Tom Waddle

devans

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The first few pages of Tom Waddle's Bears diary may read as follows: May 16, 1989-Signed by Bears as undrafted free agent from Boston College. September 4, 1989, cut by Bears. September 5, 1989, signed to developmental squad by Bears. September 22, waived by Bears. September 25, re-signed by Bears. February 1, 1990, left unprotected in free agency. September 3, 1990, released by Bears. September 4, 1990, signed to active roster due to injury of Kozlowski. August 26, 1991, cut by Bears. August 27, 1991, signed to active roster again due to injuries. February 1, 1992, protected in free agency by Bears.
And so goes the saga of Tom Waddle. Signed by the Bears because of his superior hands in 1989, Waddle just couldn't find a permanent place on the roster. He was good, but just not good enough. Regarding all of his "cuttings", Waddle commented in 1999 that when "Ditka would call me up to his office, I knew I was going to be cut; I didn't have a problem with that. However, I was afraid he was going to come across the desk at me and whip my ass." This may have been an exaggeration, because Waddle was in fact Ditka's favorite type of player. This is probably why Ditka kept trying to find a place for him. In between all of his releases, Waddle did see spot playing time in 1989 and 1990. He caught a pass each against San Francisco in 1989, and Washington and the Raiders in 1990. In 1991, the team was short of receivers going into the opener, so Waddle was actually activated as the third receiver for this game. Despite being referred to as "The slow white guy", Waddle clinched the 1991 opening victory with a 37-yard diving TD reception, and became an instant fan favorite. He reminded everyone of the overachiever without physical tools that somehow makes it in the big-league.
For the remainder of 1991, Waddle became the go-to guy in the Bear's passing game. Against the Jets on national TV, he caught 8 balls for 102 yards, making an impression on the nation. Perhaps his shining moment in the NFL and as a Bear was his performance against Dallas in the 1991 playoff loss. Waddle scored the Bears only touchdown and caught 9 passes for 104 yards. Many of these catches were spectacularly acrobatic, and sent him to the sidelines with assistance after a hammering by Dallas linebackers. At points during the game, the entire Soldier Field crowd was chanting "Waddle, Waddle, Waddle." His breakout 1991 season earned him a place on the "All-Madden Team", a tribute to the toughest, no-nonsense players in the NFL.
#87 entered the 1992 season as the Bears' starting wide receiver opposite Wendell Davis. In the opener, he endeared himself further to the fans of Chicago when he caught the winning touchdown pass from Jim Harbaugh with one second left. Who else would make the clutch catch off the "13-Wing Jet" play, the Harbaugh-to-Waddle specialty. Against Atlanta in 1992, Waddle delighted fans by burning the NFL's fastest man, Deion Sanders, for a touchdown. On November 29th at Cleveland, he caught a 70-yard touchdown bomb from Peter Tom Willis, again defying his "slow" title. He wound up the season with strong numbers in 1992. In 1993, he led the team in both receptions and receiving yards in 1993. In '94, Dave Wannstedt continued his push for more speed, and Waddle was relegated to third-receiver duties. He actually was injured for much of the season after a knockout blow to the chin from safety Thomas Everitt at Tampa.
As 1995 training camp opened, Waddle was due a new contract from the team. Coach Wannstedt made it clear that he would not pay above the league-minimum salary for a player with Waddle's skills. Besides, the team had just signed speedy receiver Michael Timpson to a million-dollar contract to take Waddle's place. Much to the disdain of fans, Wannstedt stood firm. His position was that Waddle could take a one-year offer for league minimum, or sign a larger contract, but face the possibility of being cut. Waddle briefly considered a larger offer from his hometown team, the Cincinnati Bengals, then decided to bow out of the game. He stated that even at the young age of 28, his body had been beaten on so much in the last four years, that he was ready to call it quits.


From Bears History
 
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Caste system embarrassed itself with the treatment of Waddle. To this day Chicago has not had a receiver that equals him, just the usual coterie of "speedy" types who drop the ball, cannot get open, but can run their mouths without engaging a single brain cell.
 

Don Wassall

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Waddle was popular in Chicago but he was also somewhat of a national joke, as announcers and fans alike had a "gay"old time watching him go over the middle, make a nice catch, and then promptly getabsolutely leveledby a black safety or linebacker time and again. Waddle was teed off on like no other receiver I've ever seen. Making it worse was his unfortunate name, along with being about the only white receiver in the league at the time other than Ricky Proehl, Don Beebe, Jeff Chadwick, Todd Kinchen and a precious few others. Waddle's era was the absolute rock bottom for white wide receivers in the NFL.
 

whiteCB

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I'm kind of young so may I ask: Who the hell is Tom Waddle. I thought this post when I first saw it was a spoof on Eric Weddle.
 

Colonel_Reb

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I've never heard of Waddle either, so this was a very informative post for me. Thanks for mentioning him devans!
 

white is right

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Don Wassall said:
Waddle was popular in Chicago but he was also somewhat of a national joke, as announcers and fans alike had a "gay" old time watching him go over the middle, make a nice catch, and then promptly get absolutely leveled by a black safety or linebacker time and again. Waddle was teed off on like no other receiver I've ever seen. Making it worse was his unfortunate name, along with being about the only white receiver in the league at the time other than Ricky Proehl, Don Beebe, Jeff Chadwick, Todd Kinchen and a precious few others. Waddle's era was the absolute rock bottom for white wide receivers in the NFL.
He had the last laugh though as he married the owners daughter and is involved with the Bears on the broadcast crew(as far as I remember). He was a poor mans Wayne Chrebet.
 

JoeV

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Madden used to actually love this guy and give him all sorts of praise.
 

Deus Vult

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Waddle was a player! Tough S.O.B.! He was a exactly what Ditka sought during Ditka's stint with the Saints. He drafted Keith Poole, who was no Waddle but was a good player in his own right.
 

Bear Backer

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As a Bears fan Tommy was always one of my favorites. He made some crazy catches and held onto balls that I have never seen any other Bears reciever be able to do in my life. Tommies only drawback was that he was dead slow, but man I never saw him give up on a ball, and was never afraid to take a hit, unlike that other overpaid possession reciever Moose that we have now. Everybody says that Mike Hass has amazing hands, and he is certainly faster than Waddle, heck Kevin Butler probably had him beat in that department
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Id really love to see the Bears give this kid a chance in 2007, if he is even 1/2 the player Tommy was Bears fans would fall in love with him. Edited by: Bear Backer
 

surfsider

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Just had to chime in on Waddle. Everything the above said. If the ball was thrown in his direction you knew two things...he'd catch it...and he'd get drilled.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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Tom Waddle was my brother's favorite football player when he was a kid. as kids SHOULD do, my brother picked a guy who had a similar skill set and tried to play the same way. my brother wasn't particularly fast in a footrace, but on the football field he was always open and caught everything that came his way.


but hang on because i'm confused... isn't that what a wide receiver is supposed to do? you don't score any points or pick up any yards by just being fast.


FIRST you have to get open, THEN you have to be able to catch the ball... a distant third in importance is the ability to take it to the house. but as with so much in modern America, everything is backwards in the NFL.
 
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Tom Waddle was a hero of mine.As was Brian Brennan and Ricky Proehl. When Waddle torched "PrimeTime" Sanders in '92 was awesome,hopefully it lives on YouTube-truly a great sight.Edited by: Blue Eyed Devil
 
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