Former Bears reminisce, predict

They were around for some of the greatest hits of the '60s through the '80s in what is the greatest rivalry in pro sports — Bears-Packers.

Ronnie Bull played for legendary coach and owner George Halas in the early '60s when, other than a league championship, beating the Packers was the most important thing.

Emery Moorehead played for another legendary Bears coach, Mike Ditka, whose intense hatred for all things Packers — especially Green Bay coach Forrest Gregg — filtered down to his players in what continued to be a black-and-blue rivalry.

They've each won a title with the Bears and are hoping this year's squad can add another to the list.

Here, in their own words, are their memories of the Bears-Packers rivalry.

Ronnie Bull, RB

Born: 1940, Kingsville, Texas

Bio: Played for the Bears from 1962 through 1970 ... first-round pick (seventh) overall out of Baylor ... named the UPI NFC rookie of the year in 1962 ... inducted into the Chicago Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.

Playing the Pack:

George Halas probably put it the best way before the 1963 season; he said “We play Green Bay twice. You beat Green Bay twice we're going to win the championship, so that's what we're going to work on.” And that's what we did.

The rivalry:

I have good friends that were Green Bay Packers, but when we stepped across the white line they were enemies. It was just good, hard competition. You just wanted to beat them.

Man in the middle:

Ray Nitschke, he's probably the guy that's hit me the hardest I've ever been hit. But in the same instance, there was one time where Willie Wood intercepted a pass and we were going after him to make the tackle. After the tackle was made, the whistle blew and Nitschke grabbed me from behind and smiled and said, ‘Saved by the whistle.' He could have killed me.

Bears-Packers memory:

The one game I had the hardest time getting over was the game in 1967 when Gale Sayers was hurt. We had to beat Green Bay in the last game of the season to go into the playoffs. (Bears kicker) Mac Percival was hotter than all get out and all we had to do was get inside the 35-yard line. But with less than a minute to go, Nitschke intercepted a pass from Jack Concannon and they won 26-24. That was tough to swallow. We felt like we could win the game but we came up short.

Sunday forecast:

Green Bay looked extremely good against Atlanta and the Bears looked good against Seattle. I really believe when the Packers beat the Bears in the last game of the season, I don't think the Bears were putting out everything that they could to win the ballgame — they were holding back a little bit.

I think we have the advantage on special teams. On defense, I would grade our defense maybe just a hair above them. Offensively, they may have a small advantage.

I really believe that if the Bears play up to their full potential, they'll win the ballgame.

Emery Moorehead, TE

Born: 1964, Evanston

Bio: Played eight years with the Bears, including Super Bowl XX team ... was a sixth-round pick out of the University of Colorado by the New York Giants in 1977 … Finished his 12-year career with 224 catches for nearly 3,000 yards.

Playing the Pack:

It was the most physical game. They didn't care for us and we didn't care for them. Mike Ditka hated Forrest Gregg as a player and hated him as a coach. We didn't like them. Me growing up in Evanston, I didn't like them from the beginning, after watching Bart Starr bootlegging his way to a touchdown against the Bears to win a game.

No friends here:

Kenny Stills was a bad guy. He was the guy who came up and smoked Matt Suhey; had a lot of dirty plays. He was a guy I didn't like very much. Then you see him in the off-season and he's a nice guy. But come gameday it's a war out there. It's them against us. It doesn't matter what the records are, it's going to be the toughest game of the season. We never really blew them out, even with all the good teams we had.

Changing times:

I do not think today's players have the same view of rivalry. I think they tend to share the same agents, they tweet each other after the game, etc. But Sunday it will be different with all the marbles on the table. There will be some hard-hitting football going on out there.

Memories of the Fridge:

The two games I remember best was in 1985 when the Fridge scored a touchdown and blocked George Cumby, blew him out of the play. Then we came back to Chicago and he caught a touchdown pass. Cumby was getting ready to take him on as a blocker and Fridge nimbly slipped by him and caught the pass for a touchdown. That was great, especially because it was against the Packers.

Sunday forecast:

What I hope will happen is the Bears are able to control the clock so that Aaron Rodgers doesn't have the ball all the time and is able to drive down. I'm seeing a lot of hitting. I'm seeing the Bears defense getting to Rodgers this time. I'm predicting the Bears. Yep. The Bears.