Nov. 20, 2007

DeKALB, Ill. -- Funeral services for former Northern Illinois University and Chicago Bears football defensive lineman Jerry Meyers are scheduled for Tuesday (November 20) at the Cumberland Chapels in suburban Norridge.

For Meyers--who passed away last Friday (November 16) at the untimely age of 53--playing for his hometown National Football league heroes embodied the ultimate American Dream. A product of Chicago's Lake View High School, Meyers grew up blocks from the Bears' old Wrigley Field home. By no coincidence, he wore No. 74 for both NIU and the Bears.

His NFL career was a roller coaster ride with ups and downs. A 15th round selection and the 411th player picked in the 1976 NFL draft, Meyers played four seasons in Chicago, survived numerous cuts (at least three or four), and finally called it quits in August, 1981, when his body said "no more."

Honored by his alma mater on the All-Time Huskie Stadium Team in 1995 and the university's All-Century Team in 2000, Meyers relished his own Cinderella story. "I did things other people would have given their right arms to do," Meyers told the Chicago Sun-Times upon his NFL retirement.

A three-year letterman for the Huskies and head coach Jerry Ippoliti, Meyers produced 269 career tackles during 1973-75 on the D-line. As a senior, Meyers served as one of the Northern Illinois quad-captains and finished his final campaign with 123 stops (68 solos), eight tackles for 32 yards in losses, three fumble recoveries, one fumble-cause hit, and one pass deflection. Listed at 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds in 1975, Meyers notched six twin-digit tackle games in 11 appearances at left DT---including a career-high 20 hits against Western Michigan, 14 vs. Ball State, and 13 vs. Northwestern. As a junior, he produced 109 overall stops and eight tackles for 25 yards in losses.

"Jerry and I were the defensive captains that year," recalled fellow NIU All-Century Team performer and star linebacker Bob Gregolunas, a sixth-round NFL draft pick of the Kansas City Chiefs the same spring. "He was a helluva football player in his day. It's shocking (to hear). To tell you truth, I don't know what to say. I'm shocked. Jerry was the biggest guy on our team and he could move. He didn't get to the Bears by accident. He was a tremendous player."

Ippoliti also had fond memories of Meyers. "He was an exceptional young man," recalled Ippoliti, a 2007 inductee into the NIU Athletics Hall of Fame. "As good a player as he was, Jerry was a better individual---a class individual. When we recruited him, you could see the tremendous potential. He was a coachable kid, a great technician. You couldn't knock him off his feet. He had exceptional feet and never was hurt. I think the last time I saw him was about 15 years ago in Chicago. This is hard to believe, that Jerry is gone at age 53."

With the Bears, Meyers played all four D-line spots, earned three career starts at DT, and moved to DE later in his pro career. In 1977, he started in the famous snow and ice playoff clincher against the New York Giants, contributing 10 tackles in the 12-9 Chicago triumph. A year later, Meyers had a career performance versus the Atlanta Falcons with 14 stops, a QB sack, and two tackles for losses. Earlier in 1978, he consummated a lineman's fantasy by scoring a touchdown after a blocked punt in an exhibition game vs. the Oakland Raiders. In December, 1982, Meyers---bothered by knee problems---signed a free agent contract with the USFL Chicago Blitz, but nothing---football-wise---transpired.

A Chicago Public League All-White Division player at Lake View in 1970, Meyers grew up loving the Bears. "We lived within walking distance of Wrigley Field," Meyers told Bill Gleason of the Chicago Sun-Times. "My dad's mood on Sunday night reflected the way the Bears did Sunday afternoon...When I was little my dad carried me into the games in his arms. All through high school, I had a string of 25 successive Bears games I got in to see, one way or another. When I became a freshman at Northern Illinois in 1971, it was almost unbearable to have to watch the games on television."

Meyers is survived by his four children, Derek, Bret, Corinne, and Brittany, brother Jeff, and sister Janis (Strobel). He was preceded in death by his parents, Edward and Ruth, and brother Jack. He was a Teamster with Local #714. Visitation is set for Tuesday between 3 and 9 p.m. with a service at 8:30 p.m. The Cumberland Chapels are located at 8300 West Lawrence Avenue in Norridge. For information, please call (AC 708) 456-8300.

(For further information, please contact Mike Korcek, SID Emeritus at AC 815-753-9559)

--NIU--