Editing Jim McMahon (section)

===Chicago Bears===
The [[1982 Chicago Bears season|Chicago Bears]] selected McMahon in the first round (fifth overall) of the [[1982 NFL draft]]. McMahon, thrilled to be free from what he considered a restrictive culture at BYU, strolled into his first public function with the Bears holding a cold beer in his hand. Head coach [[Mike Ditka]] was not impressed, nor was Bears owner and founder [[George Halas]]. McMahon was to find the atmosphere in Chicago almost as challenging as that at Brigham Young, and he would lock horns with Ditka routinely during his seven years with the Bears.

McMahon won the Bears' starting quarterback job as a rookie in [[1982 Chicago Bears season|1982]], and was named to several All-Rookie teams when he nearly led the team to the playoffs, despite the NFL only playing two games before a [[1982 NFL strike|players' strike]] that cancelled nearly half the season. McMahon quickly displayed a natural ability to read defenses and an athletic versatility that surprised many.

McMahon, a rollout passer, explained that coaching in his youth had taught him to square his shoulders to the direction he wanted to throw the football, and he was thus able to execute passes with tight spirals and a high degree of accuracy when running to either his left or his right. The Bears finished the strike-shortened season at 3–6, and McMahon was named [[National Football Conference|NFC]] Offensive Rookie of the Year, losing the league-wide honor to [[Marcus Allen]].

In [[1983 Chicago Bears season|1983]], McMahon continued to improve as a passer and as a field general. He made a habit of changing the play both in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage, a practice which frustrated Ditka but usually led to success. His knowledge of the game and an instinctive, intuitive grasp of in-game situations were significant. He became a frequent scorer in goal-line situations, after the dying Halas instructed Ditka to make the quarterback sneak a bigger part of the Bears' offense. He also began to catch touchdown passes on option plays, and was the emergency punter. Chicago finished the season at 8–8, missing the division title and a playoff berth by one victory.

In [[1984 Chicago Bears season|1984]], the Bears broke through, reaching the conference title game before losing to the [[1984 San Francisco 49ers season|San Francisco 49ers]]. McMahon started the season strongly, though nursing minor injuries like those that would plague him throughout his career. In a violent game against the [[1984 Los Angeles Raiders season|Los Angeles Raiders]] at [[Soldier Field]], McMahon sustained a season-ending injury when he was brutally tackled by two Los Angeles defenders. He suffered bruised ribs and a lacerated kidney on the play, but limped to the huddle and breathlessly called the next play, despite difficulty breathing and increasing pain. The players could barely hear him in the huddle, and when McMahon attempted an audible at the line of scrimmage the Bears receivers were unable to hear his call. McMahon was on the verge of collapsing on the field, clutching his flank and rasping in his attempts to convey his situation. The offensive linemen helped McMahon stand and leave the field. McMahon went to the locker room, and reported urine that "looked like grape juice".

====1985====
[[File:1986 Jeno's Pizza - 11 - Jim McMahon (Jim McMahon crop).jpg|thumb|McMahon dives into the end zone to score a touchdown for the [[Chicago Bears]] during [[Super Bowl XX]]]]
[[File:1985 Chicago Bears Visit the White House.webm|thumb|The 1985 Chicago Bears' visit to the [[White House]] in 2011.]]
In [[1985 Chicago Bears season|1985]], the Bears had a tremendous season, later voted by ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine as the greatest of all time, winning their first 12 games and finishing at 15–1. McMahon became a media darling, not only for his outstanding play on the field, but also for his personality. He appeared in a [[hip hop music|rap]] record made by the team, "The [[Super Bowl Shuffle]]", in which he proclaimed, "I'm the punky QB known as McMahon." In an early-season Thursday night game at Minnesota, McMahon was slated to back up [[Steve Fuller (American football)|Steve Fuller]], as McMahon had missed practice time earlier in the week due to a neck injury that required an overnight hospital stay. Midway into the third quarter, the Vikings held a 17–9 lead. McMahon lobbied to get into the game until well into the third quarter. Once finally on the field, his first play was an opportunistic 70-yard touchdown pass to [[Willie Gault]]. After an interception by Wilber Marshall on the Vikings ensuing possession, McMahon's very next offensive play was a 25-yard touchdown pass to [[Dennis McKinnon]], making him 2–2 for 95 yards and two touchdowns. He followed up with another successful offensive drive, including a crucial third and short sneak to set up another 43-yard touchdown pass to McKinnon. The Bears led 30–17 and went on to win the game 33–24.

McMahon played solidly, throwing for career-highs of 15 touchdowns and 2,392 yards in 13 games and running well (5.4 yards per carry, three rushing touchdowns).<ref name="ESPN"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/McMaJi00.htm |title=Jim McMahon Stats |website=[[Pro-Football-Reference.com]] |access-date=December 21, 2020 |archive-date=December 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204111149/https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/McMaJi00.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>

McMahon was notorious for head-first [[baseball]]-style slides when running the football, despite being coached to slide feet-first to protect his body. In the playoffs, McMahon heeded this coaching advice and was speared by a defender's helmet squarely in his buttocks, causing a painful deep bruise for which McMahon sought [[acupuncture]] treatment.<ref>In Life, First You Kick Ass: Reflections on the 1985 Bears and Wisdom from Da Coach, Mike Ditka with Rick Telander, Sports Publishing, 2005, {{ISBN|978-1-58261-977-4}}</ref> This led to a point of controversy before the [[Super Bowl]] in New Orleans, when McMahon "[[Mooning|mooned]]" journalists who were inquiring as to the status of the injury. Thursday morning before the big-game, McMahon made more headlines when a local television station reported that he had called women of New Orleans "sluts", an accusation he denied and which the announcer later admitted was made up.<ref name="ESPN"/> McMahon claimed in an interview, that he received death threats and wore a different jersey number during practice.<ref>{{cite web| url-status = live| archive-url = https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/H4iax_dcJjE| archive-date=December 5, 2021 | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4iax_dcJjE&t=108s| title = Interview w/ Jim McMahon | website=[[YouTube]]| date = May 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

He ended the season with a strong performance in [[Super Bowl XX]], which the Bears won 46–10 over the [[1985 New England Patriots season|New England Patriots]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 27, 1986 |title=Bears Trounce Patriots, 46-10, in Super Bowl |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-01-27-mn-540-story.html |access-date=October 31, 2023 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> In that game, McMahon became the first quarterback in the history of the Super Bowl to rush for two touchdowns.<ref>NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Edited by Randall Liu, p. 349, Workman Publishing, 2001, {{ISBN|0-7611-2480-2}}</ref> McMahon earned a spot in his only [[1986 Pro Bowl|Pro Bowl]].

====1986–1988====
{{Further|Charles Martin (American football)#1986 McMahon incident}}
In week 12 of the 1986 NFL regular season, McMahon was playing against the Green Bay Packers, while dealing with an existing rotator cuff injury to his right shoulder. After throwing a third down interception and at least two seconds after his pass was thrown, Green Bay nose tackle [[Charles Martin (football player)|Charles Martin]] grabbed McMahon from behind and body-slammed him to the turf, exacerbating his existing rotator cuff injury. McMahon briefly returned to the game, but it soon became apparent that he couldn't throw effectively, and he left the game in the third quarter, never to play again in 1986. Martin was immediately ejected from the game and later suspended for two additional games — the first multi-game suspension for an on-field incident in modern NFL history. Without McMahon, and despite finishing tied for the league's best record at 14–2, the Bears were unable to defend their Super Bowl championship and lost in the Divisional Playoff round to the [[1986 Washington Redskins season|Washington Redskins]].

McMahon battled injuries for the rest of his career, although at one point between the 1984 and [[1987 Chicago Bears season|1987]] seasons, he won 22 consecutive regular-season (25 including playoffs and the Super Bowl) starts, the longest "regular season winning streak" by an NFL quarterback at the time, now held by [[Peyton Manning]], who won 23 in 2008 to 2009 (but lost a wildcard playoff game to the Chargers during his "winning streak").

In 1987, McMahon came right back from a head injury and brought the Bears back in the first game following the [[1987 NFL strike|NFL players strike]] to defeat the Buccaneers, 27–26. The Bears went on to an 11–4 record, with many expecting McMahon to start and lead the Bears back to the Super Bowl. However, 1987 ended exactly the same way 1986 had, with the Bears being eliminated by the [[1987 Washington Redskins season|eventual Super Bowl champion Redskins]].

McMahon returned for the [[1988 Chicago Bears season|1988]] season with a much more serious attitude. His main offensive weapon in [[Walter Payton]] had retired and McMahon publicly expressed his desire to win a Super Bowl again. The Bears looked strong all season and went 12–4, again winning the NFC Central, and finishing with the NFC's top seed, ensuring they would host the NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field if they advanced that far. McMahon was unable to get the Bears back to the Super Bowl, as they were routed by the eventual Super Bowl champion [[1988 San Francisco 49ers season|San Francisco 49ers]] in the NFC Championship which saw McMahon benched in favor of [[Mike Tomczak]] in the fourth quarter.

During the offseason, McMahon and Bears president [[Michael McCaskey]] had a major falling out. He also fell out of favor with head coach [[Mike Ditka]], and after spending his first seven seasons in the league with Chicago, McMahon was traded to the [[1989 San Diego Chargers season|San Diego Chargers]].

As of 2017's NFL off-season, McMahon held at least 15 Bears franchise records, including:
* Completions: playoffs (70)
* Passing Yards: playoffs (967), playoff season (636 in 1985)
* Passing TDs: playoffs (4), playoff season (3 in 1985; with [[Rex Grossman]]), playoff game (2 on 1986-01-05 NYG; with [[Steve Walsh (American football)|Steve Walsh]] and [[Jay Cutler]]), rookie season (9 in 1982; with [[Kyle Orton]])
* Passer Rating: playoffs (77.1), playoff season (106.6 in 1985), rookie season (79.9 in 1982)
* Sacked: playoffs (10), rookie game (7 on 1982-11-28 @MIN)
* Yds/Pass Att: playoffs (7.61), playoff season (9.64 in 1985)
* Pass Yds/Game: rookie season (187.6 in 1982)