ERIC KRAMER'S 1995 SEASON

by D. Malinowski

    Fact:  No Bears quarterback has ever thrown 30 touchdowns or 4,000 yards in a season.  The man who has come closest, however, is Eric Kramer, who in 1995, threw for 29 TDs, 3,838 yards and only 10 picks.  I was a freshman in college that year, and at the time I couldn't appreciate how amazing that was for a Bears QB.  I mean, look at the craptastic stats the Bears QBs have put up the last 10 years; horrendous compared to others in the league!  Kramer had like Brett Favre numbers!

    The thing that shocks me is that Kramer DIDN'T MAKE THE PRO BOWL THAT YEAR!  I took it upon myself to do an analysis of the QB's that year (using my fantasy point system for my leagues) and here are the results:

Kramer's stats in 1995 were as follows:

  COMP. ATT. PCT. YARDS TD INT RUSH YARDS TD FANTASY
Eric Kramer 315 522 60.3 3,838 29 10 35 39 1 371.42

The QBs who made the Pro Bowl that year in the NFC (according to pro-football-reference.com) were:

  COMP. ATT. PCT. YARDS TD INT RUSH YARDS TD FANTASY
Brett Favre 359 570 63.0 4,413 38 13 39 181 3 488.62
W. Moon 377 606 62.2 4,228 33 14 33 82 0 421.32
S. Young 299 447 66.9 3,200 20 11 50 250 3 344.50
T. Aikman 280 432 64.8 3,304 16 7 21 32 1 287.36

The point system is: 6 points a TD, -2 points an INT, 1 point per 25 passing yards, 1 point per 10 rushing yards, 1 point per completion, and -.5 point per attempt.

From a fantasy perspective, Kramer was clearly robbed.  He was obviously outperformed by Favre and Moon, but he beat out Young and especially Aikman.  So how did he not get voted to the Pro Bowl?  Popularity, most likely.  Dallas went on to win the Super Bowl that year, and the 49ers were a playoff-bound team as well, while the Bears just missed the playoffs with a 9-7 record.  McMahon was a Pro Bowl QB in '85; his stats were nothing special, but the team was Super Bowl bound.  The NFL always thinks profits first before merit; they'll always push their superstars more than a quiet, solid performer. 

In any case, we can only hope that Rex Grossman can one day put up numbers like these.  Let's see some offense again!!!