It's not just the Bears season that rests on quarterback Kyle Orton's shoulders; it seems the fate of unsightly facial hair does too.

Orton, whose frequently unkempt whiskers have earned him the nickname "Neckbeard," has become a cult hero to some die-hard fans, sports bloggers and those with Barbasol allergies. As the Bears season kicks off Sunday, supporters believe Orton could do for facial hair what Joe Namath did for pantyhose and Jim McMahon for "Rozelle" headbands.

"Peyton Manning has his commercials, and Tony Romo has his Hollywood girlfriends," says football fan Darren Doxey, who belongs to a group called the Kyle Orton Neckbeard Army. "Kyle has the neckbeard. It looks hideous, but it's his trademark."

And it's the neckbeard -- slang for facial hair that extends wildly beyond jaw line without benefit of grooming tools -- that sets Orton apart from other NFL personalities. Brett Favre might grow stubble as winter kicks in, but Orton's disregard for basic manscaping made him the standard-bearer for a look usually reserved for college kids and nonconformists.

At a news conference this week, Orton's beard appeared trimmed back and didn't cover as much of his neck as in the past. He has said he shaved it for his wedding during the off-season but has vowed to grow it back as the weather turns colder.

"I'm concerned that it's not as thick as I would want it to be right now," says George Holohan, a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign student who says he has at least one conversation about Orton's neckbeard every day.

"It'll get thicker over the season, I'm sure."

In the meantime, it's up to his backers to keep the legend of Neckbeard alive. At least two fan clubs have formed in homage to Orton's whiskers: the Neckbeard Army and the Neckbeard Brigade. And on the social networking site Facebook, a group called Kyle Orton's Neckbeard Fan Club has 138 members.

Neckbeards, in general, spark interest because they don't conform to normal grooming trends and haven't been in the public eye since Henry David Thoreau penned "Civil Disobedience," says Louis Giersch, a non-neckbearded man who runs a Web site dedicated to them. Giersch ranks the neckbeard's re-emergence as the most important advancement in facial hair since General Ambrose Burnside wore friendly mutton chops on the Civil War battlefield.

"Neckbeards really are the last frontier when it comes to facial hair," Giersch says.

Unfortunately for Giersch's cause, there aren't many celebrities daring enough to try the look. Then-Republican Alan Keyes had a neckbeard when he ran against Barack Obama for Illinois' U.S. Senate seat in 2004, but he lost by a landslide and quickly left the state. After Keyes, neckbeard enthusiasts must find role models in 19th-Century figures such as Thoreau and Free Methodist Church founder B.T. Roberts.

"That's why Kyle's so important," Giersch says. "He can really get this off the ground and make the neckbeard what the goatee was 10 years ago."

He'll face opposition. Orton's wife has publicly expressed her dislike of the neckbeard, and more than 380 people have added their names to an online petition calling for him to shave. Until recently, Internet marketplace Cafe Press sold T-shirts, thongs and baby onesies with a picture of Orton and the words "Shave the Neckbeard!" printed below.

The latest fashion trends also work against Orton, says Peter Hillman, owner of Sir Spa in Chicago. At a time when the hottest looks favor a clean-shaven face, a scraggly neckbeard suggests something stirring beneath the hair, he says.

"A lot of guys grow messy beards because they're going through a difficult time or because they want to buck a trend," Hillman says. "For most guys, it's just a phase."

Orton's beard debuted in 2005, when he was the rookie replacement for an injured Rex Grossman. After being benched upon Grossman's return, the facial hair became a full-fledged neckbeard.

Some fans felt instant affinity. John Kent, an insurance agent from Arlington Heights, grew a neckbeard in solidarity with Orton in 2005 and plans to do the same this year if the Bears string consecutive victories together.

"Initially everyone made fun of him for the beard, and I didn't think it was right," says Kent.

Doxey, a high school senior, also defended Orton's facial hair in 2005 when he became an early recruit of the Neckbeard Army. He now sports a neckbeard in support of Orton, but his mom dislikes it and he's losing it after the first game.

"She keeps telling me to go shave," he says, "[but] I don't let it get as bad as Orton's."

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The Neckbeard Club For Men

Bears quarterback Kyle Orton has had some jaw-dropping company as Thoreau's scraggly look also transcended music and film. Orton trimmed the neckbeard in the off-season (far left) but says he is letting it grow wild again.

George Clooney in 'Syriana'

Singer Dave Grohl in 2007

Actor Brad Pitt in 2002

Henry David Thoreau

Kyle Orton in rookie year

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sstclair@tribune.com