"The Super Bowl Shuffle" is a song performed by the Chicago Bears football team (credited as the Chicago Bears Shufflin' Crew) in 1985. It was released in December 1985 on Chicago-based Red Label Records and distributed through Capitol Records^[2] seven weeks ahead of their win in Super Bowl XX. The song peaked at number 41 on the US Billboard Hot 100,^[3] and earned a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 1987.

"The Super Bowl Shuffle" instantly became a mainstream phenomenon, selling over 500,000 copies and reaching number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 by February 1986.^[4] Billboard reported that the single's chart performance was propelled primarily by sales rather than radio airplay, saying, "Although the record has a great deal of pop airplay across the country, especially as a novelty for morning drive programs, only a handful of radio stations are reporting it on their playlists."^[5] "The Super Bowl Shuffle" fell in line with the Bears' high-media attention as they completed their one-loss regular season. The Bears dominated their postseason opponents, including the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX 46–10.

The 1985 Chicago Bears were the first sports team to have their own music video. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1987 for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group, losing to "Kiss" by Prince.^[4] The 20th anniversary DVD was released in 2004, including the making of the video, outtakes and the music video itself. Julia Meyer has kept the copyright to the video.

Over $300,000 in profits from the song and music video were donated to the Chicago Community Trust to help Chicago families in need with clothing, shelter and food.^[1] This was consistent with Walter Payton's lyric in the song: "Now we're not doing this because we're greedy / The Bears are doing it to feed the needy". In 2014, six of the performers (Richard Dent, Jim McMahon, Otis Wilson, Willie Gault, Mike Richardson and Steve Fuller) sued Julia Meyer and Renaissance Marketing Corporation, who licenses the song, stating the proceeds from the song should benefit charities; the six players' attorney stated, "Among other things, the plaintiffs seek that a constructive trust be established for charitable purposes that they select in order to continue the Super Bowl Shuffle's charitable objective."^[6]

The video was taped at Park West, a Chicago night club, the morning after the Bears' only loss of the 1985 season, 38-24 to the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football on December 2, 1985. Jim McMahon and Walter Payton refused to participate in the video shoot, thinking it would be better to release the song and video after the season was complete. However, the team was insistent on releasing the song and video shortly after the shoot, so the video was filmed with the remaining players. Payton and McMahon both filmed their segments separately a week later at the Bears' practice facility after practice and these segments were interspersed in the video prior to release.^[7]

The lyrics were written by Richard E. Meyer and Melvin Owens. The music was composed by Bobby Daniels and Lloyd Barry.

The "referee" in the video was portrayed by Julia Kallish.

Bears defensive end Dan Hampton declined involvement with the Shuffle, thinking it may have been too arrogant.^[8]

Other personnel

• Executive producers: Richard E. Meyer, William D. Neal, James J. Hurley III, Barbara Supeter
• Director: Dave Thompson
• Associate producer: Richard A. Tufo
• Technical director: Darryl Crawl
• Editor: John Anderson
• Coordinating producer: Kim Alan Bigelow
• Technical coordinator: Dave Sorensen
• Lighting designer: Hugh Gallagher
• Assistant director: Johanna K. Hull
• Sound engineer: Fred Breitberg
• Cameras: Bill DeMarco, Eric Chelstorp, Dennis Jackson, Jon Vandruska
• Assistant cameras: Wendy Zauss, Tom Kruc
• Video: Mike Fayette, Steve Cardwell, Jim Keen, Jerry Wehland
• Location and editing facilities: Post Effects
• Park West Crew: Gregg Kincaid, Charles Mack, James Nudd, Dan Narducy, Michael Reed
• Make up: Venus Vargas

The 1985 Bears were not the first pro sports team with a group song.

• The Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first professional baseball team (1869–1870), sang a song to the spectators prior to some of their games: "We are a band of baseball players / From Cincinnati city..." However, no means to record it existed until 1877, after the team disbanded, and it thus was never recorded.

• Since the 1970s, some English soccer teams have celebrated qualifying for the FA Cup Final each year by recording a song for the occasion. The "cup final record", as it was known, became a tradition, with many of the songs being top ten successes in the UK music charts. The songs are occasionally original recordings but more often reworkings of recent chart successes with lyrics edited for the occasion. They often included the original artist singing along, especially when they are a fan of the team involved.

• The 1977 Denver Broncos running back Jon Keyworth sang "Make Those Miracles Happen" by L. Meeks and M. Weyand. However, the Broncos did not win the 1978 Super Bowl.^[9]

• In 1981, after the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series, four members of the team—Jerry Reuss, Jay Johnstone, Rick Monday, and Steve Yeager—recorded a cover of Queen's "We Are the Champions". They were backed by Leland Sklar on bass and Jeff Porcaro of Toto on drums. The short-lived group performed their song on the TV show Solid Gold.^[10]

• The 1984 San Francisco 49ers put out a record during that season, one in which they also went on to become Super Bowl champs. The song, "We Are the 49ers", was in the vein of post-disco/'80s dance-pop music.^[11] Later in the 1980s, the 49ers would put out another team song titled "49ers Rap". Neither of these songs, however, became a hit on the scale of the "Super Bowl Shuffle".

The success of "The Super Bowl Shuffle" initiated numerous imitations from numerous teams across the league, including the Bears.

Seven of the surviving 1985 Bears (Walter Payton had died in 1999 of liver cancer^[37]) were reunited to film an updated version as a 30-second commercial promoting Boost Mobile, which was aired during Super Bowl XLIV.^[38] The seven players featured were quarterback Jim McMahon, backup quarterback Steve Fuller, receiver Willie Gault, linebackers Mike Singletary and Otis Wilson, defensive lineman Richard Dent, and punter Maury Buford. All of the featured players wore #50 jerseys as part of the company's $50 deal.^[4]

On January 21, 2014, Misfire Records released a cover version^[39] of the song featuring acclaimed musicians (Jim James of My Morning Jacket, John Roderick of The Long Winters, and Tim Harrington of Les Savy Fav), comedians (Tom Scharpling of The Best Show on WFMU, Scott Aukerman of Comedy Bang! Bang!, David Wain of The State and Stella, Kyle Kinane, and Dave Hill), and other notables (wrestler Colt Cabana and internet cat celebrity Lil Bub). Organized by radio host Sean Cannon with production from musician Alexander Smith, all proceeds from sales were to be donated to Reading Is Fundamental.^[40]

• 1985 Chicago Bears season