How many contributors to Super Bowl LV link back to Bears

Share

Believe it or not, the Bears have been connected to many key people headed to Tampa for Super Bowl LV. Coulda, woulda, shoulda trigger warning for any Bears fans who spiral into negative thinking when considering how the team may have fared in parallel universes. For everyone else, scroll on to see how several players, coaches and front office staff in Super Bowl LV were linked to Halas Hall at some point.

6 photos
1/6

Let’s just get the big one out of the way early. We all know what happened. As long as Mahomes plays, the Bears will be reminded of what they missed in the 2017 draft.

2/6

When the Bears fired Lovie Smith and were surveying the market for their next head coach, Arians’ name came up often. He had just completed a season as the Indianapolis Colts’ interim head coach, filling in for Chuck Pagano who was diagnosed with leukemia. Arians did a phenomenal job leading the Colts to the playoffs with rookie QB Andrew Luck that season, and now he’s led the Buccaneers to the Super Bowl with Tom Brady. Instead of hiring Arians, the Bears landed on Marc Trestman.

3/6

In addition to firing Lovie Smith after the 2012, the Bears also fired GM Jerry Angelo. During the search the team narrowed down their candidate list down to two finalists: Phil Emery and Jason Licht. As we know, the Bears ultimately hired Emery, who had some draft hits like Kyle Fuller, Kyle Long, Charles Leno and Alshon Jeffery. But there were a bunch more busts, like Shea McClellin, Will Sutton, Jonathan Bostic, Ego Ferguson and Brandon Hardin.

Licht on the other hand has drafted practically the entire Bucs’ Super Bowl team, including Mike Evans, Vernon Hargreaves, Chris Godwin, Vita Vea, Scotty Miller, Ronald Jones, Jamel Dean, Donovan Smith, Devin White, Ali Marpet, and Antoine Winfield. He’s also made some incredible free-agent signings like Shaquil Barrett and Ndamukong Suh. Finally, Licht deserves credit for cutting bait with his busted No. 1 overall pick, Jameis Winston, and bringing in Tom Brady.

4/6

Stick with me here: In 2009, the Bears traded away a 2010 second-round pick to the Buccaneers for Gaines Adams. The Bucs then flipped that pick, plus a fifth-rounder, to the Raiders. Finally, the Raiders sent that pick to the Patriots, who used it to draft Gronkowski No. 42 overall. The rest is history.

5/6

Similarly, you can follow a trail of draft day trades to link the Chiefs’ burner to the Bears. In 2018, Pace sent two picks to the Patriots to move up and select Anthony Miller. The Pats sent one of those picks to the Rams to move up and select Joejuan Williams. Finally, the Rams traded the pick to the Chiefs, who used it to select Hardman.

6/6

While Larsen hasn’t played much for the Bucs this season, he was active for their first playoff game against the Football Team. He played in 52% of the teams’ snaps that week after playing in only 16% of the Bears’ snaps across the entire 2019 season. In addition to 2019, Larsen also played for the Bears in 2016.

Contact Us