I'm very excited to unveil "Lunch with Larry" in a new reimagined format that incorporates both written and video elements. Moving forward, I will be leading wide-ranging conversations with Bears-related guests about their lives and careers.
The first guest I wanted to feature was a no-brainer. Tom Thayer is the only person on earth who grew up in the Chicago area as a Bears fan, helped his hometown team win a Super Bowl and has remained with the team for decades as a radio analyst. In the Bears universe, the Joliet native is the most interesting man in the world.
I'd like to thank Tom for speaking with me about how winning a contest as a 9-year-old shaped his career aspirations, playing more than 40 pro football games in 1985, being part of an iconic poster, dining with Frank Sinatra after a concert and how a Rolex watch he was nearly gifted still belongs to the father of a current Bears star.
A few years ago I visited Tom in Joliet, and he showed me a photo of him as a nine-year-old proudly displaying a trophy he had won in a punt, pass and kick contest. The way he looks at it, it was the start of a highly successful football career.
"I was beaming because it was the first time I had won a trophy on my own," Thayer said. "It was a thrill of a lifetime, but it kind of meant a little bit more to me because I'm going, 'What can I do next?' … It really started the ball rolling of what I wanted to do, what I wanted to be … I was never going to be a passer, punter or kicker … but I learned something about accomplishment and that really helped me."
Winning Super Bowl XX over the Patriots in New Orleans was the culmination of a hectic year for Thayer, who played more than 40 preseason, regular season and postseason games in 1985 for the USFL's Arizona Wranglers and the Bears.
And Thayer had no time to rest between the seasons, driving to Bears training camp in Wisconsin the day after the Wranglers' final game.
"I drove straight through nonstop to Madison, Wisconsin, and I bought a scooter, a Honda Elite 150, and drove it from Madison to Platteville," Thayer said. "I got there on a Sunday for the reporting day, and we started practice on a Monday morning."
The '85 Bears were so popular that Thayer and the rest of the offensive line were featured on a Black N' Blues Brothers poster that paid homage to the Blues Brothers.
"The crazy thing about it is we did the poster after the fourth game of the year and if we wouldn't have stayed on that trajectory line of success, it could have been the biggest failure in poster-making history," Thayer said. "However, we were super fortunate to go on and have a super successful season."
One experience Thayer will never forget was when he attended a Sinatra concert. The Bears guard not only met the legendary entertainer before the show, but he got called up on stage and introduced to the crowd and then went out to dinner with Sinatra.
Thayer was invited to the show by his friend, comedian Tom Dreesen, a well-known Chicago sports fan who opened for Sinatra that night and on many other occasions.
Thayer was surprised that Sinatra motioned him up to the stage before singing his final song, introducing him as a member of the '85 Bears who had just won the Super Bowl.
"He does his concert, and he doesn't do encores," Thayer said. "So he does all of his songs and he's getting ready to do his last song and he goes, 'I want to introduce you to a friend of mine … I'm nervous, I'm sweating. He shakes my hand and we're on stage and he goes, 'Kid, this song's for you,' and so I start walking back and he sings, 'My Kind of Town, Chicago.'"
After the concert, Thayer was invited to join Sinatra and his entourage for dinner, taking a limousine to Kelly Mondelli's on Clark. The group also consisted of Sinatra's wife, Nancy, Dressen, married entertainers Steve Lawrence and Edyie Gorme, former DePaul basketball coach Ray Meyer and Bears tight end Tim Wrightman.
"We sat there from probably 10:30 to maybe 2:30 in the morning listening to [Sinatra's] stories and of all the stories, the only person he referenced outside of [entertainers] was Walter Payton," Thayer said.
"[Sinatra] was so enamored and enthralled with his greatness that he was asking questions about Walter Payton, and I was thinking to myself, 'Wow, here's one of the most famous people in the world asking about one of the most famous athletes in the world. It was kind of cool to sit there and listen to him tell stories about the different experiences in his life, but the only person he asked about was Walter Payton."
Thayer had an illustrious career with the Bears, appearing in 123 games with 120 starts over eight seasons from 1985-92. After opening the 1993 season on the physically unable to perform list, he was released by the Bears and signed with the Dolphins.
Immediately after his release, quarterback Jim Harbaugh happened to give Rolex watches to every offensive lineman as a token of appreciation. The group included Frank Kmet, the father of Bears tight end Cole Kmet. Having just switched from defensive line to offensive line, Frank didn't feel he deserved the watch. But Harbaugh insisted.
"Frank ended up accepting the watch, which I think he should have," Thayer said. "And now when I see him all the time, he puts his wrist out and goes, 'Hey Tom, here's your watch and kind of shakes it in my face, which I get a huge kick out of and have all the respect in the world for what Frank has done and how he's raised his family and what they've been able to accomplish. So a gift that he deserved he got and that was my chance to have a Rolex."
As part of each Lunch with Larry, I'll pick a question of the week for our guest sent via Twitter, and the person who asked the question will win a Connie's Pizza gift card. This week's question was sent by Cubbie_Blue_17, who asked: Which member of this current Bears team would fit best on the '85 team?
Thayer's response?
"DJ Moore because he's a good receiver, a tough guy and a good leader."
Just like George Bailey, the character played by Jimmy Stewart in the classic movie "It's a Wonderful Life," Thayer considers himself the richest man in town—and it has nothing to do with money.
"What the Chicago Bears has offered me and my family is unrepayable, and I think how important it's been in my lifetime and my mom and dad's lifetime, my brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews," Thayer said.
"I have pictures of Walter Payton in my backyard here. Sitting around just showing up on a Sunday on his motorcycle and all the neighborhood kids coming around and surrounding him, sitting on his motorcycle, wearing his helmet. It's not only just game day. It's the continuous [presence] of the Chicago Bears that plays such an important role in my life."
