As the Bears gear up to face the Packers, we sit down with Super Bowl-winning quarterback Jim McMahon to talk about the city that adopted him, the team that defined a generation, and what it means to live with the long-term impact of the game he helped shape.

Jim takes us from San Jose to Soldier Field to Lambeau: how a kid who loved baseball wound up under center for the 1985 Bears, why he saw rebellion as a form of leadership, and what it was really like inside that famously intense Ditka–Buddy Ryan locker room. Along the way, we get the stories behind the headbands, the sunglasses, and the day he wore a Bears jersey to the Packers’ White House visit.

If you grew up hearing the ’85 Bears described like Greek gods, if “Go Bears” has ever been your version of “hello,” or if you’ve ever wondered what happens to a body and brain after football, this one’s for you.

In this episode, we cover:

• Bears–Packers, from both sidelines: How a player who spent seven years as the ultimate Bear ended up in Green Bay and why he wore a Chicago jersey to the Super Bowl ring ceremony at the White House.
• The legend of #9: Jim’s journey from BYU record-breaker to the swaggering, sunglasses-wearing quarterback of the 1985 Bears, and why he saw “us against them” as pure Chicago energy.
• Cannabis over opioids: How he and other former players got off pain pills, what he’s learned about the body’s endocannabinoid system, and why he calls marijuana a medicinal plant, not a drug.
• Troops, USO tours, and perspective: The story of visiting bases in Iraq during wartime, staying in Saddam’s palaces, meeting wounded soldiers in autograph lines, and how that reshaped his sense of service and sacrifice.
• The headband heard ’round the world: From getting fined for an Adidas band to trolling NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle on national TV, then turning the spotlight to charities during the Super Bowl.
• Hockey dads and golf trips: Raising kids in Northbrook youth hockey, early memories of brutal ’70s hockey fights, and dream foursomes that include Michael Jordan and rounds at Augusta, St. Andrews, and Pebble Beach.

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Connect with the hosts of DIBS on Instagram Nick Sarantos and Mallory Waxman