CHICAGO — Recognition comes at unexpected moments, like this one on a Hertz shuttle at the Cleveland airport five years ago.
Gary Fencik was wearing a suit, looking more like a businessman than a Monster of the Midway, when some guy struck up a conversation on the way to the terminal.
"Hey, I just wanted to let you know I enjoyed the way you played," the man said.
The guy wasn't from Chicago. He was simply a fan who recognized a member of the storied 1985 Chicago Bears, the one-loss team that blew out New England 46-10 in the 1986 Super Bowl.
"I was really surprised," said Fencik, the former safety and captain of the Bears defense. "But if you want to start a conversation anywhere in the country, just talk about the '85 team."
With the Bears back in the Super Bowl, the 1985 team is a big part of the conversation. Who can forget "The Super Bowl Shuffle"? The classic "Saturday Night Live" skit on Da Bears? The 46 defense? The 'Fridge and Sweetness?
"It was more than a team," said Mike Ditka, coach of that wild bunch. "It was a team of characters that had character that played for a crazy man, who let him be crazy and had fun doing it and don't apologize for it ever. I wouldn't want to be one of these suits walking around on the sideline today.
"I have no desire to be that. I was what I was and they were what they were and, damn, it was fun."
The ringleader? That would be Jim McMahon, the renegade quarterback who openly squabbled with Ditka, wore a "Rozelle" headband to protest a fine from the NFL commissioner and complained the Bears wouldn't fly in his acupuncturist.
And that was before the punky QB really got rolling in New Orleans. He was front and center there, mooning a news helicopter, leading a parade down Bourbon Street like the Pied Piper and hassling with a photographer.
When McMahon was mistakenly accused on TV of referring to the local women as prostitutes, enough people believed it that two dozen women picketed the Bears' hotel.
There are a few similarities between the 1985 team and this one. Both endured losing seasons before turning it around, with the defense playing a leading role.
Lovie Smith, like Ditka, predicted a Super Bowl when he was hired. And both coaches trimmed the fat, putting an emphasis on conditioning when they took over.
The teams reflect their head coaches, but that's where the comparisons end.
Smith rarely shows emotion on the sideline, while Ditka wasn't one to hold back. It was the same in news conferences. Smith says little; Ditka would say anything.
Quarterback Rex Grossman isn't the type to moon a helicopter. These Bears may listen to rap, but they didn't release a rap song, let alone one that earned a Grammy nomination.
While the 1985 team shuffled to the championship, some would argue the current Bears sneaked into the title game, despite going 13-3 and earning the top seed in the NFC.
Why?
They point to a weak NFC and an inconsistent quarterback. The defense even looked suspect late in the regular season, slipping from first to fifth with safety Mike Brown and defensive tackle Tommie Harris nursing season-ending injuries and others spending time on the sideline. Defensive tackle Tank Johnson had off-field trouble, getting arrested on misdemeanor gun charges in December and then going to a nightclub with a friend who was shot to death.
And unlike the 1985 team, which shut out the New York Giants and the Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs, these Bears needed overtime to beat Seattle before a dominant win over New Orleans in the NFC title game.
The '85 Bears included future Hall of Famers Walter Payton, Dan Hampton and Mike Singletary. They seemed made for Madison Avenue, with defensive lineman and Kentucky Fried Chicken spokesman William "The Refrigerator" Perry leading the charge.
The current Bears? Mostly, they seem businesslike.
"There's a bunch of great personalities," Grossman said. "It's a very charismatic team, especially inside the locker room. I know a lot of it doesn't get out because we haven't made a music video. But there are a bunch of great guys on this team."
The 1985 Bears were blunt and wacky. Payton, for example, constantly pulled practical jokes, including setting off firecrackers in the team's practice facility.
Ditka was often at odds with defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan, and the two nearly went at it at halftime of the Bears' 38-24 loss at Miami on Monday night in early December.
At a meeting the night before the Super Bowl, defensive end Richard Dent recalled, a teary Ryan informed his players that he was going to become the Philadelphia Eagles' head coach and told them: "You guys are going to be my champions. Let's kick some tail."
Hampton then kicked a film projector out of defensive line coach Dale Haupt's hands, and defensive tackle Steve McMichael flung a chair across the room, its legs
impaling a chalkboard.
"We had a team filled with different characters," said defensive back Shaun Gayle, who works in sports marketing and broadcasting. "We had a great time. You pair that up with a team that's dominant on the field, it makes for great coverage."
In some ways, it seems as though 1985 never really ended in Chicago. The city has since celebrated seven championships. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen led the Bulls to six NBA titles in the 1990s, and the White Sox ended an 88-year drought when they won the World Series in 2005.
Now, the current Bears are preparing for the Super Bowl. And the 1985 team is still around.
"Both teams were driven to win the Super Bowl," said CEO Ted Phillips, who was in charge of organizing car rentals when the Bears last made it. "It was a different era, so personality-wise, we don't have quite the same number of characters that that team had.
"I could go on and on, but Mike Ditka was a character himself. And he and Lovie are different, but one thing they had in common in my opinion is they know what it takes to win."
For years, Perry was a magnate for commercials. Offensive lineman Tom Thayer is now a Bears radio analyst, and McMichael wound up in broadcasting, along with the pro wrestling ring. Many of those Bears still live in the Chicago area and are almost as visible now as they were then. Ditka has a popular steakhouse in Chicago.
If these Bears win the Super Bowl, their place in history will be secure. But will they still have a grip on the city in 20 years?
"They'll never be like the '85 Bears; nobody will," said former tight end Emery Moorehead, whose son, Aaron, is an Indianapolis receiver. "But when you win a Super Bowl, you are a champion. Champions are remembered."
Contributing: AP sports writer Rick Gano contributed to this report from the Super Bowl.