A handful of NFL franchises have a saying that echoes in their fans’ minds every year when the ball doesn’t bounce their way. “Here we go, again”. If you are a fan of one of these teams, you know that feeling. It starts deep within your core and emanates outward with a slow, agonizing burn. It’s a feeling of mistrust, betrayal, disappointment, disgust, and rage. It makes you question your choices, sometimes even your fandom.
Bears Fans, Raise Your Hands
The reason we are so quick to write off our team is simple. It’s to protect our hearts. It’s a defense mechanism. Misery loves company and there is a lot of camaraderie in showing up and being miserable, together. We cheer when the simplest of tasks on the field are completed with competency and we let the boos rain down when the scene gets disastrous out there. After all, no group of people is more qualified to hate a team more than their fans. It’s too close of an emotion to love, and no group of people can love a team more than their fans.
Bears fans with the deepest scars have that inert doubt that creeps up before anything else. Another year, another rookie quarterback to get our hopes up, only to turn out to be another Mitchel Trubisky, another Justin Fields. Their hearts can only take so much swelling with hope, only to be crushed by the disappointment. That’s when Bears fans get numb. That’s when Bears fans begrudgingly renew their season tickets. That’s when Bears fans reluctantly pay for NFL Sunday Ticket, Peacock, and Amazon Prime. All that hurt and all that money to ensure we don’t miss a second of misery. This is the hook that the NFL has in all fans.
The Road to Destiny For Bears Fans
Bears fans, take a moment to reflect on how crazy a ride it was to get here. The most convoluted sequence of events had to transpire exactly right to get to this point. Zigs had to zag, twists had to turn, and wrongs had to be right on this path of fate that led to this exact place on the spacetime continuum. Bears fans, let’s take a little stroll down memory lane to recap this streak of wins that had to hit for this once-in-a-lifetime parlay to cash.
Let’s hop in our Delorean and set the date for Sunday, January 8th, 2023. The location is Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN for the week 18 game between the Colts and the Houston Texans. The Texans are coached by former Bears Head Coach, Lovie Smith. The Texans stunk that year. If the Texans lose the game, they get the #1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Texans ownership was banking on their team losing that game, but they made one fatal mistake. Lovie Smith found out he was to be fired after the game before it started.
The game was sloppy, but high-scoring for two of the worst teams in the league. Fast forward to the 4th quarter, the Colts kick a 54-yard field goal to go up by seven points with 3:37 left on the clock. The Texans take the kickoff from two yards deep in their endzone and run it to their 17-yard line. The offense comes onto the field with 3:29 left to drive 83 yards. Texans move the ball to the IND 48-yard line, and they go for it on fourth down with 12 yards to go and hit a 30-yard bomb over the middle to Brandin Cooks.
The ball is on the 18-yard line and after two incomplete passes, QB Davis Mills takes a 10-yard sack to make it 4th and 20 from the IND 28-yard line. On the next play, Mills finds TE Jordan Akins over the middle for a touchdown. Texans Head Coach Lovie Smith calls for a two-point conversion instead of kicking the PAT to tie the game and play for OT. They could have called a running play and had a lower probability of converting the try, making it more likely to secure the #1 overall pick in the draft.
But, they didn’t. Lovie Smith and the Texans called a pass play and QB Davis Mills found TE Jordan Akins in the endzone for the go-ahead 2-point score. Now leading 32-31, the Texans boot the ensuing kickoff into the endzone and the Colts take over on their 25-yard line with 0:50 left in the game and two timeouts remaining. That might as well have been an eternity when they only needed a field goal to win. Lovie Smith is more known as a defensive-minded coach, and his squad was next on the field for a date with Destiny.
Lovie’s defense never let the Colts get past the 50-yard line and swatted down the final hail mary attempt to preserve the Texans’ victory. That final parting gesture that Lovie gave to the Texans’ owners, provided his former employers, the Chicago Bears, with the #1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
All-time Parlay Pays off for Bears Fans
The first leg of the parlay hit thanks to Lovie Smith’s parting gift. The second leg of the parlay hit when the Bears traded away that #1 pick to the Carolina Panthers, instead of any other teams willing to trade up in the draft. In exchange for the Bears’ #1 pick, Carolina sent over star WR D.J. Moore, their ninth overall pick, their 2024 first-round pick, and a 2025 second-round selection.
Leg #3 of the parlay hit when the Carolina Panthers took last place in the league that season, giving the Bears the #1 overall pick for the second straight year. The fourth leg of the parlay was the most important. The 4th leg hit when the Bears’ front office drafted the best quarterback prospect since Andrew Luck with the first overall pick, instead of trading it away. One could argue that a few more legs to this parlay also hit – the trades for Keenan Allen, D’Andre Swift, Darrell Taylor, and drafting Rome Odunze with the 9th overall pick.
The bottom line is, that so many dominos had to fall into place for the Chicago Bears to be sitting here at the end of the preseason 4-0. They outscored their opponents by 68 points. None of the four Bears quarterbacks who played in the preseason threw an interception. Cynical Bears fans might say that it’s too good to be true. More spiritual fans might say that it was pre-ordained, destiny or fate. Realistic Bears fans might say it’s because GM Ryan Poles has done an outstanding job and lady luck took care of the rest.
Conclusion
It’s easy for Chicago Bears fans to stay cynical. When Caleb Williams throws his first interception, “Here we go again”. When an injury to a key player happens, “This is how it always goes”. When the Bears are in first place in the NFC North halfway through the season, “Don’t worry, we’ll figure out a way to blow this”. What if there was a different mindset that not just Bears fans could embrace, but fans of all NFL teams on the bubble of success? What if fans everywhere could free themselves from the anguish of the past?
The possible solution is simple. Embrace the golden road that had to be paved to get here. The comet of good fortune only comes around once in a long while, so take the time to soak it all in. Hold game days sacred. Bears fans – hold Caleb Williams up when he has his rookie struggles, and hold up your pride as Bears fans, high. Enjoy the roller coaster ride of emotions throughout the season, instead of getting lost in the lows. Celebrate football. Celebrate each other. Celebrate Chicago. And most of all, celebrate all the wins for Bears fans everywhere.
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