This story was originally published in the baiduhai on Aug. 4, 1986:
LONDON—William Perry Week in London was nearly over, and the man himself was hurriedly dressing in the Bears’ makeshift locker room in Wembley Arena. The papers here had run his picture almost daily during the Bears’ stay in London, and their reporters had considered and analyzed everything from his dietary habits to his love life. “With him,” Gary Fencik would say later, “everything he does, everything he touches is a story. And here, it was more than at home.”
“But he never complained at all,” Perry’s running mate, defensive end Tyrone Keys, would add. “And the fact is, when he was on the field, he got a lot of exposure, but when we went out at night he had a lot more privacy than he does in Chicago. He could go to a nightclub, tell the guy at the door that he would like the crowds kept away and it would happen. People wanted to see him and they would look, but they were a lot more respectful here than in Chicago, and they didn’t bother him too much. Over here, he got a little peace of mind.
“The papers? He very seldom reads them, but sometimes he asked me about them because he knows I read all the papers. We all expected it (the kinds of articles that appeared). We knew how the English papers were, and we just had our fun.”
“It wasn’t tough at all,” Perry said.”I just talked to the British press and tried to answer all their questions. No big deal. Like I always say, things come and go. To me, it’s just another week in the hole. “I didn’t read the papers all week and, anyway, most people told me about what was in them before they got to my door. It (all that had been written) is going to stay right here when I leave. It won’t go back with me to Platteville. When I get back there, I’ll just start getting my head ready for the season.”
Perry, of course, was the focus of this most unusual start to the Bears’ season, and the more than 82,000 spectators crammed into Wembley Stadium Sunday focused on him. That most amazing of crowds cheered all the Bears when they entered, but it saved its loudest ovation for Perry, who walked in alone and a good five yards behind the pack. That reception was repeated during the pregame introductions and then, with just over two minutes remaining in the first half, the moment that mass had been anticipating finally arrived.
For the previous two minutes, its attention had wavered and it had contented itself doing a series of waves, but now Steve Fuller carried a bootleg around left end for 16 yards and a first down at the Cowboy 1. Suddenly the sea of people calmed and looked to the sidelines, where Mike Ditka was waving Perry into the game.
There was a roar as he pulled on his helmet and trotted onto the field, and then — when he lined up at left halfback —that low murmur that anticipates a delicious moment. Fuller took the snap and handed to Perry, who smacked into the line, was stopped for a moment and then with a second effort leaned into the end zone. The crowd rose to acclaim him with a standing ovation, and Perry handed the ball to Cowboy linebacker Eugene Lockhart, who threw it back.
“It’s one of those plays I got to run,” said Perry with a shrug. “It’s part of the job. To me, this didn’t seem any different from playing the Dallas Cowboys in Dallas. It was the same atmosphere.”
“I thought the atmosphere was pretty neat,” said center Jay Hilgenberg, whose opinion was in the majority. “It was neat when we first got on the field and they cheered. It got me pumped up. It’s always a neat feeling to go back in front of a big crowd. You usually don’t get that in your first preseason game. We were like entertainers out there. It was like we could have done anything and they would have cheered. It definitely wasn’t the kind of crowd you get for a preseason game in the United States.”
“They certainly seemed to have a good time,” added Fencik. “There was entertainment in the stands as well as in the field. They did the wave so many times, they probably set an NFL record.”
Concluded wide receiver Ken Margerum:”You could tell there was a lot of beer being drunk up there.”
That last characteristic was about the only one the fans shared with their counterparts in the States. As Fencik mentioned, they waved with the regularity of a wind-blown Lake Michigan. They roared so much that general manager Jerry Vainisi would later say, “They reminded me of a college crowd.” They spiced their antics with the traditional soccer cheer “Here we go, here we go,” which indicates they are feeling the game is getting exciting. Rather than booing when the game bogged down, they were much more direct; they chanted “Boring.” And, in the fourth quarter, they even trotted out that olden-golden goodie, a streaker.
He made it across the field and to the corner of an end zone before one plainclothes cop got him high and another got him low and pummeled him to the ground. They then started to escort him off the field still sans clothing, and, up in the press box, injured wide receiver Dennis McKinnon yelped in wonder: “They’re not even going to cover him up.”
The police eventually did, but the exhibition was much on the Bears’ mind in their locker room. “The highlight of the fourth quarter,” said Fencik.
“The highlight of the ballgame,” said quarterback Jim McMahon.
“I asked a policeman what would happen to him, and he said they’d probably let the ladies take care of him,” said Walter Payton. “I was going to ask him what that meant, but I never got the chance.”
Each of them was now rushing to catch the team’s late plane out of this British Disneyland and back to Platteville, where they would re-enter the real world. And, not surprisingly, that is what was most on Payton’s mind as he dressed.”Sure, you could hear them cheering. But it made no difference,”said this most committed of men.
“I was more concerned with how we performed. I don’t care what they did. When we review the films, the mistakes will come out. That is what I’m worried about.”
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