Before he was a successful NFL head coach, Ron Rivera spent nine seasons at linebacker for the Chicago Bears. He was a member of the 1985 Bears, the franchise's only Super Bowl champion. A 15-1 outfit during the regular season, the '85 Bears -- led by their famous "46" defense -- allowed just one touchdown (which occurred in garbage time) en route to defeating the Patriots in Super Bowl XX.
Rivera, who led the Football Team to a division title during his first season in Washington, was recently asked if second-year pass rusher Chase Young could have played on the '85 Bears defense. Rivera didn't hesitate.
"Could he have? Oh, yeah," Rivera said, via NBC Sports Mike DePrisco. "We have several guys that would have fit in very nicely with that group of men. He really would have. There are certain guys, that in their era, they were great. I believe that. And a few of them can transcend and come to another era and been great there, too.
"He's a guy I think that could. I think he's a guy that this is what the future of football is going to look like. And we've got a few of those guys, too. We're really fortunate to have those kind of players on this team right now."
Based on what Fields did as a rookie, Rivera's praise appears to be appropriate. Last year's Defensive Rookie of the Year, Fields tallied 7.5 sacks and four forced fumbles while returning one of his three fumble returns for a touchdown. After recording 3.5 sacks in his first nine games, Young had four sacks, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries during Washington's last six regular season games. Washington went 4-2 over that span while clinching the franchise's first NFC East title since 2015.
"To have a rookie come in and kind of just take over certain aspects of our team, he truly is an emotional leader," Rivera said at the end of the 2020 season. "The young man practices and plays at a high level, a lot of energy, smart football player. He's a guy that came in as a young pro who understood what it was gonna take, what he had to do to get himself to where he needed to be to help us, and that's probably the biggest thing."
Rivera has no doubt that Young's play would have complemented the '85 Bears defense, a unit that included three All-Pros, five Pro Bowlers and three future Hall of Famers. Young's recent hit on Patriots quarterback Cam Newton looked like it came straight out of an '85 Bears highlight tape. But as it relates to Young's ability to blend in with that colorful group of players, Rivera wasn't too sure.
"We had some characters, and they stood out," Rivera said. "Dan Hampton, Richard Dent and Steve McMichael. Those guys were personalities and that was one of the things that I appreciated about being on that team. It was about keep your personality, play within the confines of our team, we've got a chance."
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