Report: Former Bears quarterback dies at 70

According to Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun-Times, Bob Avellini died of cancer.

The Bears drafted Avellini in the same year as Payton, 1975. The Bears selected Payton with the No. 4 pick in the draft, and Avellini would join the Bears with pick No. 135 in the sixth round. Per Potash, Avellini was remembered fondly for helping to lead the Bears to the playoffs for the 1977 season.

With the Bears’ 1977 season on the brink at 3-5 and the Bears 10 seconds away from a loss to the Chiefs at Soldier Field that would all but end their playoff hopes, Avellini heaved a 37-yard touchdown pass to inexplicably wide open tight end Greg Latta at the goal line with three seconds left that gave the Bears a miraculous 28-27 victory.

In the aftermath of the delirious celebration that followed, the Bears thought they were a team of destiny, and — against the odds — it turned out that they were. Avellini’s winning pass to Latta sparked a mad-dash six-game winning streak to send the 9-5 Bears into the playoffs for the first time since 1963.

That would be Avellini’s best moment with the Bears. He’d be the full-time starter for only one more season (1978) before he served as a backup until he was cut during the 1984 season. He wouldn’t be on the team when Payton and the Bears made the NFC Championship Game for the 1984 campaign and won the Super Bowl the following season.

Avellini signed with the Jets during the 1984 season. He signed with the Cowboys in 1986 and played in three preseason games before he cut and retired from the league. Avellini finished his career with 7,111 passing yards, 33 touchdowns, and 69 interceptions.

Per Potash, Avellini had several DUIs in post-retirement. He was also beloved in Chicago for helping out with charity events.

Avellini became a real estate broker in the Chicago area after his football career ended, but also struggled in retirement. In 2012 he filed for bankruptcy protection. In 2014, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to felony DUI — his sixth arrest for DUI since 2002. He claimed that head injuries he suffered during his career contributed to depression and drinking problems.

But Avellini also was a popular and supportive former teammate who was active in the Chicago area at charity events and golf outings — most recently at a 69th birthday celebration for former teammate Revie Sorey, a fellow New Yorker also drafted by the Bears in 1975, who suffered a stroke in 2012.

Avellini was a complicated figure on the field and off.

The Bears released a statement on Avellini’s death Sunday morning.

“Bob was one-of-kind, a fierce and tough competitor.  He’s perhaps best remembered for leading the Bears on an improbable run in 1977 to our first postseason appearance in fourteen years.  He will be missed.”