Chicago bears overrated

The Bears have a littany of iconic, Hall of Fame caliber linebackers in their history Dick Butkus, Bill George, Bronko Nagurski, Mike Singletary , and so on yet because Buffone was lost in the middle of those names, he's never discussed.

He deserves to be in the discussion. Buffone started games as a Bear, during which time he recorded more than 1, tackles and 24 interceptions the most by a Bears linebacker in franchise history.

That production on an unheralded team is exactly why Buffone makes this list. The Fridge lives on in NFL lore more for his persona than his actual play on the field. Sure, he made some plays for the fearsome Buddy Ryan defense in , but how many of those were created because he was playing along side Richard Dent, Dan Hampton and Steve McMichael, who between the three of them that year alone had two first-team All-Pro awards and two Pro Bowl berths?

Perry had neither, nor did he earn either accolade throughout his entire career. His personality, leadership and swagger were as much a part of his success as his stats on the field.

Just look at the Viking Miracle if you need proof. Nevertheless, McMahon can't get carte blanche because he won a Super Bowl. The fact of the matter remains that was his peak. He had career highs in yards and touchdowns, and because of injuries and other mitigating factors was never able to reclaim that magic he had when he played lights out during the Bears ' Super Bowl run. Adewale Ogunleye -- DE, The Bears made a splash before the NFL season when they traded Marty Booker and a third-round draft pick to the Miami Dolphins for Ogunleye, who was supposed to spearhead the Bears ' pass rush for years to come.

The results were, well, less then desired. Ogunleye had productive seasons, but not enough to warrant what the Bears gave up for him in the trade or for his contract. In the end, Ogunleye was a good player who helped the Bears reach Super Bowl XLI, but his name gets tossed around more than it should and more than a player on the flipside of this list. Nathan Vasher -- DB, It seems unfair putting a fourth-round pick in the overrated category, but Vasher lands on this list as a victim of his own success.

Vasher became a starter in his rookie season, and posted a career year in his sophomore campaign when he paced the NFL with eight interceptions and also set a record for the longest return touchdown of any kind when he took a Joe Nedney missed field goal to the house -- from eight yards deep in the end zone. In fact, his profile for both years of his career are those of a volume back who only gets yards as a result of a high rate of use, not being terribly efficient.

Yet somehow there are people who think he needs to be used more, and that Nagy is what is holding him back. There are really good running backs in the NFL right now. The last difference-maker Chicago had at running back left when Pace let go of Matt Forte which turned out to be a fine call. However, collectively the running game of Chicago during the last several years has been a result of mediocre players being asked to lighten the load for mediocre quarterbacks.

What do you think? Let us know below who you think the most overrated Bear is Duerson replaced him when he held out, and he couldn't take the job back after Duerson's outstanding play. Best point? Bell did nothing in Philly after he left Chicago. Duerson, who wasn't liked by Ditka on a personal level, won another Super Bowl with the Giants and is considered a good player by their fans as well, even though he was hobbled by injuries by that point. He continued to be a good situational player for Phoenix even after that.

What he provided was some decent play from the No. Moose never met dropped a ball by his own failings. Just ask him. I guess Rex Grossman putting some odd spin on the ball just to make him look bad.

Not a special receiver or blocker, Thornton was noticed for his guns. You'd think a tough looking guy like that would have Ditka style toughness. Not so much. Thornton shied away from contact and appeared to be afraid of bruising his workout-warrior frame. And he was a decent back. But those of you who remember when Thomas Jones was brought on board might also remember the anger from Bears fans when Jones took A-Train's starting job.

Of course, the 3. And even Anthony's poor performance in Buffalo never quieted some fans' ramblings about A-Train getting screwed. We've seen Willie listed as one of the Top 25 elusive backs ever. We've seen him listed as one of the 50 greatest Bears ever. Don't get me wrong, Willie was a good rusher. But he wasn't even the best on his team. Hell, he arguably wasn't the second best. His tragic fate contributes to the elevation of his skill level.

Had he not passed away before his time, he would be remembered as a decent back who played in a backfield loaded with good backs. Being the team's all-time points leader offers a guy some perks. Like being better than you actually were. Consider this. In his year career, Butler averaged Compare that to Robbie Gould, who has average To be fair to "Butt-head," he never shied away from a special teams tackle and was as tough as they come.

But he missed far too many important field goals to be as revered as he is. Here's another example of a good player being elevated to cult greatness due to a long mediocre stretch in Bears history. That is a debate that has raged among Chicago Bears fans for the past two years now. Some think he absolutely is while others believe he is somewhat overrated.

A possession receiver who saw his numbers inflated by lots of targets. This is the epitome of the entire situation. Why the Bears are reluctant to pay Robinson top money. So far in ? It is difficult not to see the justification in that decision. Just 17 catches for yards and a touchdown. That puts him on pace for yards total this season.