In the nearly 70 years since John Damore stepped on the field as a Chicago Bear, he’s been a loyal spectator: “I don’t miss a minute,” he says.Sitting in a recliner in his bedroom Sunday watching the Bears take on the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs, Damore, 92, reminisced about his time as an offensive lineman in the late 1950s while cheering on his beloved Bears, chanting “atta boy” and “very good” when they played well and reprimanding them when they don't.He remembers the feeling of a high-stakes game and had this advice to current Bears: “Play 60 minutes and play well."As the Bears and Rams faced off in frigid temperatures at Soldier Field, Damore remembered the days before heaters and heavy blankets on the sidelines. John Damore holds an unlit cigar and cheers the Bears from his Westmont bedroom. He recalls his coach, George Halas, would give profanity-laced pep talks to the team if he didn’t like the opposing coach. “Screaming, he would be screaming,” Damore said.Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times “The field is heated now, but back then the ground was frozen,” he said. “It was like playing on concrete.”Damore is believed to be the oldest living Bears alum, and he’s still riding the high of beating the team’s most bitter rival, the Green Bay Packers, in the first playoff round last week.“It was the same for me as it is for them,” he said about beating Green Bay. “I can’t imagine the thrill.”As the Rams worked down the field on a touchdown drive late in the first quarter after intercepting a pass from Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, Damore was steadfast in his belief that the Bears would respond with a touchdown of their own.“They gotta come right back now,” he said. “The best attitude is ‘get one back!’”At halftime, with the game tied 10-10, Damore recalls what his coach, Bears legend George Halas, would have said at this point in the game. He envisioned a harsh pep talk with “bad language,” especially if Halas wasn’t a fan of the opposing coach.“Screaming, he would be screaming,” Damore said.The Bears are in the playoffs for the first time since 2020, and fans have been disappointed with many losing seasons since their last Super Bowl appearance in 2007. For Damore, he’s felt the losses and wins as if he were still on the team. Related Oldest living Chicago Bear, 92, hopes team has Super Bowl in its future: ‘It would be my greatest goodbye’ How to stay warm during Bears vs. Rams Sunday night: Sun-Times and WBEZ staff tips How Bears QB Caleb Williams learned to be more like the Rams’ Matthew Stafford “You know, I get mad at ‘em when they lose, and I get happy when they win,” he said. “I’m gonna be the saddest guy in town [if they lose]. It’s been so much fun.” John Damore speaks to his family before Sunday’s game. Since the Sun-Times profiled him this month, he’s done media interviews and gotten requests for autographs. Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times Since the Sun-Times published a profile of Damore ahead of the Packers-Bears showdown last week, Damore has been interviewed by several news outlets and received numerous calls appreciating his memories and “gift of gab,” as his son Larry puts it. He even received a few letters from people asking for autographs.“I love it,” he said. “I would love if there was more of them, but I’m not a superstar.”Throughout the first half, Damore voiced his admiration for Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, repeatedly calling him “son of a gun.”“He was the one that I didn't want them to play,” he said. ...read more read less