John Jefko revels in role as Alaska's biggest Chicago Bears fan
FAIRBANKS — Opening day of the National Football League season is less than a week away, and John Jefko needs to make a tough decision.
The resident of Chicago Bear Lane still doesn’t have the premium pro football package for his satellite TV subscription, and the $300 price tag sounds pretty steep for the newly retired mechanic. Still, entering the season without a guarantee that he can watch the Bears every Sunday is a lot like preparing for Thanksgiving without a turkey.
“I’m considering making a sign and standing in front of Walmart: ‘Need money for NFL Sunday Ticket,’” he said with a laugh.
Jefko’s deep devotion to his favorite team makes that a plausible option. His wardrobe of Bears-themed clothing, his house full of Bears memorabilia, and even his dogs, Ditka and Payton, leave no doubts about his allegiance to the Monsters of the Midway.
The energetic 56-year-old even has a mustache that looks like it was modeled after one worn by the ultimate Bears icon, former tight end and coach Mike Ditka.
“Ditka’s the man,” Jefko said. “What can you say? The guy was awesome.”
So how exactly did Jefko, who grew up deep in Chicago Bears country of Rockford, Ill., end up in actual bear country — the wilderness north of Fairbanks?
Jefko said it’s all about fate. He met his future wife, Saundra, in Phoenix in 1992, where the Fairbanks girl was going to school and he was working as an airplane mechanic.
Their introduction turned out to be a good peek into his soul. She was dating his roommate at the time, and said she met Jefko after seeing him toss a television off their second-floor balcony during a particularly brutal Bears performance.
After graduating, Saundra, a lifelong Alaskan, was eager to return home, but she got a skeptical response from Jefko. To find out for himself, Jefko decided to take a solo northern vacation to see what Alaska was all about. He started with Barrow, where many of Saundra’s relatives live.
“I got out of the plane, I looked around,” he said. “I called my wife and said, ‘We ain’t moving to Alaska.’”
But she convinced him to keep looking, and after visiting Fairbanks he realized this was his new home. On Jefko’s first day back to work in Arizona, he quit his job and announced he was moving north.
“I decided it was awesome here,” he said. “There’s so much to see, but there’s no one here.”
Jefko spent the next dozen years working on the North Slope, followed by a few years with a local hardware rental company. He’s planning to spend at least the next football season retired, free to follow the Bears as closely as he can.
Despite his distance from Soldier Field, Jefko has remained as devoted as ever. A back room of his small home serves as a shrine to the Chicago Bears. Pennants, caps, posters, Wheaties boxes and old football cards fill the room. In the past 20 years he’s accumulated Bears shot glasses, figurines, lunch boxes and even an unopened bottle of Walter Payton Pilsner beer.
Jefko’s short driveway along the Elliott Highway may also be the northernmost photo opportunity for the world’s Chicago Bears fans. After the Jefkos built their home in the late 1990s near 4 Mile, Saundra’s gift to her husband was to officially name their driveway Chicago Bear Lane.
“At the time, my father-in-law was kind of frowning on it,” Jefko said. “But what do you expect? He was a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.”
It’s not unusual for Jefko to look toward the road and see tourists posing for pictures next to his street sign.
It’s even been swiped twice, although he put a stop to that by attaching the sign to the post with a metal plate and sinking it in concrete.
And when a big game comes up, Jefko still makes an effort to be there.
He traveled to Miami for the 2007 Super Bowl, even though he didn’t have a ticket to watch the Bears take on the Indianapolis Colts. He brought $2,300 in cash, but couldn’t find a scalper willing to go that low.
Jefko ended up watching the game with his brother and nephew across the street from the stadium at a Hooters restaurant. He was disappointed by the Bears’ loss, but said the trip was a pilgrimage he had to make.
“Just the adventure — the noise, the atmosphere, the rush,” he said.
His wife, he admits, is extremely tolerant of his obsession.
It turns out that Saundra doesn’t even care much for football, and she usually makes herself scarce during games.
“I’ve got my own sewing room, and I’m putting a door on it,” she said with a laugh.
The worst part about being an Alaska Bears fan, Jefko said, is the feeling that you’re badly outnumbered.
He said the state is thick with Packers fans, but that there aren’t many fellow Chicagoans around to relate to.
“Packers fans are the best people in the world — until game time,” he said. “Then we go in separate directions.”
There’s also the sad fact that the Bears aren’t looking like contenders in the tough NFC North Division, where Green Bay and Minnesota are expected to fight for the title.
Jefko wants to be optimistic about the future exploits of Jay Cutler and Brian Urlacher, but even a die-hard supporter can only muster up so much confidence.
“I’d like to tell you we’re going to the Super Bowl again, but …” Jefko said, his voice trailing off.
It could be a long season on Chicago Bear Lane. Even during the bad times, however, Jefko is always happiest when he’s focused on his hometown team.
“If he gets somebody to talk about the Bears, he’s like a chatty old lady,” Saundra said.
Contact staff writer Jeff Richardson at 459-7518.