Da story behind Da Bears — and how the sausage-eating, Mike Ditka-obsessed, Chicago-aggrandizing Super Fans are still part of Chicago sports today
CHICAGO - Brett Favre is late.
The Hall of Fame quarterback is running behind after his visit with the Chiefs in Kansas City, Mo., so Robert Smigel and George Wendt have time to kill while they wait for him to jet to Chicago.
The duo is in the back of a motorhome near the Waldron parking deck outside Soldier Field, partially dressed for the NFL promo they are about to film.
Smigel, the comedian, writer and creator of "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog," wears a Bears sweater over a blue Oxford shirt and a Cubs cap. Wendt, the actor best known as Norm from "Cheers," dons a No. 9 Jim McMahon jersey over a collared shirt. Wendt's face is clean-shaven at first, but soon Smigel directs an assistant as she pastes a thick, salt-and-pepper mustache over his top lip.
"Micromanaging the mustache," Wendt says, elongating the short "A" in a clipped, nasally voice.
Smigel asks the woman to trim the sides.
"Yeah, yeah," he says. "It's not quite walrusy enough."
Once the 'stache is perfected, the Super Fans will be ready for their next adventure, a new bit for NBC to preview the Bears opener against the Packers on Thursday night.
At the time he crafted the characters that first appeared in a 1991 "Saturday Night Live" sketch, Smigel wasn't sure if anyone outside of Chicago would appreciate the four sausage-eating, Mike Ditka-obsessed, Chicago-aggrandizing men that made up "Bill Swerski's Super Fans."
Twenty-eight years later, the characters - also played by actors Chris Farley and Mike Myers in the '90s - remain among the most notable pop-culture figures in the Bears 100-season history. Their catchphrase - "Da Bearsss" - has become an almost reflexive response among Chicagoans when talking about their football team. And the roles have given Smigel
