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The Super Bowl Shuffle was a rap song recorded by members of the Chicago Bears football team for their appearance in Super Bowl XX.
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Overview
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Known as Chicago Bears Shufflin' Crew, the performers included "Sweetness" Walter Payton, "Punky QB" Jim McMahon, and "Samurai" Mike Singletary. The music was composed by Bobby Daniels and Lloyd Barry, and the lyrics were written by Richard E. Meyer and Melvin Owens. Other participants included:
Riding the wave of football mania that gripped Chicago in 1985, the "Super Bowl Shuffle" reached 41 on the Billboard charts, 75 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, and earned a Grammy nomination for best Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance—Duo or Group, the first (and undoubtedly only ever) nomination for a sports team. (They lost to Prince and the Revolution's "Kiss".) Although some found the lyrics boastful, profits from the song and its accompanying video were given to charity, backing Payton's claim that the they "are not doing it because they're greedy, the Bears are doing it to feed the needy."
A female referee, played by Julia Kallish, Richard E. Meyer's wife, was also on hand for the radio and television edit of the song. She whistled and threw a penalty flag to censor the word "ass" in the lyrics.
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Trivia
Bears defensive end Dan Hampton declined involvement in the shuffle because he felt it was too cocky *.
Payton and McMahon were unable to attend the original filming of the song's music video, so they were spliced in later with help of a chroma key.
During Steve Fuller's part of the song, he says "So bring on Atlanta, bring on Dallas, this is for Mike and Papa Bear Halas". The "Mike" he referred to was the Bears' current head coach, future hall of famer Mike Ditka. "Papa Bear Halas" refers to legendary Chicago coach George Halas, who coached the Bears for 40 seasons and passed away 2 years earlier. Fuller's verbal challenge to the Atlanta Falcons and the Dallas Cowboys refers to the two games he started for the injured Jim McMahon, leading the Bears to 36-0 and 44-0 shutout victories against those opponents, respectively.
Other teams tried but were unable to repeat the Bears' success. In 1986, the Los Angeles Raiders tried their own version, "The Silver and Black Attack", based on "The Yellow and Black Attack" by Stryper. In 1988, Cincinnati Bengals rookie Ickey Woods became famous for the "Ickey Shuffle". His team lost in Super Bowl XXIII, though. In November 1999, the confident Jacksonville Jaguars recorded their own version, "Uh Oh, The Jaguars Super Bowl Song". However, the Jaguars lost in the AFC Championship game. Cincinnati funk pioneer Bootsy Collins teamed up with the 2005 Cincinnati Bengals for a playoff song called "Fear Da Tiger", but they, too, fell short of the Super Bowl.
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