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SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Six years after retiring, Jim McMahon doesn't miss football. He misses coaches even less.
In fact, the only time the former Bears quarterback watches football is when his seventh-grade son plays. He went to the Super Bowl this year and didn't see a single play, choosing instead to socialize.
"I'm not a fan. I've never been a fan," McMahon told a crowd of about 470 people at a College Football Hall of Fame luncheon Thursday. "I liked playing."
McMahon never liked to practice. Not at college or the pros.
"Getting through the week is boring," he said.
McMahon made the week anything but boring. He made just as many headlines for his antics as for his big-play ability. He also had his share of run-ins with Bears coach Mike Ditka and BYU coach LaVell Edwards. He said he doesn't like the way coaches today are taking the game away from players.
"The coaches are trying to take more of a hands-on, this is the way it's got to be done," he said. "I don't think that's right. Especially in my position as a quarterback."
Even now, he still gets his shots in at Ditka, saying the Bears should have won more than one Super Bowl in the 1980s. Ditka's coaching style of making the team wear pads and hit during practices throughout the season is partially to blame, he said.
"I think we were tired," he said. "That wore us down."
In fact, the only time the former Bears quarterback watches football is when his seventh-grade son plays. He went to the Super Bowl this year and didn't see a single play, choosing instead to socialize.
"I'm not a fan. I've never been a fan," McMahon told a crowd of about 470 people at a College Football Hall of Fame luncheon Thursday. "I liked playing."
McMahon never liked to practice. Not at college or the pros.
"Getting through the week is boring," he said.
McMahon made the week anything but boring. He made just as many headlines for his antics as for his big-play ability. He also had his share of run-ins with Bears coach Mike Ditka and BYU coach LaVell Edwards. He said he doesn't like the way coaches today are taking the game away from players.
"The coaches are trying to take more of a hands-on, this is the way it's got to be done," he said. "I don't think that's right. Especially in my position as a quarterback."
Even now, he still gets his shots in at Ditka, saying the Bears should have won more than one Super Bowl in the 1980s. Ditka's coaching style of making the team wear pads and hit during practices throughout the season is partially to blame, he said.
"I think we were tired," he said. "That wore us down."
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