We all have them. That player for the Chicago Bears who, for some reason, hit you in the feels. They didn’t set any records. No Pro Bowls or Top 100 placements. They may not even have played that long. But they were your favorite, and you still remember them fondly. Maybe they were your target in the draft, and you counted down the draft slots until the Bears were on the clock. You were thrilled when the Bears drafted them! Maybe it’s a player that caught your eye in the preseason, and you just knew they were a diamond in the rough. If only the Bears had just given them more of a chance. Maybe it’s a starter who did the little things, and while their accomplishments are now shadowed in the obscurity of yesteryear as time marches ever onward…you still remember their shining moments with the clarity of just yesterday. Or maybe they had that one shining moment with the Bears, a key play that secured one of your most satisfying victories—before they once again faded into obscurity.
For me, my forgotten player from yesteryear—a player I can’t recall a single discussion about in my long time of talking about the Bears on the internet—is one I remember because he is associated with one of my core teenage memories. I’m not sure a single Bears fan has given him a thought in 30 years. Outside of my own musings, his Bears career may as well never have existed. And frankly, I wouldn’t remember him either if it weren’t for…but well, we will get to that.
You see, my player is Brad Muster. Bradley William Muster, born April 11, 1965. He was an unassuming fullback/tailback out of the Stanford Cardinal. He was drafted in a day when fullbacks were valued, and so the Bears took him late in the first round of the 1988 NFL draft. But even in 1988, it was a strange pick, and widely considered to be a reach. Muster would play for the Bears for five seasons. In his best year for the Chicago Bears (1992), he would rush for only 662 yards, albeit at a 4.7 yards per carry clip. In no other season would he rush for more than 415 yards for the Bears. His job on the Chicago Bears was to serve mostly as a blocking back for Neal Anderson (and we all remember Neal Anderson). After five relatively healthy seasons with the Bears, he would spend two more injury-plagued seasons with the New Orleans Saints before he retired. Today, Brad Muster is an assistant coach for the men’s golf team at Santa Rosa Junior College in Santa Rosa, California.
Why do I remember this so very forgettable Chicago Bear? Well, Brad Muster, along with Neal Anderson, happened to be one of the running backs you could use to rush the ball as the Chicago Bears in Tecmo Super Bowl, the classic NFL video game for the original NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) released in 1991, that was the sequel to Tecmo Bowl. And I loved it. I played multiple seasons all the way to the championship with the Bears. I played against my brothers. I played against my friends. And I played against the NES. As you might expect, the Bears’ rushing attack was its best feature on offense in the game. And so, while Brad Muster, in the real world, did little to distinguish himself, he was a Pro Bowl-caliber player in Super Tecmo Bowl. Let me tell you – Muster and Anderson won me MULTIPLE Super Bowls in the summer of 1992. He was a bruiser, never going down at first contact. My brothers learned to curse his name. And so, to this day, I remember Brad Muster, Chicago Bear running back. And I continue to remember him fondly.
So, what Chicago Bears player do you remember that no one else does? Tell us about it in the comments!