5,486: Total weight in pounds of the 1985 Super-bowl champ Chicago Bears starting team.
6,093: Total weight in pounds of the 2003 Chicago Bears starting team.*
In football, both size and matter matter. Hence, teams are emphasizing beef with the gusto of Gibsons Steakhouse. The above figures show that today’s Chicago Bears starters are a total of 607 pounds heavier–or 25.3 pounds heavier per man. The ’85 Superbowl Shufflers had one 300-pounder on the roster, William “The Fridge” Perry, whereas this year’s team has 10 (12 if you count injured reservists Rex Tucker and Marc Colombo). That includes 390-pound Aaron “The Cold Storage Locker” Gibson.
The entire 53-man roster of today’s team weighs a staggering 13,188 pounds, or considerably more than a mature bull elephant. Not only that, but if you laid all the 2003 Bears end to end, they would stretch about 108 yards–sadly, the only sure way they could get from one end zone to the other.
*Starting team consists of 22 offensive and defensive players, plus a place kicker and a punter.