What Are the Top Single-season Performances by a Running Back in Bears History?

 By John Turney 

Red Grange and Bronko Nagurski

The Chicago Bears have been around forever and they have had some of the best running backs ever. Though Jim Brown is usually considered the best running back in NFL history a strong case can be made that Walter Payton was a more valuable player because he did more things well.

He may not have been quite as good a pure runner as Brown, but he blocked better, was a better receiver and could even throw a touchdown pass once in a while.

So, what was Payton's best season? Was it 1985 when the Bears won the Super Bowl? How about 1977?

And in either case, where does it rank amongst other single-seasons by Bears runner over the last one hundred or so years?

By taking one "career year" from each player - their best season - and comparing it to the others' here are the best individual seasons by Bears runners.

The criteria include statistics, impact on the team, postseason honors and scouts' rankings where possible and some eye test as well.

24. Curtis Enis, 1999—The fifth overall pick in 1998 can only be considered a bust but in his second season he had 1,256 yards from scrimmage but he's only here because this list goes twenty-five deep.

23. Rashaan Salaam, 1995—The UPI NFC Rookie of the Year rushed for over 1,000 yards and ran for 10 touchdowns. Like Enis, was a first-round pick that did not pay dividends for the Bears.

22. James Allen, 2000—When Curtis Enis was clearly not getting the job done Allen stepped in and ran for 1,120 yards.

21. Raymont Harris, 1997—Harris named himself the "Ultraback" because he felt he was versatile enough to do it all. He did some of it. 

In 1997 he ran for 1,033 yards and ten touchdowns and caught 28 passes in 13 games before he severely injured his leg and ankle. He may have been more effective in 1994 when he was playing fullback, though, he was kind of forced into lead back role but did well but could not stay healthy.

20. Tarik Cohen, 2018—A third-down back in the Darren Sproles/James White mold. In his career year, he caught 71 passes and totaled 1,169 yards from scrimmage and led the NFL in punt return yardage. 

19. Bob Margarita, 1945—A rushing and receiving threat he averaged 89.1 scrimmage yards a game. He also picked off six passes as a two-way player. Outside Sid Luckman, Margarita was probably the best player on a rare bad Bears team.

18. Matt Suhey, 1983—A little love for Walter Payton's lead blocker. He had career-highs in rushing attempts and rushing, rushing touchdowns, receptions and in receiving yards and in yards from scrimmage.

In the last five games of the season the 217-pound fullback had three games that he averaged 5.9 yards a carry.

17. Roland Harper, 1978—A little more love for a Payton blocker. He was eight yards from the Bears having two 1,000-yard rushers in the same season, finishing with 992 rushing yards. He also had 430 yards on 34 receptions. 

On the 26th of November, he ran for 144 yards against the Buccaneers - the only 100-yard game of his career.

16. Anthony Thomas, 2001—The "A-Train" was the AP NFL Rookie of the Year, his best as a pro. The second-round pick out of Michigan ran for 1,183 yards and set career highs in rushing receiving, yards from scrimmage. He also didn't fumble. 

On a 13-3 team he had an 188-, 173- and 160-yard rushing days and scored a touchdown in each of them. All were victories. 

15. Thomas Jones, 2005—A workhorse, he rushed 314 times and gained 1,335 yards and ten touchdowns. He was an alternate to the Pro Bowl. The Bears finished 11-5 and made the playoffs.

The following season the Bears were better, going 13-3 and winning the NFC but Jones had help that year with Cedric Bensen sharing the load in 2006.

14. David Montgomery, 2020—The 5-11, 224-pound back ran for 1,070 yards and caught passes for 438 more. His 1,508 yards from scrimmage are 19th best in franchise history.

13. Jordan Howard, 2016—A Pro Bowler as a rookie Howard ran for 1,313 yards, which is twelfth in team annals. he was the NFC Player of the Week in week eight and was the NFC Rookie of the Month for December.

12. Willie Galimore, 1961—In his career year Gallimore set career highs in rushing and receiving and yards from scrimmage, but he was more than about numbers—he was an eye-test guy.

He was an elusive and shifty runner that rivaled players like Lenny Moore and Hugh McElhenny for the league's most exciting player. 

Still, in 1961 (which edged out 1958 as the selection) he ran for 707 yards on 153 carriers and caught 33 passes for 502 yards - all were career-highs. 

11. Harry Clarke, 1943—Clark led the NFL in yards from scrimmage, ran for over 500 yards and caught passes for over 500 yards. He was a first-team All-Pro. He was also a capable return man and adding in yards from punt- and kick returns and interceptions he led the NFL in all-purpose yards with 1,607 and in yards from scrimmage (1,091 yards).

Clarke was held to 21 rushing yards in the NFL championship game against Washington but did catch a couple of touchdown passes in a 41-21 romp.

10. Bill Osmanski, 1939—In his rookie season Osmanski was All-Pro and went to the first iteration of the Pro Bowl.  He rushed for 699 yards to lead the NFL and ran for seven touchdowns and had a 5.8 yards per carry average. 

They didn't have a Rookie of the Year Award then but there is a good chance the Bears' first-round pick out of Holy Cross would have won it had there been.

9. George McAfee, 1941—A jack-of-all-trades, McAfee had a few years that could have been picked but 1941 was probably the top season. He was a first-team All-Pro and had his best rushing year. 

He scored rushing, receiving, on a kick return, and a punt return and threw a touchdown pass. 

He also intercepted six passes. McAfee typified the backs of his era that did a little bit of everything.

The Bears won the NFL title, winning a playoff game along the way and in those two games McAfee was the leading ground gainer with 200 yards including 119 in the playoff game versus the Packers.

8. Neal Anderson, 1989—Walter Payton's heir apparent did his best, but no one could live up to what Sir Walter did. In his career year, Anderson was NFC Offensive Player of the Month for September went to the Pro Bowl and was All-NFC.

He rushed for 1,275 and hauled in 50 passes and had 1,709 total yards (twelfth in Bears annals) and scored 15 touchdowns.

Of course, 1988 and 1990 were considered, the team was better in both seasons but it was injuries to the defense in 1989 that caused the slump, the offense was probably at its best in 1989, led by Anderson.

7. Matt Forte, 2013—A pretty consistent player with several excellent seasons but 2013 is probably the best. he had 1,913 yards from scrimmage, rushed for a career-high 1,339 yards and caught 74 passes for 594 yards. 

He was a poor man's Marshall Faulk or LaDainian Tomlinson.

6. Rick Casares, 1956—The 6-2, 226-pounder out of Florida led the NFL in carries, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. He was a consensus first-team All-Pro and finished third in the Player of the Year voting. His 1,126 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns set then-team records not broken until Gale Sayers joined the club.

5. Beattie Feathers, 1934—The NFL's first-ever 1,000-yard rusher, he, of course, led the league in rushing yards and tied for the lead in rushing touchdowns.  The former Tennessee Volunteer led in yards from scrimmage as well with 174 receiving yards on six catches. 

He was a consensus first-team All-Pro. The Bears were 13-0 but lost the title game to the New York Giants marring one of the best-ever seasons by a running back.

Oddly, he gained 1,004 rushing yards in 1934 and 976 the rest of his career. He scored nine total touchdowns in 1934, rushing and receiving and eight the rest of his career.

Talk about a one-year wonder.

4.  Red Grange, 1930—Not much film or many stats exist but Grange was a consensus All-Pro in both 1930 and 1931. He hurt his knee in 1927 and most accounts say he was never the same after but he was still considered an all-time great. He played more and more defense as he got older but was still carrying the ball a lot.

In the limited numbers that exist Grange was among league leaders in touchdowns in both seasons but near the top in 1930, so that is the pick.

3. Bronko Nagurski, 1934—The big fullback out of Minnesota was legendary and he had three consecutive seasons that could be considered his career year. We went with 1934. 

In 1932, '33, and '34 he rushed for about the same amount of yards (he was top four in the league) in all three years but in 1934 he scored his career high in touchdowns. But the deciding factor was he had to share the ball with rookie Beattie Feathers so all things consider Nagurski's career year, perhaps an MVP year, if there had been such an award, was 1934.

2. Gale Sayers, 1966—It came down to the Kansas Comet's rookie year or his sophomore NFL season. Both were terrific. Both were over 2,200 all-purpose yards. 

In 1965 he scored more touchdowns but ultimately 1966 was chosen because it was his career-high in yards from scrimmage (1,678), rushing yards (1,231). He averaged 5.4 yards a carry caught 34 passes and fumbled just twice. He also took back two kicks for touchdowns.

He was a consensus first-team All-Pro and naturally a Pro Bowler and was the week twelve NFL Offensive Player of the Week for gaining 172 yards rushing. He also closed the season with a 197-yard rushing day.

1. Walter Payton, 1977—Every once in a while there is a player who has maybe ten career years so picking one is difficult. Payton is that way. You don't want to be a cliche and pick the most obvious but by the same token, you don't want to do a hipster pick just to be different.

Certainly, 1979-80 and 1983-84-85 would be in the running and with 1985 being the runner-up but in this case, it has to be the obvious season - 1977. 

Sweetness won the rushing quadruple crown, leading the NFL in attempts, rushing yards, rushing average, and rushing touchdowns.

He was a unanimous NFL MVP (AP, PFWA, NEA) and NFC Player of the Year (UPI) and of course unanimous All-Pro plus All-NFC and Pro Bowl selections as well.

With Payton leading the way the Bears even made the playoffs, something they had not done since 1963. 

Payton's abilities would translate well to today's game because he not only did it all, he did it all so well.