The Chicago Honey Bears were a cheerleading squad for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The group performed at Bears games at Soldier Field . After Super Bowl XX , the squad was disbanded, and currently, the Bears are one of the eight NFL teams that do not have cheerleaders, along with the Buffalo Bills , Cleveland Browns , Green Bay Packers , New York Giants , New York Jets , Los Angeles Chargers , and the Pittsburgh Steelers .
75-523: In 1976, after a disastrous 1975 season for the Bears , owner/founder George Halas decided to bring "dancing girls" to the Bears, after the success of other cheerleading corps like the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders , Washington Redskins Cheerleaders and other squads prompted Halas to get the Bears a squad as well, and requested general manager Jim Finks to find a director. During the search, Finks
150-518: A laid off assembly line robot contemplating suicide, which drew criticism from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention . The group asked for an apology from GM, and that the ad be taken off the air and the company's website. The suicide scene was replaced with a scene of the robot watching a car being crushed at a junkyard when it was shown again during the 79th Academy Awards on February 25. Westwood One provided radio coverage of
225-534: A .30 winning percentage differential than during the squad's existence (82–67). The team had also gone 35–76–1 (.317) in the eight years before the squad's existence. Despite numerous attempts to bring back the Honey Bears and fan polls supporting the squad 3–1, Virginia McCaskey has let it be known the Bears will not have cheerleaders as long as she owns the team, in addition her children Michael and George McCaskey and her grandchildren have reportedly plan to keep
300-587: A 12.8 yards per return average, the second highest in the NFL. He also set a league record with 6 touchdowns on special teams. The chart below provides a comparison of regular season statistics in key categories (overall rank amongst 32 teams in parentheses). Although the Colts' rushing defense looked extremely weak during the season, it ended up being a key factor on their road to the Super Bowl. First, Indianapolis defeated
375-453: A 12–4 regular season record, were making their first Super Bowl appearance since winning Super Bowl V in the 1970 season during the team's tenure in Baltimore ; they had moved to Indianapolis in 1984 . Meanwhile, the Bears, who posted an NFC-best 13–3 regular season record, were making their first appearance since winning Super Bowl XX in the 1985 season . The Bears' Lovie Smith and
450-523: A 3-yard touchdown run to put them in the lead, 38–34 with only 60 seconds left in regulation. The Patriots responded with a drive to the Colts 45-yard line, but defensive back Marlin Jackson ended the drive with an interception to give Indianapolis the win. With their 18-point comeback win, the Colts set the record for biggest comeback in AFC-NFC Conference Championship history (since tied by
525-487: A Kodak film ad, a Chicago Buckingham Fountain postcard, a Stroh's beer poster, and a poster of The Chicago Honey Bears official head shots featuring hair and make up by Vidal Sassoon , who was the official hair stylist of the NFL Chicago Honey Bears. Vidal Sassoon selected Chicago Honey Bear line captain and assistant choreographer Sharon Shackelford to be a hair model and he cut, colored and styled her hair live on
600-440: A Star . Core was quoted saying: "At the time, they told me it was basically a change in philosophy. The Bears wanted to be about blood-and-guts football and football only. I think there are certain people in the (McCaskey) family who have dominated the negative part of the issue, and as long as those people are still around and still vocal, I don't think the Honey Bears will come back." General manager Jerry Vainisi stated that
675-442: A car wash. The NFL itself advertised a similar contest to generate suggestions for a commercial promoting the league, with the winning concept featuring fans' disappointment that their teams' season was over. The annual USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter survey chose a Budweiser ad featuring crabs worshiping an ice chest with that particular beer inside as the top ad of Super Bowl XLI, followed by another Budweiser commercial featuring
750-513: A four-and-a-half-hour Super Bowl Today pre-game show followed by game coverage at 6:25 PM. Other contributors to the pre-game show included Katie Couric , anchor of the CBS Evening News , Armen Keteyian , CBS News Chief Investigative Correspondent, Randy Cross , who reported from Iraq where U.S. military forces played a touch football game known as "The Baghdad Bowl" and Dick Enberg , who participated in his 12th Super Bowl telecast as
825-567: A history with each other. Smith had previously worked under Dungy as linebackers coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1996-2000. The game was televised in the United States by CBS in high-definition . Jim Nantz called his first Super Bowl as a play-by-play announcer . He was joined in the booth by color commentator Phil Simms . Additionally, Solomon Wilcots ( Bears sideline ) and Steve Tasker ( Colts sideline ) reported on
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#1733085241730900-418: A host, play-by-play announcer, or contributor. The opening title sequence of CBS television coverage featured the composition Lux Aeterna, by artist Clint Mansell, in the background. The American Forces Network (AFN) provided coverage of the Super Bowl for U.S. forces stationed overseas and to all U.S. Navy ships at sea. Nielsen Media Research reported 93 million viewers for Super Bowl XLI, making it at
975-472: A loss to the eventual Super Bowl champions in three consecutive years preceding this season. After another disappointing loss, Manning had developed a reputation of being unable to make it to a championship, a reputation that followed him from college after he was unable to win an NCAA title with the Tennessee Volunteers (who won a title the year after he graduated). The Colts lost some key players after
1050-452: A manly act as homophobic . The ad proved to be controversial, and the ad was cancelled the next day by Masterfoods USA ( Mars, Incorporated 's snack food division), and three other versions were deleted from the snickers.com web site. The ad was ninth in the USA Today ad survey, and according to a Masterfoods publicist, not intended to harm anyone. A different ad for General Motors featured
1125-485: A reputation aided by his game winning field goals in Super Bowl XXXVI and Super Bowl XXXVIII . Indianapolis' defense ranked second in the NFL in fewest passing yards allowed. Dwight Freeney (5.5 sacks and 4 forced fumbles) and Robert Mathis (9.5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries) were widely considered to be among the best pass-rushing defensive ends in the NFL. Behind them, linebacker Cato June led
1200-558: A stray dog with mud spots climbing onto the brewery's trademark Clydesdale-drawn wagon in a parade. In all, Anheuser-Busch took seven of the top ten spots in the annual survey, sweeping the top three spots. A YouTube user survey chose the Doritos "Snack Hard" ad (produced for the incredible price of $ 12, the cost of three bags of the snack product) as their top ad, that ad finished fourth in the USA Today survey. ADBOWL results were slightly different with only 6 of Anheuser-Busch's ads finishing in
1275-489: A touchdown. Indianapolis kicker Adam Vinatieri also scored three field goals. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was named the game's Most Valuable Player (MVP), completing 25 of 38 passes for 247 yards and a touchdown, with one interception for a passer rating of 81.8. CBS 's broadcast of the game was watched by an estimated average of 93.2 million viewers, making it at the time the fifth most watched program in U.S. television history. The halftime show, headlined by
1350-547: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article relating to a Chicago Bears season is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears to decide
1425-589: The 2021 Cincinnati Bengals ). Meanwhile, the Bears started out their post-season with a 27–24 win over the Seattle Seahawks with Robbie Gould 's 49-yard field goal in overtime. One week later, they defeated the New Orleans Saints 39–14 in the NFC Championship Game. The Bears dominated most of the game, jumping to a 16–0 early lead. Two touchdown passes from Saints quarterback Drew Brees , cut
1500-638: The Baltimore Ravens 15–6 in the Divisional playoffs, and advanced to Super Bowl XLI with a 38–34 win over the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game after rallying from a 21–3 deficit. Chicago finished the season with an NFC best 13–3 record and advanced to the second Super Bowl in franchise history. They defeated the Seattle Seahawks 27–24 in overtime in the divisional round of
1575-452: The Bears , experienced very little changes. From the squad's inception in 1976 to 1980 , the uniform was a white bodysuit with navy blue sleeves. From 1980 to 1984 , the squad once again wore a white bodysuit, but with orange sleeves instead, with the navy blue being moved to the trim. In the group's final year, the uniform was completely revamped, with an orange sequin vest. In cold weather games,
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#17330852417301650-500: The Kansas City Chiefs 23–8, holding Chiefs running back Larry Johnson (who rushed for 1,789 yards during the season) to just 32 yards on 13 carries. Then, they defeated the Baltimore Ravens 15–6, winning on a playoff record-tying five field goals by Vinatieri and holding running back Jamal Lewis (who rushed for 1,132 yards during the season) to just 53 yards. Then the Colts faced their arch-rival New England Patriots in
1725-728: The Miami Dolphins in week 9). After his injury, Chicago opponents scored more than 20 points in six of the seven remaining games, including two of three playoff games. Only the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship game were held below 21 points. The Bears' special teams sent three players to the Pro Bowl, including special teams ace Brendon Ayanbadejo , kicker Robbie Gould (who led all NFL kickers with 143 points), and rookie return man Devin Hester , who gained 600 punt return yards with
1800-563: The Miami Orange Bowl . This was the first Super Bowl played at the stadium since the city of Miami Gardens where the stadium is located was incorporated on May 13, 2003. In February 2006, the NFL and the South Florida Super Bowl XLI Host Committee unveiled the slogan "one game, one dream" for the game, referring to the entire South Florida region working together to present the event. The Super Bowl XLI logo
1875-545: The NFL supplied international commentary feed of Spero Dedes and Sterling Sharpe . Super Bowl XLI was broadcast in over 200 countries. Amongst the television networks who broadcast Super Bowl XLI were: Before the game, Cirque du Soleil , Romero Britto and Little Louie Vega performed as the pre-game act, and Billy Joel sang the National Anthem , accompanying himself on piano. He also performed at Super Bowl XXIII , which
1950-665: The National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2006 season . The Colts defeated the Bears by the score of 29–17. The game was played on February 4, 2007, at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida . This was the first, and to date only, Super Bowl win for an AFC South team. This was the first Super Bowl since Super Bowl XXX in which neither team was seeking its first title. It featured two teams ending long Super Bowl appearance droughts . The Colts, who finished with
2025-404: The New England Patriots 24–14, with Manning throwing four interceptions. In 2004 , the Colts had one of the most spectacular offensive seasons in NFL history, scoring 522 points and gaining 6,582 yards, while Manning set NFL records for most touchdown passes and highest passer rating . But again the New England Patriots ' defense (and snowy conditions) proved too formidable, as they lost 20–3 in
2100-540: The 2005 season, including James, who departed the Colts for the Arizona Cardinals , and kicker Mike Vanderjagt , the NFL's all-time leader in field goal percentage, who left for the Dallas Cowboys . However, they did gain one key addition: 31-year old special teams returner Terrence Wilkins . Though he had been out of the NFL for three years, Wilkins finished the season with 52 kickoff returns for 1,272 yards (9th in
2175-520: The AFC Championship Game. The Patriots jumped to an early 21–3 lead, but the Colts stormed back in the second half, outscoring the Patriots 32–13 with an additional field goal late in the first half. With 2:22 left in the game, the Colts had the ball on their own 20-yard line trailing 34–31. On the first four plays of the drive, Manning completed three passes, moving the ball 69 yards to the Patriots 11-yard line in just 24 seconds. Three plays later, Addai scored
2250-520: The Bears stands and tailgate scene since 2007. Honey Bear's "uniform" consists of white hot pants, white go-go boots, pom poms, and white vest; all being recreations of the squad's trademark uniforms. A year after the squad's disbanding, a producer named Greg Schwartz trademarked the name, purchased a federal registration, and eventually turned the once-cheerleading squad into a song and dance group. The group has performed for various Fortune 500 companies and has done modeling. The squad's uniforms, like
2325-483: The Colts into one of the best offensive teams in the NFL, but the team struggled to find consistency on defense and always ended up with either a losing season or elimination from the playoffs in the first round. After the 2001 season , Indianapolis fired head coach Jim Mora and replaced him with Tony Dungy . Dungy had developed one of the best defenses in the NFL while coaching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , and it
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2400-662: The Colts overcame a 14–6 first-quarter deficit to outscore the Bears 23–3 in the last three quarters. Chicago posted the then-earliest lead in Super Bowl history when returner Devin Hester ran back the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown after 14 seconds had elapsed (a record later broken in Super Bowl XLVIII when the Seattle Seahawks scored a safety 12 seconds into the game). The Colts forced five turnovers, including cornerback Kelvin Hayden 's 56-yard interception return for
2475-413: The Colts' Tony Dungy became the first African-American head coaches to coach in the Super Bowl, with Dungy the first to win. It was also only the second championship game or series in any of the four North American major professional sports leagues to feature two African-American head coaches or managers, the other being the 1975 NBA Finals . In the first Super Bowl played in rainy conditions,
2550-411: The Divisional playoffs. In 2005 , the Colts' defense improved, making the team the clear favorites in the NFL. They won the first 13 games of the season and finished with a 14–2 record, while ranking second in the NFL in both points scored and fewest points allowed. But once again they lost in Divisional playoffs, this time to the #6 seeded Pittsburgh Steelers , 21–18. The Colts' playoff runs ended with
2625-761: The Honey Bears also performed at one away game in Tampa, Florida. The Chicago Honey Bears donated numerous hours of service to charities, as well as made guest appearances on television, including the Richard Simmons Show and the WGN Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon, and performed and signed autographs at various other events, including at the Great Lakes Naval Station for the Navy servicemen. They did various ads and posters, including
2700-526: The Honey Bears were around for the rest of his life until his death in 1983. After 28 girls were selected, they became an instant hit. However, the job did not pay much, as they were only paid $ 15 a game ($ 5 for gas, $ 5 for parking and $ 5 for uniform cleaning). By 1985, the wage was extended to $ 20. Despite this, over 5,000 ladies auditioned in 1985. Unlike current squads, the Honey Bears performed more actual cheerleading stunts than dance moves that other squads perform. In addition to home games at Soldier Field,
2775-438: The Honey Bears wore an orange tracksuit. Former Indianapolis Colts and Indiana Firebirds cheerleader Carey modeled for prototype Honey Bears uniforms for the unofficial squad website, taking her ideas from current NFL cheerleading squads. 1975 Chicago Bears season The 1975 Chicago Bears season was their 56th regular season in the National Football League . The team matched their 4–10 record from 1974, in
2850-507: The NFL). Still, the Colts remained one of the AFC's top teams in the 2006 season. Manning made the Pro Bowl for the 7th time in his career, completing 362 of 555 passes for 4,397 yards and an NFL-best 31 touchdowns, with an additional 4 rushing touchdowns and with only 9 interceptions and 15 sacks. His favorite target was Harrison, who caught 95 passes for 1,366 yards and 12 touchdowns. Receiver Reggie Wayne
2925-581: The Phil Donahue Show. Aside from the Chicago Honey Bears being dancers and cheerleaders, at the Honey Bear auditions, Cathy Core and a panel of judges, including talent agents, narrowed their search by making the contestants display an additional talent, such as singing, playing instruments, acrobatic abilities or other dance forms and talents, before making their final selections of who would be on
3000-567: The Super Bowl in 36 years set a record for longest time between appearances by a team (since broken by the Kansas City Chiefs). Their return was the culmination of a nine-year-long building process. In 1998 , they drafted quarterback Peyton Manning to lead the team. Over the next four seasons, Manning, along with other stars such as receiver Marvin Harrison and running back Edgerrin James , turned
3075-423: The anti-cheerleading stance when they inherit the team. A small group of Bears fans created an unofficial Honey Bears who appeared at the team's training camp in 2010 as part of the unofficial web page to bring back the squad, which also has petitions that fans can sign to bring back the group. Another homage to the Honey Bears is with "Honey Bear", a superfan for the Bears done by Lena Duda, who has been active in
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3150-450: The average price is likely closer to $ 1.8 to $ 2 million. Familiar advertisers in recent years such as Anheuser-Busch , CareerBuilder , General Motors and Coca-Cola bought multiple advertising spots, and other popular advertisers like Go Daddy and Emerald Nuts had commercials this year. The only major hype related to commercials in the months leading up to Super Bowl XLI involved various campaigns to allow consumers to be involved in
3225-758: The championship game/series in their league since the Blackhawks lost in the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals . The Indianapolis Colts held pre-game practices for Super Bowl XLI at the Miami Dolphins Training Facility on the campus of Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida . The Colts' "Team and Family" hotel was the Marriott Harbor Beach. At the 2007 Indianapolis 500 pre-race ceremonies on May 27, 2007, eventual Super Bowl XLI MVP Peyton Manning stated to ABC Sports commentator Brent Musburger
3300-461: The creation of Super Bowl ads, inspired by consumer-generated content sites like YouTube. Frito-Lay announced a campaign in September 2006 to allow the public to submit ads for their Doritos brand and vote on the best one, which aired during the Super Bowl. Doritos actually aired two of the ads due to a close voting margin; the winning ad (featuring a chance meeting with a man and a woman that feature
3375-680: The day before the game that two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Hélio Castroneves gave a pep talk to the Colts team. The Chicago Bears held pre-game practices for Super Bowl XLI at the Miami Hurricanes football facility on the campus of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida . Chicago defensive tackle Tank Johnson was required to request a judge's order to leave the state of Illinois due to an arrest for unlicensed ownership of six firearms and two assault rifles. On January 23, 2007,
3450-580: The end of the AFC Championship game, that the two teams should split the difference and play the game in Fort Wayne . This was the first Super Bowl since Super Bowl V that all players on both teams wore black shoes. As the designated home team in the annual rotation between AFC and NFC teams, the Bears elected to wear their home navy uniforms with white pants, while the Colts wore their road white uniforms with white pants. Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith had
3525-675: The event, with Marv Albert and Boomer Esiason as announcers. The Super Bowl was broadcast live in Canada on CBS (which is available in Canada) as well as Global TV and NTV which both took the main CBS commentary, and on the French cable channel RDS . In the United Kingdom the Super Bowl was broadcast on ITV1 , Sky Sports 1 & Sky Sports HD1 with Sky Sports taking the main CBS commentary and ITV taking
3600-531: The first dome team to win a Super Bowl, XXXIV inside the Georgia Dome in Atlanta ). The 2006 Indianapolis Colts were the first division champion to win a Super Bowl with four postseason wins and the second division champion ( 2003 Carolina Panthers ) to win a conference title with three postseason wins. For the Bears, this marked the first time that a Chicago sports team not owned by Jerry Reinsdorf had reached
3675-491: The first season under head coach Jack Pardee . The 1975 Bears are the only NFL team to have been outscored by 25 points six different times during a 14-game season, a record for futility that has that has only been matched once under the current 16-game format. Running backs (RB) Wide receivers (WR) Tight ends (TE) Defensive linemen (DL) Defensive backs (DB) Special teams Reserve This Chicago -related article
3750-555: The game, 4 tornadoes devastated Central Florida , causing over $ 200 million in damage, and causing numerous of injuries and 21 deaths. A moment of silence was held before kickoff, in honor of the victims of the severe weather. Marlee Matlin and Jason Hay-Southwell performed the National Anthem in American Sign Language . Besides participating in the CBS telecast of the pre-game show, Dan Marino also participated in
3825-496: The ground, and allowed the fewest yards per drive of any NFL team. The line was anchored by Adewale Ogunleye , who had 6.5 sacks, and Pro Bowler Tommie Harris , who recorded 5, along with rookie Mark Anderson , who led the team with 12 sacks. Behind them, two of the three Bears starting linebackers, Lance Briggs , and Brian Urlacher , were selected to the 2007 Pro Bowl . In the secondary, cornerbacks Ricky Manning and Charles Tillman each recorded five interceptions. The defense
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#17330852417303900-534: The group's termination. The Bears came close in Super Bowl XLI , but lost to the Indianapolis Colts . Despite the Bears not having the Honey Bears, the Bears unveiled a mascot Staley Da Bear in 2003 . As of 2021, the Bears have gone 5–11 (.313) in the postseason, compared to the team's 4–3 record during the squad's tenure (.521), as well as 235-254 (.480) in the regular season after the squad's termination,
3975-590: The group. She believed that they were sexist and degrading to women (she called them "sex objects"), as well as them costing up to $ 50,000 a season. However, McCaskey had to legally honor the group's contract with the team until it expired at the end of the 1985 season. The Chicago Honey Bears had their final performance in Super Bowl XX in the Superdome in New Orleans, performing at halftime to Prince's song Baby I'm
4050-463: The judge granted him permission to travel out of state to play in the Super Bowl. Chicago and Indianapolis are the two closest cities, geographically, to ever play in a Super Bowl; at 182 miles (293 km) apart (connected by a route that is mostly Interstate 65 ), they are slightly closer than New York and Baltimore, whose teams played each other at III (207 miles) and XXXV (188 miles). This prompted Colts coach Tony Dungy to joke to Jim Nantz, at
4125-435: The main deep threat on the team, along with tight end Desmond Clark , who caught 45 passes for 626 yards and 6 touchdowns. Chicago's running game was led by running backs Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson . Jones rushed for 1,210 yards and caught 36 passes, while Benson rushed for 647 yards and scored 6 touchdowns. Chicago's defense allowed the 5th least total yardage, allowed less than 100 yards per game on
4200-799: The musician Prince , peaked at 140 million viewers, and was widely acclaimed by music critics. Dolphin Stadium won the bid to host Super Bowl XLI on September 17, 2003, after a campaign against Phoenix , Tampa , New York City , and Washington, D.C. With this game, the Miami metropolitan area tied New Orleans, Louisiana as the city to host the most Super Bowls (9). This was the fourth Super Bowl at Dolphin Stadium, which has also been known as "Joe Robbie Stadium" and "Pro Player Stadium". The venue previously hosted Super Bowls XXIII (broadcast on NBC ), XXIX (on ABC ), and XXXIII (on Fox ). Super Bowls II , III , V , X , and XIII were also in Miami, but held at
4275-490: The playoffs, and the New Orleans Saints 39–14 in the NFC Championship game to advance to Super Bowl XLI. The team excelled on defense, ranking third in fewest points allowed (255) and second in fewest points allowed per drive. They also ranked second in scoring (427 points), although only tenth in points per offensive drive thanks to a league leading 65 points scored on defensive or special teams plays. The Bears offense
4350-525: The qualities of Doritos) aired in the first quarter, while a second (with a checkout lady overly enamored with the product) aired in the second quarter. The five finalists each received $ 10,000 in this contest. General Motors announced a similar contest, open only to college students, for their Chevrolet brand; however, the ad would be produced professionally based on ideas suggested by the public. The winning ad featured men gathering around an HHR model with women in it and stripping off their clothes and giving it
4425-503: The score to 16–14, but the Bears responded with 23 unanswered points to propel them to their first Super Bowl since the 1985 season . Thomas Jones finished the game with a franchise postseason record 123 rushing yards and two touchdowns. It was the first time since the 1996 postseason that the home team won both of the conference championship games. The Colts were the first dome team to win the Super Bowl in an outdoor game (the St. Louis Rams were
4500-399: The sidelines and Lesley Visser ( Bears sideline ) and Sam Ryan ( Colts sideline ) in the stands. Extensive pre-game coverage, hosted by The NFL Today team of James Brown , Shannon Sharpe , Boomer Esiason and Dan Marino , began at noon ET with NFL Films ' "Road to the Super Bowl" year in review (narrated by Tom Selleck ). This was followed by "The Phil Simms All-Iron Team", and
4575-512: The squad each season. They also did modeling, including an incident when a member of the squad appeared topless in a Playboy magazine. After this incident, the cheerleaders signed contracts that forbade posing nude and also forbade fraternizing with the Chicago Bears football players except at approved events. Even though the Honey Bears were a hit, after Halas' death in 1983, his daughter Virginia Halas McCaskey attempted to sever all ties with
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#17330852417304650-400: The team could possibly replace the squad with a high school band, although the Bears did not wind up doing so. The other factor in the squad's termination, Virginia's son Michael McCaskey , stated that the squad was not an acceptable part of the game day experience. Some Bears fans claim that their team lingers under a " Honey Bear Curse ", as the team still has yet to win a Super Bowl after
4725-457: The team in tackles (142) and interceptions (3). Cornerback Nick Harper added 3 interceptions and 75 tackles. The Colts' run defense, however, was a major problem, giving up 2,768 yards on the ground, an average of 173 per game and last in the NFL. Another major issue for the Colts was their coverage teams, as they ranked 30th out of 32 teams in average kickoff return yardage allowed and 31st in average punt return yardage allowed. One key issue for
4800-490: The team was the loss of safeties Mike Doss and Bob Sanders , who had missed most of the seasons with injuries. Indianapolis started out the season winning their first nine games, but ended up losing four of their next seven and finished with a 12–4 record, giving them the #3 playoff seed. Therefore, they had to play in a wild card playoff game. In the Wild Card playoffs, they defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 23–8, then defeated
4875-447: The time the fifth most watched program in U.S. television history (trailing only the M*A*S*H finale and Super Bowls XLIII , XXX , and XLII ). Advertising rates were reported as being slightly higher than in the year before, with CBS confirming a price of $ 2.6 million for some 30-second spots, compared with $ 2.5 million during Super Bowl XL . However, CNN reported that after discounts,
4950-529: The top ten. The highest ranked being the Bud Light "Rock, Paper, Scissors" spot. Also in the top ten were Blockbuster Video 's "Mouse", Doritos' "Car Wreck", GM's "Robot" and Taco Bell 's "Lion's Talk 'Carne'." One ad that drew criticism from the gay community was for the Snickers candy bar featuring two men accidentally "kissing" each other after sharing the product in question, then proceeded to rip chest hairs as
5025-456: The year. In the last seven games of the season, he turned the ball over 18 times. Many fans and sports writers expected head coach Lovie Smith to bench him at some point, but Smith insisted that Grossman would be the starter throughout the entire season. Receivers Muhsin Muhammad (60 receptions, 863 yards, 5 touchdowns) and Bernard Berrian (51 receptions, 775 yards, 7 touchdowns) provided
5100-407: Was also a major contributor, rushing for 641 yards and catching 36 passes for 251 yards. The offensive line was led by Pro Bowlers Jeff Saturday and Tarik Glenn . On special teams, the Colts signed kicker Adam Vinatieri to replace Vanderjagt. While Vinatieri's career field goal percentage was lower, the Colts considered him to be an improvement because of his reputation for making " clutch " kicks,
5175-471: Was also a major deep threat with 86 receptions for 1,310 yards and 9 touchdowns. Tight ends Ben Utecht and Dallas Clark were also reliable targets, each recording over 30 receptions for over 300 yards. On the ground, rookie running back Joseph Addai led the team with 1,081 yards and a 4.8 yards-per-carry average despite not starting any games in the regular season. He also caught 40 receptions for 325 yards and scored 8 touchdowns. Running back Dominic Rhodes
5250-499: Was also able to make up for the offense's poor performance earlier in the season, as explained in the win against the Cardinals in Week 6 . The loss of Harris to injury after the 12th game of the season coincided with a decline in defensive performance. Before his loss, the Bears allowed only two opponents to score more than 20 points (23 points to the Arizona Cardinals in week six and 31 to
5325-482: Was also unveiled, featuring the colors orange (to represent the sun) and blue (for the ocean). The "I" in the Roman numeral "XLI" was drawn to resemble a pylon placed at each corner of an end zone because "the goal is to get to the game." The logo had the same shade of orange as the logo of the host city's home team, the Miami Dolphins . The "XL" part was similar to that of Super Bowl XL 's logo. The Colts' first trip to
5400-422: Was given a recommendation for former cheerleader and choreographer Cathy Core, who had recently moved to Chicago from New Jersey. However, when Finks asked Core about choreographing the squad, Core thought it was a prank and hung up. After some verification, Core accepted. During the meeting with Core, Halas stated that "As long as I'm alive, we will have dancing girls on the sidelines." Halas was true to his word, as
5475-472: Was hoped he could solve the Colts' defensive problems as well. Over the next four seasons, the Colts won 48 of 64 games, but still could not find much success in the postseason. In 2002 , they were blown out 41–0 in the Wild Card playoffs by the New York Jets . In 2003 , they won their first two playoff games behind impressive offensive performances, and reached the AFC Championship Game. There, they lost to
5550-466: Was led by quarterback Rex Grossman , the team's first round draft pick in 2003 . Over the previous three seasons, Grossman had played in just 8 regular season games due to injuries, but he recovered to start in all 16 games in 2006. By the end of the season, he finished with 3,193 yards and 23 touchdowns, the most by a Bears quarterback since 1995 . Grossman had difficulty avoiding turnovers , however, and threw 20 interceptions and lost five fumbles during
5625-455: Was played at the same venue. Joel became the second person to sing the National Anthem twice for a Super Bowl; Aaron Neville sang the national anthem before Super Bowl XXIV, in New Orleans, and Super Bowl XL (along with Aretha Franklin), in Detroit. This was also the last time until Luke Bryan sang at Super Bowl LI that a male artist had sung the national anthem at a Super Bowl. Two days before
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