To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Super Bowl XX champions, senior writer Larry Mayer tells the story of the "Black and Blues Brothers" poster which featured all nine 1985 Bears offensive linemen and became iconic due to its ode to the "Blues Brothers" and the team's magical championship season.

NFL offensive linemen typically don't receive publicity unless they commit a penalty or miss a key block, but that wasn't the case with the famed 1985 Bears.

All nine offensive linemen from the legendary Super Bowl XX championship team were featured on the iconic "Black and Blues Brothers" poster that was created just four games into the magical 1985 season.

The poster is an ode to the 1980 classic "Blues Brothers" movie, which was filmed in Chicago and starred John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as Jake and Elwood Blues. Just like the main characters in the film, the Bears offensive linemen don dark sunglasses and black fedoras on the poster.

"It was something that had not been done before in terms of a poster of an offensive line because no one gives a [hoot] about offensive linemen," said Bears radio analyst Tom Thayer, the starting right guard on the '85 championship team. "The whole 'Black and Blues Brothers' theme made the poster as much as our success as an offensive line. That was the cool thing about it."

Longtime Bears center Jay Hilgenberg—a seven-time Pro Bowler—fittingly is pictured in the center of the poster with his left foot resting on a football.

"What was great about it was it was the whole offensive line," Hilgenberg said. "We didn't have just the starters. We all had fun with it. It was an opportunity for all of us to get recognized a little bit. It really helped create a lot of unity. It was a nice team-building experience."

The poster features, from left to right, Tom Andrews, Mark Bortz, Thayer, Keith Van Horne, Hilgenberg, Kurt Becker, Andy Frederick, Stefan Humphries and Jimbo Covert. It was distributed by Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana Chevrolet dealers and WGN Radio—the Bears' flagship station at the time.

If you look closely at the poster, Hilgenberg's first name is tattooed on his knuckles—just like Jake and Elwood in the movie. Fans who approach the former star center sometimes ask if it was permanent ink, but the "J-A-Y" has long since faded because it was written with a marker.

When the idea for the poster was presented to them, Hilgenberg and Thayer were eager to do it—for the same reason.

"We were going to get paid $1,500, so I was pretty excited," Hilgenberg said.

"It was a pretty cool idea, and we were getting paid to do it," Thayer added.

The attention the poster garnered added to the pressure the offensive line was already feeling as an integral part of a team with Super Bowl aspirations.

"I remember [coach] Mike Ditka and [offensive line coach] Dick Stanfel saying: 'All right you guys, now that you're out there, you better show up and produce and make sure we turn this into something special or you guys are going to look like clowns,'" Thayer said.

The line ultimately helped transform the '85 season into one that fans will never forget. And while a dominant defense generally receives much of the credit for the Super Bowl title, the Bears offense wasn't just along for the ride.

"It was nice to get that attention [from the poster] because … even after games we won, [Ditka] always wanted to ride somebody and it was usually our offensive line," Hilgenberg said. "But if you look at our offensive line, we were a huge part of being successful that season; how we controlled the football, led the league in rushing, time of possession. We had a great offense."

As the '85 Bears celebrate the 40th anniversary of their championship, the Black and Blues Brothers poster remains as popular as ever. Thayer and Hilgenberg continue to spot it in sports bars all over the country—and beyond.

"I've seen it in Hawaii, I've seen it in Florida, I've seen in Ireland," Thayer said.

"You see it around a lot," Hilgenberg added. "It seems like it's everywhere."

Thayer and Hilgenberg both estimate that they've signed thousands of the posters.

"I can remember going to appearances when it first came out and signing pallets, just stacks of them," Thayer said.

"Every autograph session I do, someone will bring it in," Hilgenberg said. "I think I've signed every one of those possible … Even after all these years, you run into people who say, 'I had your poster on my wall as a kid.' It makes you feel old, but it's also a good feeling."