"The one thing about Jim McMahon, which was his curse and also maybe the one thing that made him tolerable was, as obnoxious as he was, he was unrepentant. He knows he's a jerk and he doesn't care that you know he's a jerk and he's not going to say, 'Whoops, I made a mistake,'"
-Rick Telander, journalist
"I'm the punky QB, known as McMahon.
When I hit the turf, I've got no plan."
-Jim McMahon in the
Superbowl Shuffle
Jim McMahon was born on August 21, 1959, in
Jersey City,
New Jersey. The family moved to
San Jose, California when he was three. At six, McMahon severed the
retina in his right eye when he accidentally poking a fork into it. This injury made him sensitive to light which is the real reason he wore his trademark
sunglasses later in life.
Jim McMahon graduated from
BYU where he led the Cougars to the
Western Athletic Conference titles his last two years and was
All-American as a senior. McMahon finished fifth and third in
Heisman Trophy balloting and later complained that BYU didn't push for him to recieve the Heisman Trophy. McMahon had actually started the team as a
punter.
In 1982 he was drafted fifth overall by the
Chicago Bears in the
NFL draft. In 1984 he helped the Bears get their first of five consecutive division titles. In 1985, the Bears won 18 of 19 games and won their only
Super Bowl.
In the 1985
NFC playoffs, McMahon was fined $5000 by the
NFL Commissioner,
Pete Rozelle, for wearing a
headband with a corperate logo,
Adidas. The next game McMahon showed up with a headband that said 'Rozelle'. The next game he wore a headband that said '
Pluto', the nickname of his best friend.
McMahon went 67-30 (.690percent) as a starting
quarterback.
Jim McMahon was selected to the
All-Madden team in 1985 and 1987.
www.allmadden.com
www.espn.com