Inside the stadium you'll find the usual. Overpriced hot dogs, beer, a kind of jumbo JumboTron, more beer, and a few shirtless guys oblivious to the fact it's negative ten degrees outside.
Something is missing. It's not that big of a deal. In fact, if you're focused solely on the football, as you should be, you won't even notice that anything is out of the ordinary. Just imagine, it's the middle of the second quarter and the Bears have just completed their fourth straight three and out. It would be nice to have something to look at, particularly scantily clad women, right? At least until the defense gets back on the field.
That's where the cheerleading squad comes in. Well, at least for 26 of the NFL teams. The Bears are one of only six football teams that don't have a cheerleading squad. The others: the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers (although the Packers do have cheerleaders from local colleges cheer at some games), New York Giants, and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Possible links between those teams? Passionate, blue collar fan bases that support their teams through thick and thin. I get the feeling that any of these six teams could play in a run down high school field in the middle of nowhere and still draw large crowds that could care less about the extracurricular activities surrounding the game.
These are also some very cold cities. And with the exception of the Lions, who moved into indoor Ford Field in 2002, they all play outside. Cold weather and cheerleaders don't mix.
The Bears actually did have cheerleaders, called "The Honey Bears," from 1976-1985. After the 1985 Super Bowl year, their contract was not renewed.
Being the forward thinker he was, then owner George Halas decided in 1976 that he wanted professional cheerleaders, or as he called them, "dancing girls." You gotta love the 70s, dancing girls has a whole different connotation nowadays.
Halas put General Manager Greg Finks in charge of assembling a squad. Through church connections, Finks found and hired Honey Bears' choreographer Cathy Core, whose only cheerleading experience at the time consisted of teaching Junior High girls.
Core eventually narrowed her first squad down to 20 girls after receiving hundreds of applications. This was not a full time career as many cheerleading jobs are now. Each cheerleader received 15 dollars a game, which was said to pay for gas, parking, and uniform cleaning.
Halas passed away in 1983 and the idea of the Honey Bears died with him. Despite their immense popularity amongst Bears fans, the Honey Bears were not renewed after the 1985 season.
While no official explanation was ever given, it's believed that the new Bears management wanted to distance themselves from anything that took away from the franchise's strong and intimidating image. This may sound ridiculous, put perhaps this strategy has some validity. Take the Cowboys organization for instance, who take a great amount of pride in their cheerleaders. The Cowboys are one of the softest teams in the NFL, mentally and physically.
While the Super Bowl Shuffle isn't exactly dripping with masculinity, the product on the field sure did.
For now, the Honey Bears will have to be content dwelling somewhere in our collective Bears memory. Nuzzled alongside #33 Calvin Thomas' saxophone solo.
For the full story on the Honey Bears, pick up Roy Taylor's book entitled Chicago Bears History. Thanks also to Football Babble.
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