CHICAGO _ Brett Favre is late.
The Hall of Fame quarterback is running behind after his visit with the Chiefs in Kansas City, Mo., so Robert Smigel and George Wendt have time to kill while they wait for him to jet to Chicago.
The duo is in the back of a motorhome near the Waldron parking deck outside Soldier Field, partially dressed for the NFL promo they are about to film.
Smigel, the comedian, writer and creator of "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog," wears a Bears sweater over a blue Oxford shirt and a Cubs cap. Wendt, the actor best known as Norm from "Cheers," dons a No. 9 Jim McMahon jersey over a collared shirt. Wendt's face is clean-shaven at first, but soon Smigel directs an assistant as she pastes a thick, salt-and-pepper mustache over his top lip.
"Micromanaging the mustache," Wendt says, elongating the short "A" in a clipped, nasally voice.
Smigel asks the woman to trim the sides.
"Yeah, yeah," he says. "It's not quite walrusy enough."
Once the 'stache is perfected, the Super Fans will be ready for their next adventure, a new bit for NBC to preview the Bears opener against the Packers on Thursday night.
At the time he crafted the characters that first appeared in a 1991 "Saturday Night Live" sketch, Smigel wasn't sure if anyone outside of Chicago would appreciate the four sausage-eating, Mike Ditka-obsessed, Chicago-aggrandizing men that made up "Bill Swerski's Super Fans."
Twenty-eight years later, the characters _ also played by actors Chris Farley and Mike Myers in the '90s _ remain among the most notable pop-culture figures in the Bears 100-season history. Their catchphrase _ "Da Bearsss" _ has become an almost reflexive response among Chicagoans when talking about their football team. And the roles have given Smigel and Wendt a laundry list of experiences any Chicago sports fan would find fascinating.
They did the hula with Michael Jordan. They revved up hundreds of thousands of fans in Grant Park during Bulls championship celebrations. For a commercial shoot, Wendt received a massage from Ditka while wearing a towel and eating a sausage. They've done bits with Bears foes Aaron Rodgers and now Favre.
And one time, Smigel and Wendt recall, they performed at a playoff game.
After energizing the Soldier Field crowd before the Bears took on the Cowboys in 1991, they participated in a field-goal kicking competition at halftime. The late Farley went first, Wendt recalls, falling on his face in a mud puddle. The crowd roared.
"And then I have to follow Farley," Smigel says. "And I'm like, why did we make this choice? How am I possibly going to get a cheer after Farley? The only thing I can do is make a field goal."
Wendt had an idea: attempt the kick while holding a hot dog and a beer.
"You took a bite of the hot dog, a sip of the beer and kicked it through," Wendt reminds him.
"That's insane," Smigel says. "I was wearing a sneaker like this, and it cleared. It was like a line drive, but it cleared. The crowd went crazy. And then George had the best idea again."
It was a fake field goal. After some debate about how Wendt's play unfolded, the duo decides on this: Farley snapped the ball. Smigel held it and then pitched it to Wendt, who went charging down the field.
"I got to the end zone and spiked it," Wendt says. "And then I grabbed Farley and I head-butted him without a helmet. And that was a mistake. Because I was like, 'Woooh.'"
Wendt rolls his eyes and shakes his head as if in a daze.
"I guarantee Farley felt nothing," Smigel says. "But it was only two in the afternoon, so George, he had a way to go."
The Super Fans' antics at Soldier Field came at the height of their popularity. Little did Smigel know they'd still be an active part of Chicago sports lore today.
