes at the QB position ( Glennon, Trubisky, Foles, Dalton). Glennon and Foles a waste of money. Trubisky a waste of time. Dalton soon to be another waste of time and money. His 1st Round Draft choices are busts, for the most part. He is in way over his head as GM for the Bears. Was hired as a recommendation from a consultant, who was hired by the President to help him find a GM. The HC talks a good game, but can't deliver his so called High Powered Offense, mainly because he lacks a quality QB and Blue Chip players, but also because he quite possibly can't coach. The GM and HC are betting their jobs on this new kid Fields. If Fields turns out a bust or injured, GM and HC are gone, only to be replaced by more ineptness by the idiot President.

[@hotdogwater7037]

@@carlweaver3243 all true. theyre lucky to be betting on fields for their jobs. trubisky shouldve gotten pace fired alone. and fields should be starting right away, but noo. they promised dalton hes the starter. so dumb. whats fields gonna learn from watching dalton throw int's and getting sacked?

[@pikupanndropof7339]

Douglass and John Riggins running around Lawrence, Kansas during college, bet there are some stories there.

[@DolFan316]

I'm not sure who was in more danger, the women or the livestock. (Rim shot.)

[@pikupanndropof7339]

@@DolFan316 Hey now. They played at the University of Kansas. All the livestock was down the road at Kansas State.

[@fabioburgos878]

This is pretty strange, but to say it's the strangest QB situation in Bears history might be a bit of hyperbole. In the train wreck of last 70 years of Bear QBing you have Rusty Lisch refusing to back into the game b/c Ditka swore at him, Walter Payton playing QB, Doug Flutie being thrown into a playoff game after two starts..and that's just the 80s. Cade McNown, Moses Moreno, Rick Mirer, Cutler, Mike Glennon, Biscuit. That's a lot of strange, lol.

[@ericthomas917]

Don't forget Rex (Is) Grossman

[@redmustangredmustang]

@@ericthomas917 and to think that the best out of all of them when it came to stats is Jay Cutler. If the Bears ever got a good QB who wasn't as glass as Jim McMahon was, they might actually win a Super Bowl or two.

[@geekay4703]

Exactly.

[@brucewettin]

Payton had 8 passing TDs

[@mick2spic]

The Bears could of had Kurt Warner twice. Once when he was still a grocery bagger and I think he sliced his finger or something right before a try out with them. And after his St Louis Super Bowl tenure the Bears were stuck with Grossman but Warner was available. Kurt said it was down between the Bears and Cardinals and dumb fuck Bears said he’d have to compete with Grossman for the starter job instead just giving it to him. He said fuck that and went to Arizona.

[@DolFan316]

Bears QBs since Sid Luckman historically might as well have spiked the ball into the ground on every single play.

[@NosferatusCoffin]

Outside of McMahon.

[@DolFan316]

@@NosferatusCoffin Outside of McMahon's one season in '85 would be more accurate.

[@eugenedenbrook322]

@@DolFan316 Not his only good season, really, but his inability to stay healthy prevented him from being a great QB.

[@kevinmiller6324]

@@eugenedenbrook322 Outside of Sid Luckman, the Bears have never had a decent quarterback. McMahon was injured most of the time, which prevented him from being better than what he was.

[@NosferatusCoffin]

Luckman and Slingin' Sammy Baugh were the NFL's first two great QBs. I remember reading years ago Luckman saying, "I like to watch Sammy play. Everytime he throws the ball, I learn something." To me, that is the ULTIMATE compliment.

[@olofpalme63]

This is the only (historically correct) doc. I've ever seen concerning the 1971 Chicago Bears. Many people forget that the '71 Bears held the final wild-card spot (by virtue of defeating the eventual Super Bowl Champion Dallas Cowboys) right up to week 10 before they imploded against the Lions at Soldier Field, and were eliminated the following week when the Miami Dolphins destroyed them 34-3 on National Television. In retrospect, Chicago ran out of gas after they defeated the Redskins in a controversial win, that George Allen not only protested on the field, but in the Tribune and Sun-Times the following day..."there was nothing wrong with with Butkus' extra point conversion, only, Willie Holman had no business being in the end zone at the time it occurred" ...you don't see or hear about that particular part of the game from the propaganda machine known as NFL Films. But I was in the North end zone where it all happened, and George Allen was correct, Willie Holman should have been flagged for being ineligible down field. Never-the-less; Excellent doc! excellent work Jag!

[@PrepTopia1]

They won that game vs. the Cowboys despite only getting SEVEN first downs all game (to Dallas' 26), thanks to seven turnovers (including 4 picks). Then the wheels fell off.

[@olofpalme63]

Thanks!

[@brianreid4567]

I was waiting for him to say spike the ball 🏈 on the ground every play

[@thelastmanonearth2631]

I was so pleasantly surprised he didn't! I'm very, very over it.

[@TheAlfrulz]

It was a different sport and situation, but Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins spent his first four years in the NHL living in owner Mario Lemieux's house.

[@jmlapedis49]

There was another important injury in the 13-0 loss to the 49ers: It was last game of his Gale Sayers's career.

[@nicholassmith479]

I noticed the headline in the newspaper Nix, Sayers out. What a blow to the team.

[@tomjacoubowsky275]

There were a lot of Sayers connections with the 49ers. He played his first regular season game against the 49ers, his last regular season game against the 49ers. He had his six touchdown game against the 49ers and had his devastating knee injury against the 49ers.

[@jmlapedis49]

@@tomjacoubowsky275 And, for some reason the 49ers drafted Ken Willard instead of Sayers (and Butkus)!

[@andrewpadaetz5549]

@@jmlapedis49 Willard didn't turn out to be terrible as he was SF's most consistent running back in the late 60's/early 70s before Vic Washington was drafted in 1971, but imagine the Niners defense with Butkus...I think they get to the Super Bowl in 1970 and maybe even win.

[@mayduck1]

I hope the NFL the Detroit Lions and all the NFL talking heads on the networks this October mention Chuck Hughes on the 50th anniversary of his death and the Lions should have a tribute or something honoring the late Mr Hughes.

[@loreauvillephil]

at about @1:56 - Did anyone else catch Herb Adderley (#26) getting leveled by George Seals (#67)????

[@brucewettin]

that was great!

[@levikatriel]

1. Before Jim Dooley, the bears had Halas as there head coach. In the previous season, he tried to get league permission to bet on the bears winning the division for a charitable cause. He wasn’t allowed. Official Jaguar Gator 9 made a video about that attempt. 2. It is a good thing that he wasn’t allowed, as the bears didn’t win the division. One of the games they lost was to the lions, where a lions receiver accidentally scored a touchdown. Official Jaguar Gator 9 made a video about that touchdown.

[@nasetvideos]

Great story--Starting my weekend off with another fantastic video. And yes, I don't see that living arrangement ever happening again in the NFL....but it worked :)

[@denisceballos9745]

Douglass (10) may not have been successful overall as a QB in Chicago, but he was fun to watch, especially when he took off and ran. One year, he almost rushed for 1,000 yards, which was the big rushing milestone in those 14 game seasons. Seemed to get his helmet knocked off a lot too.

[@edpinkerton7947]

Like a lot of QBs of that era didn’t wear a chinstrap

[@denisceballos9745]

Matt Joseph; He was ahead of his time!

[@edpinkerton7947]

Almost 7 yards a carry and in a 14 game season. Desperate times call for desperate measures

[@olofpalme63]

@@edpinkerton7947 ...I don't care what anyone says about Bobby Douglass, he was the only workhorse the Bears had on offence, when you're being coached by a couple of dullards like Dooley & Gibron, its truly amazing the Bears won any games at all from '69 thru '74.

[@edpinkerton7947]

@@olofpalme63 Douglass was a stud stuck on a team full of losers

[@CTubeMan]

RIP Chuck Hughes This unofficial Official Jaguar Gator 9 historian believes you could make thousands more videos and not come up with another story of a coach moving in with his quarterback. Though maybe Lane Kiffin or Tom Cable should have moved in with JaMarcus Russell.

[@ShowstopperHerbB]

I concur with all of that 💯

[@stevengriffin5349]

I went to Oakland in 1972 and saw the Bears . Got there late and listened to game in the parking lot . Opening kick off was returned by Bears lineman for TD . The whole stadium shook and took like 20 seconds .

[@dallasbrubaker6054]

It was Ron Smith, a strong safety

[@tevinsherrill5653]

The Bears and getting into strange situations with quarterbacks. Nothing's new.

[@DolFan316]

@Matt Joseph No. No it's not.

[@josephoshea1442]

It was interesting you listed the 1971 Bears rosters as many of these players made cameos (and a few, such as Ed O'Bradovich) had speaking parts in the original "Brian's Song." The reason for this was that much of the movie was shot at the Bears' training camp at the College of St. Joseph in Rensellear, IN.

[@johnnyraymond429]

I guess Matt Nagy should've tried this with Trubisky, then.

[@DolFan316]

Maybe if the '72 Bears had taken away a few carries from Jim Harrison (team leading 167 at 3.7 yards per attempt) Douglass and his 6.9 yards per rush would've broken 1000. All he'd have needed was 5 extra carries at that rate. (Sighs.)

[@RWildekrav66]

Who was the other half back , I can’t remember his name but both backs were from Missouri . And we’re BAD as in lousy !

[@DolFan316]

Imagine the amount of internet hand-wringing and teeth gnashing by Bears fans if it had existed back then 🤯

[@chadwickwhite6107]

Well Bobby Douglass AND this video are WAY BETTER than SPIKING the football into the ground on EVERY single OFFENSIVE play!!!!

[@joachimguderian4048]

Douglass could’ve really benefited from some accuracy exercises like Bart Starr used to do in HS and College. Throwing lotsa balls thru hanging tires at different distances and after getting really good at that, set them swinging. It might sound old school or whatever but it DOES work. You throw a 100-200 balls a day at those tires every single day and your accuracy will increase dramatically

[@kentfreeman8674]

Any time i see a team spiking a ball i think of your channel nice story time this time

[@armorybrunotjr.3204]

The Chicago Bears had a franchise quarterback in Sid Luckman (1939-50) and he is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Billy Wade passed the Bears to a World Championship in 1963. Rudy Bukich led the league in passing in 1965, but the 1970s were a forgettable decade for anyone playing behind the line of scrimmage. Jack Concannon,Kent Nix,Bobby Douglass, Gary Huff,Bob Avellini,Mike Phipps and Vince Evans all had promise, but were erratic. Douglass was better off a running back. In 1972, he gained 938 yards to set a since broken rushing mark for a quarterback. This offset his rather disappointing mark of completing only 38 percent of his passes.

[@richardadams4928]

I particularly remember Phipps and Avellini being dubbed "The Boomerang Twins" for throwing so many passes that came back (via interception) ... 😆

[@russellmurray3964]

The Bears would have had a great QB in the 50's if they played George Blanda during that decade instead of the mediocrities (Zeke Bratkowski . . . ugh!) that they kept trotting out there with dismal regularity. Halas was convinced Blanda didn't have what it took to be an NFL QB and only let him kick. Turned out he sure had what it took to be an AFL QB, all the way to the Hall of Fame.

[@Davepool-hs7vr]

Only 38%? That’s inexcusable!

[@lsmftymf]

My oldest brother mentions the subject of this video to the point of ad nauseum. After his retirement from tackle football, Douglass pitched for a short time with the Iowa Oaks, the Chicago White Sox Triple-A affiliate in 1979.

[@garystanoff1796]

I remember when Chuck Hughes died. Crazy time.

[@larryaldama1673]

😔🏈

[@darryljorden9177]

These are the Bears that convinced me, a Chicago native, to become a Steeler fan.

[@darryljorden9177]

@Matt Joseph Not really. Glad they won (it was the first major championship for the city in a long time). But the Steelers were my team.

[@karlcooper8460]

This happened against who? You guessed it the Lions.

[@ciesaro]

If I recall after his football days were over Douglass tried out as a pitcher with the White Sox

[@thomasanderson6124]

I thought that at one time the bears wanted to move Bobby Douglas to running back, but he refused to do it.

[@floydjr1478]

These are the best!

[@cowyemrsox]

Reminds me of the history teacher in Fast Times at Ridgemont High when he went to Spacoli's house to help him pass a test.

[@somtngwong7781]

Long ago, a Bears fan told me Douglass was a good enough athlete he could have played almost any position on the team. Unfortunately, he was playing quarterback.

[@jeffallred1481]

Lost in the story of the '71 Bears is the fact that the San Francisco game the week prior was the last regular season game of Gale Sayers career, although it is referenced in the article at 6:48. Sayers missed the rest of the season (not two weeks). He retired in the '72 preseason. The team was 6-3 with wins over Minnesota, Dallas, Washington and Detroit before they collapsed and lost their last 5 games.

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

I remember Bobby Douglas, he supposedly had a strong arm. Kansas was such a shite football school that I was rooting for him.

[@johnt.kennedy3856]

Was?......still is.

[@tonyischotter4723]

Didn't bobby have a neck like a horse him and Joe kapp too both could carry a team

[@tonyischotter4723]

@@johnt.kennedy3856 well guys we all know football is a hard game. Amit if times the teamm making the least mistakes wins

[@johnt.kennedy3856]

@@tonyischotter4723 I was a Big 8 fan, and they were bad in that. No offense to KU but they stink.

[@williamhild1793]

Douglass just should have been a halfback. He was a great runner, but God...he SUCKED as a passer. I used to watch just about every game in the 1970's...my favorite football decade. And the 1970's had a lot of BRUTAL quarterbacks. But there was also Staubach, Tarkenton, Griese, Bradshaw, Stabler, and a few more who were all-timers.

[@davidfiddleman2312]

Maybe more of a fullback given the way he ran, but…yeah.

[@MatthewChristianMurray]

@Matt Joseph - AND he was a lefty? The original Tebow!

[@mega13man1]

The running is what I remembered too ..

[@zvbx]

He also had a stint with the Chicago White Sox organization as a pitcher.

[@CZECHMATE650]

I love this channel!!! This one is ALMOST as good as Tom Tupa ( Jets punter & 911 QB) almost beating the Patriots!! That's a story!!

[@rich7787]

In hindsight, Urban living with Trevor would probably have been EPIC

[@Davepool-hs7vr]

Do a video on Jim Harbaugh’s audible that led to Minnesota’s comeback against the Bears in 1992.

[@loreauvillephil]

Heard that someone made the statement that Douglass could throw the ball through a barn house door around Hank Stram. Stram replied "that's assuming he could hit it".

[@cdjhyoung]

...but, but, but this was against the Detroit Lions. We all know the Lions have many and magical ways to loose football games. Just ask any of their hard core fans.

[@gordons-alive4940]

0.0? I bet you could just spike the ball into the ground on every play and do better than that.

[@NillyNilly546]

The 1970's were something else man 🤣, when I read the thumbnail I was confused but hey it paided off against the lions & also the Chuck Hughes tragedy will forever live in football history, such a heartbreaking moment.

[@okolo22000]

A KZbinr by the name of Mikerophone did a video on Chuck Hughes.

[@maxthepupp]

Its good Bobby Douglass diet move in with Abe Gibron! Bobby be showing up to training camp about 4 lasagnas over his playing weight!😂

[@bryantsteury8910]

Douglas just looks SO unathletic during his drop back, my god

[@eagebeazthawk290]

Sad

[@markbrian7179]

Bobby Douglass was the Tim Tebow of his day.

[@DolFan316]

Except without the inexplicable winning that made people hate him.

[@tomjacoubowsky275]

I was thinking same thing when I saw his throwing motion.

[@TheSonicsean]

Wow, the Bears being terrible at quarterback, to the point where the offense is almost literally carried by a great running back? I'm sure that has never ever happened again in team history.

[@geraldbeasley]

Tim Tebow Sr.

[@olofpalme63]

I saw Bobby Douglass play every down from 1969 thru 1974 either in person, or on television...so here's a question to all the mind-numbing humps whom constantly parrot anti-Douglass dialog from NFL Films admitted propaganda machine. With every incomplete pass Douglass threw, I wonder how many of those passes bounced off the chests of his receivers? I know I saw balls bouncing off the chests of his targets 100's of times. Fans shouldn't accept every stat they read at whatever stat site they frequent as a measure of how good or bad a QB really is...after all, it is a "team" sport.

[@thelasthandbook6704]

Looks like he was left-handed. The only current NFL QB who is a lefty is Tua Tagovailoa, or 1 for 32 vs. 10% of the population, probably more like 15% or more of males, since left handedness is more common among males than females.

[@stevenbauer4799]

what game plan did douglass need? dude just ran with the ball. probably never threw more than 10 passes in any game.

[@Bundles420]

That is a pretty bold claim in the title

[@christophermichaelfuller5448]

❌ ...and everything was looking good for the '20 Buccaneers, until Tom Brady burglarized Byron Leftwich's neighbor's house... Talk about trying to move in on someone! ❌

[@JonPITBZN]

Are we sure that Dooley hadn't just been kicked out by his wife an figured this would be a good way to save face?

[@michaelbayer9754]

"Worse than if he had spiked the ball on every single play." Do you have to say this in every video about a QB? Or do you just assume folks only watch one of your videos?

[@johne.harris4954]

Love your channel , you do great work, But you are wearing the phrase " spiking the ball on every single play " out. Give it a rest and find some other way to express a teams lack of Production.

[@edgamet8077]

IT'S NOT ION TELEVISION

[@kpat9478]

Worse than Tebow

[@scottconner7930]

50 Years Ago

[@DolFan316]

I'm dishonoring this comment merely by responding to it 😉

[@jamesage24]

@@DolFan316 Hey, c'mon now! The X Years Ago comment is just as important to JG9 videos as spiking the ball into the ground on every single play!!

[@DolFan316]

@@jamesage24 I know, I was poking fun at this one guy who went on a tirade about me "dishonoring" comments by Scott just because I keep pointing out how much better things were back then in general. This person is probably also the reason why some of my comments for these videos have been mysteriously vanishing lately.

[@Lawomenshoops]

The Bears are almost the Bengals of the NFC! Terrible owners and management! Halas as owner was a cheap bastard who didn't know how to run the team. When McMahon was drafted, it was the first time the Bears drafted a QB in the first round in something like 30 years! Then they draft Harbaugh- decent. Then they traded away a #1 for Ricky Mirer, a bust. Then they drafted another bust, Cade McClown. They are a terrible organization.

[@Ditka-89]

😂

[@olofpalme63]

...so-called Chicago Bears' 'Historians" aren't really historians when all they do is parrot what dialog NFL Films manufactures. That doesn't make you an historian, it makes you look like you're brainwashed by propaganda. There's a reason why NFL Films never interviews Larry Csonka for its yearly look at "The Miracle in the Meadowlands" of '78, after what Csonka said in the press the following day...it wasn't a "miracle" at all...more like Malice.