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Wondering about a player, a past game or another issue involving the Bears? Senior writer Larry Mayer answers a variety of email questions from fans every day on ChicagoBears.com.

What year do you think was the best draft in Bears history? For me, it’s hard to argue with 1983, when Richard Dent and Mark Bortz were picked in the eighth round. What are your thoughts?

Don S.

The Bears certainly had a great draft in 1983, selecting future starters Jim Covert, Willie Gault, Mike Richardson, Dave Duerson and Tom Thayer with their first five picks before landing Richard Dent and Mark Bortz in the eighth round. But I’d say the best draft in Bears history was in 1965 when they chose future Hall of Famers Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers back-to-back with the third and fourth overall selections in the first round. Butkus and Sayers remain two of the best players in NFL history and both are among the top five Bears of all time. The only other time the Bears picked two Hall of Famers in the same year was in the inaugural NFL Draft in 1936 when they chose tackle Joe Stydahar in the first round and guard Danny Fortmann in the seventh round.  

I loved the question in a recent “Chalk Talk” regarding the first draft pick in Bears history. Who were the five players selected prior to Joe Stydahar and how did their careers go?

Chris R.

The first five players selected in the first NFL Draft in 1936 were the University of Chicago’s Jay Berwanger by the Philadelphia Eagles, Alabama’s Riley Smith by the Boston Redskins, Notre Dame’s Bill Shakespeare by the Pittsburgh Pirates, Iowa’s Dick Crayne by the Brooklyn Dodgers and TCU’s Jim Lawrence by the Chicago Cardinals. It’s difficult to fathom today, but pro football wasn’t a very high-paying line of work back in those days, and Berwanger and Shakespeare both chose to go into the business world rather than continue their careers in the NFL. Smith, Crayne and Lawrence all had short and not very distinguished pro football careers.

I can’t remember the Bears ever having only five picks in a draft like they do this year. Have they ever selected five or fewer players in a draft?

Richard G.
Tinley Park, Illinois

The fewest players the Bears have ever chosen in a draft has been six. It’s something that happened twice, in 2001 and 2005. I’m not sure if it means anything, but the Bears won division championships in both of those seasons. The draft was 30 rounds from 1943-1959 before it was shortened to 20 rounds. It was later reduced to 17 rounds in 1967, 12 rounds in 1977, eight rounds in 1993 and seven rounds in 1994.

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