1997 Chicago Bears season

1997 Chicago Bears season
Head coach	Dave Wannstedt
Home field	Soldier Field
Results
Record	4–12
Division place	5th NFC Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1997 Chicago Bears season was their 78th regular season completed in the National Football League (NFL). 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. The team allowed a franchise-record 421 points in 1997.^[1]

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1997 NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1997 Chicago Bears draft
2	38	John Allred	Tight end	USC
3	69	Bob Sapp	Guard	Washington
4	105	Darnell Autry	Running back	Northwestern
4	108	Marcus Robinson	Wide receiver	South Carolina
5	141	Van Hiles	Defensive back	Kentucky
6	196	Shawn Swayda	Defensive end	Arizona State
6	200	Richard Hogans	Linebacker	Memphis
6	201	Ricky Parker	Defensive back	San Diego State
7	210	Mike Miano	Defensive tackle	Missouri State
7	233	Marvin Thomas	Defensive end	Memphis
Made roster

^[2]

Personnel

Staff

1997 Chicago Bears staff

Front office

Chairman of the Board – Ed McCaskey
President and Chief Executive Officer – Michael McCaskey
Vice President of Operations – Ted Phillips
Vice President of Player Personnel – Mark Hatley
Director of College Scouting – Bill Rees
Director of Pro Personnel – Rick Spielman
Director of Research and Quality Control – Eric Studesville

Head coaches

Head Coach – Dave Wannstedt
Assistant Head Coach – Tony Wise

Offensive coaches

Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks – Matt Cavanaugh
Running Backs – Willie Peete
Wide Receivers – Ivan Fears
Tight Ends – Ted Plumb
Offensive Line – Tony Wise

Defensive coaches

Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Bob Slowik
Defensive Line – Clarence Brooks
Defensive Backs – Carlos Mainord
Defensive Assistant – Greg Schiano

Special teams coaches

Special Teams – Keith Armstrong

Strength and conditioning

Physical Development Coordinator – Russ Riederer
Assistant Physical Development Coordinator – Steve Little

^[3]

Roster

1997 Chicago Bears roster

Quarterbacks

Running backs

21 Darnell Autry
30 Tony Carter FB
38 Mike Dulaney FB
22 Ronnie Harmon
29 Raymont Harris
44 Michael Hicks
31 Rashaan Salaam

Wide receivers

Tight ends

49 Tremayne Allen
84 John Allred
85 Keith Jennings
89 Ryan Wetnight

Offensive linemen

63 Todd Burger G
72 Jon Clark T
62 Chris Gray G
64 Andy Heck T
74 Jimmy Herndon T
67 Greg Huntington G
75 Todd Perry G
65 Evan Pilgrim C
67 Bill Schultz G
58 Chris Villarrial C/G
60 Casey Wiegmann C
71 James Williams T

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

59 Daryl Carter OLB
52 Bryan Cox MLB
54 Ron Cox OLB
55 Sean Harris OLB
53 Michael Lowery OLB
92 Barry Minter OLB
57 Tony Peterson MLB

Defensive backs

32 Ricky Bell CB
35 James Burton CB
23 Marty Carter SS
25 Tom Carter CB
24 Terry Cousin CB
20 Corey Dowden CB
46 Marlon Forbes S
27 Walt Harris CB
48 Van Hiles S
26 John Mangum FS
36 Anthony Marshall SS
45 Tony Stargell CB

Special teams

Rookies in italics

^[4]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	TV Time	Attendance
1	September 1, 1997	at Green Bay Packers	L 38–24	ABC 8:00pm	60,766
2	September 7, 1997	Minnesota Vikings	L 27–24	FOX 12:00pm	59,263
3	September 14, 1997	Detroit Lions	L 32–7	FOX 12:00pm	59,147
4	September 21, 1997	at New England Patriots	L 31–3	FOX 12:00pm	59,873
5	September 28, 1997	at Dallas Cowboys	L 27–3	FOX 3:00pm	64,082
6	October 5, 1997	New Orleans Saints	L 20–17	TNT 7:15pm	58,865
7	October 12, 1997	Green Bay Packers	L 24–23	FOX 12:00pm	62,212
8	Bye
9	October 27, 1997	at Miami Dolphins	W 36–33	ABC 8:00pm	73,156
10	November 2, 1997	Washington Redskins	L 31–8	FOX 12:00pm	53,052
11	November 9, 1997	at Minnesota Vikings	L 29–22	FOX 12:00pm	63,443
12	November 16, 1997	New York Jets	L 23–15	NBC 3:00pm	45,642
13	November 23, 1997	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 13–7	FOX 12:00pm	43,955
14	November 27, 1997	at Detroit Lions	L 55–20	FOX 11:30am	77,904
15	December 7, 1997	Buffalo Bills	W 20–3	NBC 12:00pm	39,784
16	December 14, 1997	at St. Louis Rams	W 13–10	ESPN 7:15pm	66,030
17	December 21, 1997	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 31–15	FOX 12:00pm	70,930

Standings

NFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
⁽²⁾ Green Bay Packers	13	3	0	.813	422	282	W5
⁽⁴⁾ Tampa Bay Buccaneers	10	6	0	.625	299	263	W1
⁽⁵⁾ Detroit Lions	9	7	0	.563	379	306	W2
⁽⁶⁾ Minnesota Vikings	9	7	0	.563	354	359	W1
Chicago Bears	4	12	0	.250	263	421	L1

References

↑ Mayer, Larry (November 14, 2013). "Have Bears had two 1,000-yard receivers?". Chicago Bears. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
↑ "1997 Chicago Bears draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
↑ "Club directory". Chicago Bears 1997 Media Guide. p. 2.
↑ "1997 Chicago Bears starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 26, 2014.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: 1997 Chicago Bears season

1997 Chicago Bears at Pro-Football-Reference.com

Chicago Bears

Founded in 1919 Formerly the Decatur Staleys and the Chicago Staleys Based in Chicago, Illinois Headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois

Franchise	History Coaches Seasons Current season

Records	Records and statistics Franchise records All-time record versus NFL Team awards and honors Players Head coaches Pro Football Hall of Famers First-round draft picks Starting quarterbacks

Stadiums	Staley Field Wrigley Field Soldier Field Memorial Stadium Soldier Field II

Lore	Fog Bowl 1932 Playoff Game First NFL Championship Game "The Sneakers Game" Monsters of the Midway T formation 46 defense 15–1 Super Bowl XX Bears 73, Redskins 0 Staley Swindle Cardiac Kids George S. Halas Trophy Brian Piccolo Award 75th Anniversary League Team NFL All-Time Team 2006 game vs. Arizona Cardinals

Culture	Brian's Song 1971 2001 "Bear Down, Chicago Bears" "The Super Bowl Shuffle" Bill Swerski's Superfans Chuck Swirsky Staley Da Bear Logos and uniforms Halas Hall A. E. Staley Jack Brickhouse Papa Bear Mike Ditka Roosevelt/Wabash 85386 Payton Chicago Honey Bears Jim Cornelison

Rivalries	Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers Minnesota Vikings

Retired numbers	3 5 7 28 34 40 41 42 51 56 61 66 77 89

Key personnel	Chairman: George McCaskey President/CEO: Ted Phillips General Manager: Ryan Pace Head Coach: John Fox

Division championships (18)	1933 1934 1937 1940 1941 1942 1943 1946 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1990 2001 2005 2006 2010

Conference championships (4)	1956 1963 1985 2006

League championships (9)	1921 1932 1933 1940 1941 1943 1946 1963 1985 (XX)

Media	Radio: WBBM (AM) WCFS-FM (FM simulcast of WBBM) Personnel: Jeff Joniak (play-by-play) Tom Thayer (analyst) Zach Zaidman (sideline reporter and radio coach's show host) Television: WFLD (pre-season and most regular season games through Fox, official pre-game and post-game) Comcast SportsNet Chicago (in-season team programming) Personnel: Lou Canellis (gameday television host, pre-season sideline reporter) Sam Rosen (pre-season play-by-play) Jim Miller (pre-season analyst)

Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: National Football Conference Division: North Division

Seasons (96)	1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Championship seasons in bold Book:Chicago Bears :Category:Chicago Bears WikiProject Chicago Bears

Decatur / Chicago Staleys–Chicago Bears seasons

Decatur Staleys 1920 Chicago Staleys 1921 Chicago 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Bold indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl victory Italics indicates NFL Championship or Super Bowl appearance

1997 NFL season

East	Central	West	East	Central	West
Buffalo	Baltimore	Denver	Arizona	Chicago	Atlanta
Indianapolis	Cincinnati	Kansas City	Dallas	Detroit	Carolina
Miami	Jacksonville	Oakland	NY Giants	Green Bay	New Orleans
New England	Pittsburgh	San Diego	Philadelphia	Minnesota	St. Louis
NY Jets	Tennessee	Seattle	Washington	Tampa Bay	San Francisco

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