O’Donnell: Jauron a good man who couldn’t overcome Halas Hall
THE DEATH OF DICK JAURON reminded that the Bears hired a succession of “character” people as head coaches after the final flames of the Super Bowl XX championship era flickered out.
The list included: Dave Wannstedt (1993-98), Jauron (1999-2003) and Lovie Smith (2004-2012).
All were good men who in the end couldn't beat back the goblins of Halas Hall.
JAURON WAS ONCE one of the greatest prep football players in New England and a recruit that Yale's mythic head coach Carmen Cozza aggressively targeted.
Toward that end in 1967, Cozza enlisted alumni back Tim Weigel and incumbent star Calvin Hill — father of NBAer Grant Hill — to help land Jauron.
(Weigel stayed in New Haven for two years after his graduation to teach sixth grade at an inner-city school. He later pursued an M.A. in film at Northwestern ('70) on his way to becoming one of the most memorable nightly sportscasters in the history of Chicago TV.)
JAURON SIGNED AND BEGAN his long and winding grind from the Yale Bowl to Lake Forest.
His peak season with the Bears — 13-3 in 2001 and multiple designations as NFL Coach of the Year — ended on one of the more interesting Saturdays ever in Chicago sports.
On Jan. 19, 2002, at the United Center, Michael Jordan had a noon tipoff vs. the Bulls in his first return as a Washington Wizard.
Age 38, he labored to 16 points in 40 minutes of floor time and Washington won 77-69.
(Leading amiable Johnny Bach — then a Wizards assistant to Doug Collins — to deadpan afterward: “The less disorganized team won.”)
SHORTLY AFTER 3:30 P.M., Jauron and the upscaled Bears kicked off as 3-point favorites over Philadelphia at Soldier Field in an NFC divisional playoff.
Some media rushed to pull double duty that frosty day.
Donovan McNabb — in his own homecoming — sparked the Eagles to a breezy 33-19 upset.
IT WAS A DANDY SNEAK PEEK at all the new millennium has proven not to be for the Bears and the Bulls and sundry other encumbrances on the local sports terrain.
But grateful recall of the unfailing graciousness and professionalism of Dick Jauron still carries.
STREET-BEATIN':
The opening of MLB training camps once brought a zesty suggestion of spring to pre-climate change Chicago. Now all its means is a new curtain on pricey mid-leveling at Wrigley Field and more diamond decay on the South Side. One intriguing tangent is Jed Hoyer's abnormally solid standing with too many of the slavish media fan people around the Cubs. …
Also on the subject of arced-out sports execs. Arturas Karnisovas of the Bulls is making memories of Gar Forman seem like the victory balloons. His languid non-speak after the NBA trading deadline passed was as about as inspiring as securing a play-in berth. Adam Silver could trim Bulls games to 20 minutes and more demanding team classicists couldn't care less. …
Flyover dream moment of Super Bowl 59 was young Cooper DeJean's second-quarter interception return of a Patrick Mahomes pass for a 17-0 Philadelphia lead. The Eagles' DeJean is from Odebolt, Iowa, (pop. 990), gateway city to Ida Grove. One year ago, the corn-maze jackrabbit (he runs a 4.4 40) was shucking away for the Iowa Hawkeyes and Kirk Ferentz — college football's “Mr. Animated.” …
Dan Hampton, sports TV producer Jim Kezios and singer John Vincent kicked off Super Bowl weekend by visiting Mike and Diana Ditka at their Chicago digs. Forty-three winters after the game-changing January day he was seen “secretly” en route to a visit with George Halas, 'Da Coach — now 85 — continues to fight the good fight. (Ditka was hired as Bears HC shortly after he and The Papa Bear met.) …
From the other side of the isle of chance, Bill Adee and the Musburger family recently celebrated the eighth anniversary of the startup of their Vegas Stats and Info Network (vsin.com). The Waukegan-bred Adee — once a Daily Herald hod carrier under the vaunted Bill Gowen — breathed new life into the sports sections of the Sun-Times and Tribune before dropping his Ace Rothstein laptop in Sin City. …
An engaging fresh “NFL Icons” documentary on Gale Sayers continues to stream on the MGM+ app. Great archived quote from “The Kansas Comet”: “Anybody can run 90 yards or run 40 yards. But to me, the satisfaction was, 'What did I do in the first 10?'” …
And searing West Madison St. slap shot by Sean McIndoe of The Athletic: “We've apparently made a collective decision that February will be international pick-on-Connor-Bedard month.”
Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.