The Super Bowl Shuffle At 40: How A Goofy Rap Classic Boosted The Bears’ Title Run

The Chicago Bears are 8-3 and soaring successful this season’s NFL standings. For a fanbase that’s grown accustomed to looking up astatine nan section rival Green Bay Packers and looking up to nan adjacent season’s prospects, it’s logic to smell nan roses and indulge successful immoderate ray strutting. But moreover arsenic fans find themselves looking guardant to nan Bears’ first playoff berth successful 5 years, thing that erstwhile seemed unthinkable pinch a second-year backmost and a rookie caput coaching helming a squad that managed only 5 wins past year, nary instrumentality is reasoning nan 2025 Bears person a Super Bowl tally successful them – not without a rap opus to laic nan marker down.

Before nan 1985 version of nan Bears romped to triumph successful Super Bowl XX, they tempted destiny by signaling The Super Bowl Shuffle. Although nan opus only peaked astatine 41 connected nan Billboard Hot 100 charts, the accompanying video came to rival Michael Jackson’s Thriller for fame arsenic it popped up endlessly connected TV during nan Bears’ title run. “The Super Bowl Shuffle went viral successful an property wherever location was nary viral beingness for illustration we cognize it today,” nan song’s signaling engineer, Fred Breitberg, says. “It was a phenomenal entity arsenic good arsenic being a bully record.”

The Shuffle is HBO’s Behind nan Music heavy dive into nan 1980s banger. (At 40 minutes, nan movie is astir arsenic agelong arsenic 1 of those VH1 classical episodes, too.) For younger crowds who whitethorn struggle to admit really a seven-minute rap line-dance opus performed by stiff shot players could predominate nan airwaves, understand: this was backmost erstwhile hip-hop was conscionable catching on, euphony videos were making power stars and nan ’85 Bears were chock-a-block pinch colorful characters for illustration Sweetness (hall of fame tailback Walter Payton), nan Punky QB (Pro Bowler Jim McMahon) and nan Fridge (335lbs protect tackle William Perry). It was a dizzying level of enthusiasm that recalled nan frenzied days of Beatlemania, successful Chicago anyway.

Of course, those Bears ne'er would person been truthful endearing if they hadn’t backed up those large personalities pinch monstrously bigger play. Anchored by a historical defense that produced 4 hallway of famers, nan Bears dominated successful practically each statistical class connected that broadside of nan shot connected nan measurement to registering a plus-258 constituent differential – 110 points higher than nan adjacent champion team. They steamrolled done each force isolated from nan Miami Dolphins connected nan measurement to a 46-10 clobbering of nan New England Patriots successful Super Bowl XX.

The Shuffle draws connected interviews pinch cardinal figures connected nan Bears – protect linchpin Mike Singletary, big-play receiver Willie Gault – arsenic good arsenic nan producers, techs and spot players progressive successful making nan opus and video. All of it was nan brainchild of Dick Meyer, a Chicago perfumer who started a grounds explanation connected a lark and met Gault connected a euphony video sprout successful which nan Bears receiver was making a cameo. This wasn’t different for Gault, an ahead-of-his-time renaissance man who tried everything from modeling to ballet to harness racing.

Bewitched by Gault’s adventurousness, Meyers sounded him nan thought for a We Are nan World-style opus performed by nan Bears – but Gault didn’t initially spot it happening pinch nan play already nether way. But erstwhile Meyers said nan proceeds would spell toward a Chicago kindness for struggling families, Gault agreed to rally nan squad down nan thought – and sewage astir 30 of his teammates to subordinate nan task aft McMahon, Payton and Singletary committed.

The players knew they were tempting destiny though. This was Chicago successful nan 1980s, aft all. The shot teams were still very overmuch cursed, Michael Jordan had just joined nan Bulls and nan Bears hadn’t won an NFL title successful 22 years. In summation to nan squad jinxing itself, players worried astir nan imaginable of serving up bulletin committee worldly to their rivals. “If we don’t spell to nan Super Bowl,” Singletary says successful nan doc, “we’re gonna beryllium nan biggest idiots ever.”

Meyers teed up nan players for occurrence arsenic champion he could. He repurposed a opus that was already successful his catalog called Kingfish Shuffle, named for a characteristic successful Amos ’n’ Andy minstrel shows – a jarring prime for a squad mostly composed of Black players, successful retrospect. Meyers had nan opus rewritten to tie connected themes from nan Bears’ play and gave america lines for illustration They telephone maine Sweetness / And I for illustration to creation / Runnin’ nan shot is for illustration makin’ romance, and from The Fridge: I whitethorn beryllium ample / But I’m nary dumb cookie. The players laid down their tracks astatine Meyers’ basement signaling workplace a week earlier Thanksgiving. It was past that Pro Bowl information Gary Fencik and others began reconsidering nan logic of singing astir nan Super Bowl pinch six games still to play successful nan regular season.

Then came clip for nan video sprout astatine Chicago’s fabled Park West theater, which was scheduled for 3 December – nan time after the team’s nonaccomplishment to Miami. The unit wasn’t judge nan squad would show aft nan bitter defeat. And erstwhile yet they did hours later, it was without Payton and McMahon. (They were added successful post-production aft shooting their parts against a bluish screen.)

The video’s director, Dave Thompson, and his unit chief, Mike Fayette, worried that nan players mightiness beryllium excessively depressed aft their nonaccomplishment to Miami to present a workable performance. But Singletary, nicknamed ‘the Samurai’ for his fearsome intensity, rallied his charges and moreover directed immoderate choreography, a large situation for this group. The last trim makes a constituent of not holding attraction connected immoderate of their creation moves for longer than 2 seconds. “That’s arsenic agelong arsenic they could support their hands moving to nan left, and support their hands moving to nan right,” Fayette said.

What began arsenic a desultory responsibility for galore of nan players coiled up becoming a moral-booster. “That was nan nosy part, moving together successful a wholly different realm,” Singletary says successful nan doc, reflecting connected his noble choreography effort. “There were guys that were backups school guys that were starters. We mixed successful a measurement that we had ne'er had a chance to before, and it became a rallying constituent that brought america together, sewage america refocused.”

In nan end, location was nary holding The Super Bowl Shuffle back. It was everyplace connected Chicago power a week aft nan sprout wrapped, and past each complete TV aft that. You really had to beryllium there, and I was (albeit conscionable 5 years aged astatine nan time). I tin retrieve going to playdates and day parties successful later years, and friends playing their 45 rpm records and VHS copies of nan tune connected a loop. In 1985 though, nan players were kicking themselves for going against their instincts not to tempt fate. But aft a while, they began to spot nan opus little arsenic a shot folly than arsenic a modular to which they could clasp themselves accountable, for illustration Babe Ruth calling his shot. When different teams began dropping copycat songs – not slightest nan Super Bowl runner-up Patriots – nan Bears knew they had taken nan correct approach.

The remainder is shot and euphony history. After nan Bears delivered what astatine nan clip was nan astir lopsided Super Bowl triumph successful history, The Super Bowl Shuffle earned a Grammy information for champion R&B capacity by a duo aliases a group pinch vocals astatine nan 1987 awards ceremonial – and (correctly) mislaid retired to Prince’s Kiss. It besides raised much than $300,000 for kindness (worth astir $900,000 now). But astir importantly, it inspired a raft of imitation songs from NFL teams down nan years – though nary of them would thrust nan aforesaid taste heft. If this season’s Bears tin someway negociate to propulsion disconnected nan unthinkable and technologist a Super Bowl upset successful Santa Clara this coming February, well, their fans will beryllium shuffling successful nan streets each complete again.

• The Shuffle is streaming now connected HBO successful nan US. It will aerial connected HBO Max successful nan UK erstwhile nan work launches location adjacent year.