Dick Butkus established what a Chicago middle linebacker was supposed to be. Nearly two decades later, Mike Singletary inherited that responsibility and became the leader of one of the most terrifying defenses football has ever seen.
The famous eyes told part of the story. Singletary would stare across the line of scrimmage, studying the offense before the snap and looking like he already knew what was coming. More often than not, he did.
Singletary wasn’t the biggest or fastest linebacker of his generation. What separated him was preparation, intelligence, instincts, leadership and an almost obsessive understanding of football. Put all of that in the middle of a defense overflowing with talent, and Chicago had the perfect commander.
The result was a 12-year career featuring a Super Bowl championship, two Defensive Player of the Year awards, seven First-Team All-Pro selections and 10 consecutive Pro Bowls.
At No. 2 on our list of the greatest linebackers in NFL history, we have Mike Singletary.
The Résumé
Few linebackers have ever combined individual dominance, consistency and team success quite like Singletary.
Pro Football Hall of Fame, Class of 1998
Super Bowl XX Champion
2× NFL Defensive Player of the Year
7× First-Team All-Pro
1× Second-Team All-Pro
10× Pro Bowler
NFL 1980s All-Decade Team
NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team
1,488 career tackles according to Chicago Bears records
19 career sacks
7 interceptions
12 fumble recoveries
172 career games started
No. 50 retired by the Chicago Bears
First-ballot Hall of Famer
From 1983 through 1992, Singletary made the Pro Bowl 10 consecutive times. He earned First-Team All-Pro honors seven times during that span and established himself as one of the defining defensive players of the 1980s.
Becoming Chicago’s Next Great Middle Linebacker
The Bears selected Singletary in the second round of the 1981 NFL Draft after an extraordinary college career at Baylor.
Coming to Chicago meant something different for a middle linebacker. This was the franchise of Bill George and Dick Butkus. The position carried history, expectations and responsibility.
Singletary didn’t immediately become the centerpiece of the defense, but once he earned the starting job, Chicago quickly discovered what it had.
By 1983, he had reached his first Pro Bowl. That began a streak that wouldn’t end until his final NFL season.
Ten seasons.
Ten Pro Bowls.
Singletary had become the next great Chicago middle linebacker.
Preparation Became His Superpower
Singletary’s greatest advantage wasn’t something that could be measured at the NFL Combine.
It was preparation.
He became known for obsessively studying offenses, formations and tendencies. Before the ball was snapped, Singletary was processing what he saw and communicating adjustments to the rest of the defense.
Those famous wide eyes became one of the defining images of his career, but there was much more happening behind them. Singletary wasn’t simply trying to intimidate the offense. He was reading it.
That intelligence allowed him to play faster than his physical measurements suggested. He could diagnose a running play, close a gap, recognize a passing concept and put teammates in the correct position.
On a defense filled with stars, someone needed to organize everything.
That responsibility belonged to No. 50.
The 46 Defense
When defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan constructed his aggressive 46 defense, he had the perfect group of players to execute it.
Chicago attacked offenses instead of waiting for them. The Bears crowded the line of scrimmage, created pressure from unusual places and forced quarterbacks to make decisions before they were comfortable making them.
Richard Dent attacked from the edge. Dan Hampton created chaos up front. Steve McMichael brought pressure from the interior. Wilber Marshall added speed and violence at linebacker.
And in the middle stood Mike Singletary.
His job required more than making tackles. He had to understand the entire defense, communicate assignments and react instantly when an offense attempted to exploit Chicago’s aggression.
The system was complicated.
Singletary made it work.
1985
Then came the season that turned a great defense into football immortality.
The 1985 Chicago Bears went 15-1 during the regular season and allowed only 198 points, just 12.4 points per game. Their defense finished first in the NFL in both points allowed and yards allowed.
Singletary was at the center of it all.
He recorded 109 solo tackles according to Pro Football Reference’s historical records, recovered three fumbles and earned NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors.
But the numbers alone can’t capture his importance. Singletary was the voice of the defense, responsible for making calls and keeping one of the most aggressive units in football organized.
Chicago didn’t simply have a good defense.
It had a defense that could take over entire football games.
Dominating the Playoffs
Some legendary regular-season teams fail when the postseason arrives.
The 1985 Bears somehow became even better.
Chicago opened its playoff run against the New York Giants and won 21-0.
Then came the NFC Championship Game against the Los Angeles Rams.
Another shutout.
24-0.
Through two playoff games, the Bears defense had allowed exactly zero points.
That sent Chicago to Super Bowl XX against the New England Patriots, where the defense produced one final demolition.
The Bears forced six turnovers, recorded seven sacks and held New England to seven rushing yards.
Chicago won 46-10.
Across three postseason games, the Bears allowed just 10 total points.
Mike Singletary was now the middle linebacker and defensive leader of a unit that had a legitimate argument as one of the greatest defenses football had ever seen.
The Leader Among Stars
One of the most impressive things about Singletary’s role in Chicago was the number of personalities surrounding him.
The Bears defense wasn’t short on confidence. It was filled with stars, future Hall of Famers and players capable of taking over games themselves.
Yet Singletary became its leader.
He didn’t need to be the loudest player on every occasion. His preparation and consistency created credibility. When Singletary made a defensive call, his teammates trusted it.
That leadership was recognized throughout the league.
In 1988, three years after Chicago’s championship season, Singletary won his second Defensive Player of the Year award.
The 1985 season hadn’t created Mike Singletary’s greatness.
It had simply given his greatness its biggest stage.
Ten Straight Years Among the Elite
It’s easy for Singletary’s career to become reduced to one team and one season because the 1985 Bears have become such a massive part of NFL history.
But Singletary’s résumé stretches far beyond that championship.
From 1983 through 1992, he never missed a Pro Bowl. During his career he accumulated seven First-Team All-Pro selections, and the Bears credit him with 1,488 tackles.
Even after Buddy Ryan left Chicago following the Super Bowl victory, Singletary remained one of football’s premier linebackers.
Schemes changed.
Coaches changed.
Players around him changed.
Singletary kept producing.
One Team, One Career
Singletary never wore another NFL uniform.
He spent all 12 seasons of his career with the Chicago Bears, starting 172 games and becoming another chapter in the franchise’s extraordinary history at middle linebacker.
His final season came in 1992.
Even then, at 34 years old, Singletary made the Pro Bowl.
Think about the symmetry of that run. He reached his first Pro Bowl in 1983 and then made it every single season for the remainder of his career.
There was no long decline where he spent years chasing what he once was.
He remained respected as one of the NFL’s premier linebackers until the end.
Canton
Singletary became eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998.
He went straight in.
A first-ballot Hall of Famer, Singletary joined the immortals only six years after playing his final NFL game.
The Bears later retired his No. 50, permanently placing him alongside the greatest players in franchise history. He was also selected to the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team and, decades later, the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.
His place in history had long been secure.
The General of the Monsters of the Midway
Mike Singletary didn’t need overwhelming size or freakish athleticism to control a football game. He did it with preparation, instincts, discipline and leadership.
He became the brain in the middle of one of football’s most aggressive defensive systems. He won two Defensive Player of the Year awards, earned seven First-Team All-Pro selections and reached 10 consecutive Pro Bowls.
And when the greatest team of his career needed a leader in the middle, Singletary helped guide the 1985 Bears through one of the most dominant championship runs the NFL has ever seen.
Twelve seasons. Ten Pro Bowls. Eight All-Pro selections. Two Defensive Player of the Year awards. One Super Bowl championship. One franchise.
Mike Singletary wasn’t simply another star on the Monsters of the Midway. He was their general.
Do you agree with Mike Singletary at No. 2? Let us know in the comments.
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