As "The NFL Today" celebrates 50 years, Brent Musburger remembers covering Bears in Chicago
As CBS Sports' "The NFL Today" celebrated its 50th anniversary on Sunday, original host Brent Musburger shared a story about covering the Bears back in his days at CBS Chicago.
Musburger, 86, was an original host of "The NFL Today" from 1975 until 1990. He returned Sunday to join host James Brown in studio alongside analysts Bill Cowher, Nate Burleson, and Matt Ryan — all of whom donned period wear and period hairpieces or mustaches.
Before joining "The NFL Today" team, Musburger had a long association with CBS Chicago — first on the sports team at then-CBS-owned WBBM Newsradio beginning in 1968. Not long afterward, Musburger also became sports director at CBS Chicago, WBBM-TV, Channel 2.
On Sunday as he chatted with his successors on "The NFL Today," Musburger remembered when the Bears were working out an agreement with Walter Payton — whom they had just drafted as the fourth overall pick in 1975, out of Jackson State University.
"He comes from a small school, drafted by the Bears, and his lawyer was down in Mississippi, and Jim Finks was the general manager of the Bears. They couldn't reach an agreement," Musburger said on "The NFL Today." "I was working the 10 o'clock news, so I call the lawyer, and I said, 'Is there any chance we could fly Walter up for an interview? [The lawyer said], 'Yeah, sure, I don't know why not.' So we brought him up, and I put him on the late news on the CBS-owned station, 'BBM.
"Jim Finks wouldn't speak to me for six months, OK? Because he said, 'It cost me a lot of money when you brought him up here,'" Musburger continued. "[Payton] was a great guy. Jim Brown would come into 'The NFL Today' every now and again, and his favorite running back other than himself was Walter Payton. I mean, Payton was some great running back."
Published reports note that in June 1975, Payton signed a three-year contract for a sum of about $150,000 per year — making him the highest-paid rookie in Bears history. One may argue that "Sweetness" went on to become the most beloved player in Bears history too — becoming the all-time leading rusher in the NFL with 16,726 yards, and setting 27 team records.
In the Bears' 1985 Super Bowl championship season, Payton racked up 1,551 rushing yards, nine rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns, and 49 catches. Payton didn't score a touchdown as the Bears took on the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX on Jan. 26, 1986, but he did rush for 61 yards.
Payton played for the Bears through the 1987 season. He died of a rare liver disease on Nov. 1, 1999.
Meanwhile on "The NFL Today" Sunday, Musburger noted that he covered the Bears for many years going back to his days at the Chicago American newspaper, and he was "a Butkus guy." But he said Bears Hall of Fame Bears linebacker Dick Butkus "couldn't hold a candle to Lawrence Taylor" of the New York Giants, whom Musburger called the "greatest linebacker who ever lived."
Musburger started NFL play-by-play coverage for CBS Sports in 1973, while still working as sports director for Chicago's Channel 2. Later in the 70s, Musburger found himself at KNXT-TV, later KCBS-TV, CBS Channel 2 in Los Angeles — where he anchored news and sports before joining CBS Sports full time in 1980.
Back in Chicago, former Bears running back and wide receiver Johnny Morris — by then a sports broadcasting veteran who had worked for CBS Chicago previously — supplanted Musburger as sports director at Chicago's Channel 2 in 1975.
CBS Sports' "The NFL Today" debuted that same year, with Musburger, Irv Cross, and Phyllis George. It became the prototypical pregame show and changed the landscape of sports broadcasting. Musburger also covered numerous other top sporting events for CBS Sports — including the NBA, NCAA Final Four, U.S. Open Tennis, and the Masters in golf, published reports noted.
Musburger remained with CBS Sports until 1990, when he switched to ABC Sports and later also ESPN. He left that position in 2017, and did radio play-by-play for the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders for a few years after that.