1040 - Jim McMahon Chicago Bears 1983 Topps Rookie Trading Card #33

Jim McMahon Chicago Bears 1983 Topps Rookie Trading Card 

• Jim McMahon will autograph the card at the event to the highest bidder of the card.

The Chicago Bears selected McMahon in the first round (fifth overall) of the 1982 NFL Draft. McMahon, thrilled to be free from what he considered a restrictive culture at BYU, strolled into his first public function with the Bears holding a cold beer in his hand. Head coach Mike Ditka was not impressed, nor was Bears owner and founder George Halas. McMahon was to find the atmosphere in Chicago almost as challenging as that at Brigham Young, and he would lock horns with Ditka routinely during his seven years with the Bears.

McMahon won the Bears' starting quarterback job as a rookie in 1982, and was named to several All-Rookie teams when he nearly led the team to the playoffs, despite the NFL only playing two games before a players' strike that cancelled nearly half the season. McMahon quickly displayed a natural ability to read defenses and an athletic versatility that surprised many.

McMahon, a rollout passer, explained that coaching in his youth had taught him to square his shoulders to the direction he wanted to throw the football, and he was thus able to execute passes with tight spirals and a high degree of accuracy when running to either his left or his right. The Bears finished the strike-shortened season at 3–6, and McMahon was named NFC Offensive Rookie of the Year, losing the league-wide honor to Marcus Allen.

Jim McMahon had a passer rating of 79.9 with 1,501 yards, 9 touchdowns and 7 interceptions in 8 games in his rookie season in 1982.