Meet the Chicago Bears fan who has attended 400 straight games

A major achievement took place at Soldier Field on Sunday.

And no, I’m not talking about Justin Fields becoming the third player in NFL history to reach 1,000 rushing yards as a quarterback.

I’m talking about Paul Zywicki aka “The Road Warrior” attending his 400th consecutive Chicago Bears game. That includes home and road, rain or shine. An almost impossible streak to accomplish.

Most of you may know Don “The Bearman” Wachter who is almost always seen on the television broadcast with his patented attire and takes hundreds of pictures with fans at the stadium as the unofficial mascot of the Chicago Bears.

But the guy that most do not know is Paul, a 54-year-old Chicago native who sits next to him for every single home game. And he does this with his hard-earned money as a blue-collar worker, managing different McDonald’s locations around the Chicagoland area.

Zywicki’s current streak started on September 22, 2002 with a game against the New Orleans Saints at Soldier Field. It includes all preseason games, though not the ones that were closed to fans in 2020 due to COVID.

Here are some of Paul Zywicki’s mind-blowing stats as a fan in the stands:

• Watched the Bears play in 64 different stadiums. 
• 400 consecutive games. 
• Has only missed six games since 1992
• Has seen every home game since 1979 except one game in October of 1981. 
• Attended 760 overall Bears games in 3 different countries (USA, Canada and England twice)

Paul also has been to two Super Bowls — XLI in Miami for Bears/Colts and he also attended Super Bowl LIII the year Don was inducted into the Hall of Fans.

While Bears fans already have two inductees into the Ford Hall of Fans (Don Wachter and Terence Young), the NFL would be crazy to leave out Paul. He has set records that will never be broken.

Zywicki was mentioned by Jeff Joniak and Tom Thayer during Sunday’s broadcast and he was greeted by owner George McCaskey before the game.

The NFL and we as fans should recognize Paul Zywicki for his incredible passion for this team and this sport. Truly a remarkable accomplishment.

Bear Down, Paul! 

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