They're Not Here to Start No Trouble: Bears Week Day 3

    In late 1985, members of the Chicago Bears gathered in a vacant recording studio in Chicago to record a song. At first blush, the idea of pro footballers laying down a track sounds about as appealing as a DVD boxed set of Cop Rock, but this was different. That February, the Bears brought the Lombardi Trophy to Chicago, and the legend of the Super Bowl Shuffle was born. Well on their way to a commanding 15-1 record, a local fan named Randy Weigand had an idea to write and choreograph a rap number for the team. His girlfriend(who just happened to be a cheerleader) got him in touch with Willie Gault, who in turn communicated with the rest of the team, which really got the ball rolling. And this was the result:

     Almost the entire lineup took part in the production, save for Dan Hampton, who thought the whole thing rather arrogant(which to be frank, it probably was, but what would the '85 Bears have been without it?) In reality, the whole affair had a charity angle to it as well, with the Bears donating roughly $300,000, a fact which Walter Payton emphasized in verse, saying "Now we're not doing this because we're greedy, the Bears are doing it to feed the needy." The song was a hit far beyond any expectations, making it to #41 on the Billboard charts, making the Bears the only American pro team to ever have a hit record. In the subsequent years, the song has spawned many imitations, many of them done by teams who didn't actually win it all, others becoming only slightly popular, but none of them achieving the stature of the Super Bowl Shuffle, a performance that still holds up 29 years later.