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2019 GUEST SPEAKER - Tom Thayer Tom Thayer spent eight seasons
playing for the Chicago Bears and the past 22 seasons serving as a color
analyst on the team's radio broadcasts. The 57-year-old Thayer was the
starting right guard on what many experts believe was the best team in
NFL history, the 1985 Bears. That team -- which included NFL Hall of
Famers Walter Payton, Dan Hampton, Richard Dent and Mike Singletary and
was coached by Hall of Famer Mike Ditka -- went 15-1 in the regular
season and then beat the New York Giants 21-0, the Los Angeles Rams 24-0
and the New England Patriots 46-10 in the Super Bowl. That was the only
Super Bowl title in franchise history.
Thayer
grew up in Joliet and was a member of two state championship teams at
Joliet Catholic Academy, where he played for the legendary coach Gordie
Gillespie. Gillespie, who was inducted into the Joliet Catholic Academy
Hall of Champions along with Thayer in 2014, has referred to Thayer as
"one of the five best players I ever coached, and he was the best
lineman."
After
graduation from JCA in 1979, Thayer received a scholarship to play at
Notre Dame under first coach Dan Devine and then Gerry Faust. He was an
honorable mention All-American and received a degree in media
communications in 1983.
Thayer
signed a three-year contract with the fledgling Chicago Blitz of the
United States Football League in April of 1983 on the day the Bears made
him their fourth-round selection in the NFL draft. He spent three
seasons in the USFL with the Blitz and the Arizona Wranglers before
signing with the Bears in 1985. He started 130 of the 134 games he
played for the Bears in eight seasons. He was waived after the start of
the 1993 season and appeared in three games for the Miami Dolphins
before retiring in 1993.
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