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The Aftermath

Written by Dontae Davis - Tampa On The Move

The aftermath of the implosion of the Super Bowl XX champion Bears also demonstrates that positive outcomes can become an outgrowth of enduring and persevering through adversity. Cornerback Leslie Frazier blew out his knee in the Super Bowl and would never play another game. Frazier, always active in the Fellowship for Christian Athletes throughout his career, is now considered one of the best defensive coordinators in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings.

In 1988, he began his coaching career by becoming the first head coach at Trinity College, a Christian institution in Illinois, where Frazier built the program from the ground up and won a pair of Northern Illinois Intercollegiate Conference titles.

Defensive lineman Tyrone Keys was disappointed after he was traded from the Bears to the last place Tampa Bay Buccaneers after the ’85 season. But Keys made his home in Tampa when he retired after the 1988 season and founded All Sports Community Service.

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All Sports is a non-profit organization aimed at providing students, financially and emotionally, with opportunities for a higher education. The program instills values into the students by ensuring they contribute to their communities through volunteerism, community service and mentoring.

In the arc of fate, Frazier signed many of Keys’ students to play at Trinity. And finally, for his part, Ditka has used his post-coaching career to give back by founding Gridiron Greats. Gridiron Greats provides financial assistance and coordinates social services to retired, and often disabled, former NFL players of yesteryear. These older players, while contributing to the NFL's status as the most popular sport in America, didn’t make anywhere near the money, nor have the benefits, that players today enjoy.