1997 Chicago Bears season

1997 Chicago Bears season
Head Coach	Dave Wannstedt
Home Field	Soldier Field
Results
Record	4–12
Place	5th NFC Central
Playoff Finish	did not qualify
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
1996	1998

The 1997 Chicago Bears season was their 78th regular season completed in the National Football League (NFL). The club posted a 4–12 record under head coach Dave Wannstedt. It was the club's first 4-win season since the club posted a 4–10 record in 1975. The team allowed a franchise-record 421 points in 1997.^[1]

Offseason

NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1997 Chicago Bears draft
2	38	John Allred	Tight end	USC
3	69	Bob Sapp	Guard	Washington
4	105	Darnell Autry	Running back	Northwestern
4	108	Marcus Robinson	Wide receiver	South Carolina
5	141	Van Hiles	Defensive back	Kentucky
6	196	Shawn Swayda	Defensive end	Arizona State
6	200	Richard Hogans	Linebacker	Memphis
6	201	Ricky Parker	Defensive back	San Diego State
7	210	Mike Miano	Defensive tackle	Missouri State
7	233	Marvin Thomas	Defensive end	Memphis
Made roster

^[2]

Personnel

Staff

1997 Chicago Bears staff

Front office

Chairman of the Board – Ed McCaskey
President and Chief Executive Officer – Michael McCaskey
Vice President of Operations – Ted Phillips
Vice President of Player Personnel – Mark Hatley
Director of College Scouting – Bill Rees
Director of Pro Personnel – Rick Spielman
Director of Research and Quality Control – Eric Studesville

Head coaches

Head Coach – Dave Wannstedt
Assistant Head Coach – Tony Wise

Offensive coaches

Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks – Matt Cavanaugh
Running Backs – Willie Peete
Wide Receivers – Ivan Fears
Tight Ends – Ted Plumb
Offensive Line – Tony Wise

Defensive coaches

Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Bob Slowik
Defensive Line – Clarence Brooks
Defensive Backs – Carlos Mainord
Defensive Assistant – Greg Schiano

Special teams coaches

Special Teams – Keith Armstrong

Strength and conditioning

Physical Development Coordinator – Russ Riederer
Assistant Physical Development Coordinator – Steve Little

^[3]

Roster

1997 Chicago Bears roster

Quarterbacks

Running backs

21 Darnell Autry
30 Tony Carter FB
38 Mike Dulaney FB
22 Ronnie Harmon
29 Raymont Harris
44 Michael Hicks

Wide receivers

Tight ends

49 Tremayne Allen
84 John Allred
85 Keith Jennings
89 Ryan Wetnight

Offensive linemen

63 Todd Burger G
72 Jon Clark T
62 Chris Gray G
64 Andy Heck T
74 Jimmy Herndon T
67 Greg Huntington G
75 Todd Perry G
65 Evan Pilgrim C
67 Bill Schultz G
58 Chris Villarrial C/G
60 Casey Wiegmann C
71 James Williams T

Defensive linemen

99 Jim Flanigan DT
93 Paul Grasmanis DT
68 Carl Reeves DE
98 Carl Simpson DT
95 Mark Thomas DE
97 Chris Zorich DT
96 Tyrone Williams DT

Linebackers

59 Daryl Carter OLB
52 Bryan Cox MLB
54 Ron Cox OLB
55 Sean Harris OLB
53 Michael Lowery OLB
92 Barry Minter OLB
57 Tony Peterson MLB

Defensive backs

32 Ricky Bell CB
23 Marty Carter SS
25 Tom Carter CB
24 Terry Cousin CB
20 Corey Dowden CB
46 Marlon Forbes S
27 Walt Harris CB
48 Van Hiles S
26 John Mangum FS
36 Anthony Marshall SS
45 Tony Stargell CB

Special teams

Reserve lists

35 James Burton CB (IR)
94 Rich Hogans LB (IR)
19 Marcus Robinson WR (IR)
31 Rashaan Salaam RB (IR)
90 Alonzo Spellman DE (Susp.)
91 John Thierry DE (IR)

Practice squad

Rookies in italics

^[4]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	TV Time	Attendance
1	September 1, 1997	at Green Bay Packers	L 38–24	ABC 8:00pm	60,766
2	September 7, 1997	Minnesota Vikings	L 27–24	FOX 12:00pm	59,263
3	September 14, 1997	Detroit Lions	L 32–7	FOX 12:00pm	59,147
4	September 21, 1997	at New England Patriots	L 31–3	FOX 12:00pm	59,873
5	September 28, 1997	at Dallas Cowboys	L 27–3	FOX 3:00pm	64,082
6	October 5, 1997	New Orleans Saints	L 20–17	TNT 7:15pm	58,865
7	October 12, 1997	Green Bay Packers	L 24–23	FOX 12:00pm	62,212
8	Bye
9	October 27, 1997	at Miami Dolphins	W 36–33	ABC 8:00pm	73,156
10	November 2, 1997	Washington Redskins	L 31–8	FOX 12:00pm	53,052
11	November 9, 1997	at Minnesota Vikings	L 29–22	FOX 12:00pm	63,443
12	November 16, 1997	New York Jets	L 23–15	NBC 3:00pm	45,642
13	November 23, 1997	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 13–7	FOX 12:00pm	43,955
14	November 27, 1997	at Detroit Lions	L 55–20	FOX 11:30am	77,904
15	December 7, 1997	Buffalo Bills	W 20–3	NBC 12:00pm	39,784
16	December 14, 1997	at St. Louis Rams	W 13–10	ESPN 7:15pm	66,030
17	December 21, 1997	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 31–15	FOX 12:00pm	70,930

Standings

Template:1997 NFC Central standings

References

↑ Mayer, Larry (November 14, 2013). "Have Bears had two 1,000-yard receivers?". Chicago Bears. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/chalk-talk/article-1/Have-Bears-had-two-1000-yard-receivers/e2d83627-f334-49d4-8f22-b723441dbf36. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
↑ "1997 Chicago Bears draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/1997_draft.htm. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
↑ "Club directory". Chicago Bears 1997 Media Guide. p. 2.
↑ "1997 Chicago Bears starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/1997_roster.htm. Retrieved November 26, 2014.

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: 1997 Chicago Bears season

1997 Chicago Bears at Pro-Football-Reference.com

1997 NFL seasonv · d · e
AFC	East	Central	West	East	Central	West	NFC
	Buffalo	Baltimore	Denver	Arizona	Chicago	Atlanta
	Indianapolis	Cincinnati	Kansas City	Dallas	Detroit	Carolina
	Miami	Jacksonville	Oakland	NY Giants	Green Bay	New Orleans
	New England	Pittsburgh	San Diego	Philadelphia	Minnesota	St. Louis
	NY Jets	Tennessee	Seattle	Washington	Tampa Bay	San Francisco
1997 NFL Draft • NFL Playoffs • Pro Bowl • Super Bowl XXXII

This article relating to a Chicago Bears season is a stub. You can help The American Football Database by expanding it.

[1] Mayer, Larry (November 14, 2013). "Have Bears had two 1,000-yard receivers?". Chicago Bears. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/chalk-talk/article-1/Have-Bears-had-two-1000-yard-receivers/e2d83627-f334-49d4-8f22-b723441dbf36. Retrieved November 14, 2013.

[2] "1997 Chicago Bears draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/1997_draft.htm. Retrieved November 24, 2014.

[3] "Club directory". Chicago Bears 1997 Media Guide. p. 2.

[4] "1997 Chicago Bears starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/1997_roster.htm. Retrieved November 26, 2014.

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