The Bears — coming off an 11-6 record, a division title and nearly making it to the NFC title game — have a target on their backs this season, says Dan Hampton.
Hampton, a legendary defensive lineman with 1985 Bears who won Super Bowl XX and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, was in La Grange Saturday as honorary grand marshal of the 80th Pet Parade.
Before the parade, he was asked his thoughts about the Bears’ coming season.
“Winning is an amazing elixir and a lot of times it has effects. A lot of people think, ‘Oh, we can do that again.’ They don’t realize it gets harder every year. And the Bears snuck on up a lot of folks last year. They’re not going to have that built-in advantage,” Hampton said.
And then there’s the schedule to consider, the toughest of all 32 teams in the NFL.
The Bears’ opponents in 2026 had a .550 winning percentage in the 2025 season.
“The other thing is they have the toughest schedule in all of football. So, this is an all hands on deck, show up for duty kind of a season. I think (Head Coach) Ben Johnson is a terrific leader thus far,” Hampton said.
Hampton remains close with his former teammates and head coach Mike Ditka.
“I went to see Ditka a couple weeks ago. Ditka was very proud of what they did last year and thinks they can build on it. Let’s hope they will,” Hampton added.