So What?

Happy birthday to Chuck Bednarik (no. 60), 87 years old today and still perfectly capable of kicking your ass.

A very happy 49th birthday to the multitalented Bo Jackson, who baked his own cake, made the candles, blew them out, then broke the cake in half over his thigh.

Chicago used to be a much rougher, tougher city, ruled by the iron fist of one man who was above the law. We’re talking, of course, about former Bears coach Mike Ditka, who turns 72 today. (Oddly, he shares his 1939 birthdate with Lee Harvey Oswald.)

“Darth Vader is a punk compared to Al Davis.” — Hunter S. Thompson

The Raiders owner passed away today at the age of 82. Go easy on God, Al.

Not a bad week for Deion Sanders — he gets inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and it’s his birthday. Hope you got him gold chains. Happy birthday, Prime Time.

My good friend and former roommate Jeff Pearlman recently penned a biography of Bears great Walter Payton called (appropriately enough) “Sweetness.” It is available for pre-order from Amazon here. I haven’t gotten a chance to read it yet, but judging from Jeff’s other works (on the ‘86 Mets, the Dallas Cowboys, Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds), and things we talked about during the process, I expect it to be nothing short of amazing. Today would have been Walter Payton’s 57th birthday. Happy birthday, Sweetness.