Bears Fan To Change Name To Peyton Manning

He says he doesn't want to do it, but a die-hard Bears fan is changing his name to Peyton Manning.

Scott Wiese had told friends that if his beloved team didn't win the Super Bowl, he'd take the name of the Indianapolis Colts quarterback.

He even signed a petition in front of 200 people last week at Decatur's Katz Piano Bar saying that he'd do it.

After the Colts defeated the Bears 29-to-17 on Sunday, Wiese started the process.

"A bunch of friends and I were talking one night before the game, and there was a little alcohol involved," Wiese told the Herald-Review newspaper. "I made the bet, and now I've got to keep it. I chose Manning because, well, he is kind of the face of the Colts franchise."

The 26-year-old Forsyth, Illinois, man trudged to the Macon County Courts Facility yesterday and filed the paperwork. The change still has to be approved by a judge.

Wiese says he really cares about the team and that his sacrifice represents the true passion of Bears fans.

Of course, Wiese will never be mistaken for the multimillionaire 6-foot-5-inch, 230-pound Super Bowl MVP quarterback. At 5-feet-11-inches, Wiese, who works at a local Staples store, admitted to the newspaper that his 190-pound body is "not muscle."

He remains unsure how long he will keep Manning's name, and was asked if it will take a Bears Super Bowl win — Chicago last won the big game in 1986 — to reverse the name change. "I mean, well, it may be another 21 years," he told the newspaper.