The story of how the Bears made their two worst draft picks ever back-to-back

The Chicago Bears have had their share of painful memories in the franchise's history. That was certainly the case back in 1998 and 1999.

At the time, Bears Vice President of Pro Personnel Mark Hatley was making all the final football decisions for the team. Hatley was in Chicago from 1997 through 2000. To say it wasn't the most memorable experience for Hatley would be an understatement.

There were two consecutive drafts where Hatley made a high first-round pick that seemed like a good move at the time, but didn't materialize. The names of Curtis Enis and Cade McNown haunt Bears fans.

How the Bears whiffed on Enis and McNown so badly

Starting in 1998, the Bears selected Enis with the fifth overall pick in the draft to become their lead running back. From the tone of the article, it did not go the way Chicago was hoping for.

Enis played in just nine games with one start in his rookie season, as he finished with 497 yards. The 1998 season was horrible with Enis first holding out and not playing in the first two preseason games, and then tearing a ligament in his left knee midway through the season.

Chicago was hoping for better days in 1999 with Dick Jauron now the head coach and the team selecting McNown to be the quarterback of the future with the 12th overall pick. The good news was Enis bounced back with 916 yards and five total touchdowns in 15 games. McNown did not have a great rookie season, completing just 54% of his passes for 1,465 yards and eight touchdowns to 10 interceptions in 15 games with six starts.

The Bears entered 2000 with some glimmer of hope for the future, as McNown had gotten all the bad stuff out of the way in his rookie season, and Enis was showing improvement. Nope. It got worse. Much worse.

McNown went 1-8 as the starting quarterback, posting similar numbers to his 1999 season: a 55% completion percentage, 1,646 yards, eight touchdowns, and nine interceptions. Enis was even worse, as he played in 12 games and started five, with a whopping 84 yards on 36 carries and one touchdown, averaging an insane 2.3 yards per carry.

After the 2000 season, McNown and Enis both missed the entire season, and their NFL careers were over by 2002. It took three years for the Bears to realize how much they screwed up with their first round picks.

Hatley was also out after the 2001 draft, but that was when Chicago was finally getting good with Jim Miller at quarterback and Anthony Thomas as the lead running back. Jauron and the Bears were finally winning games and moving forward with no traces of their previous mistakes.