The choice was between “a rock and a hard place”: you stick with starter Justin Fields, whose playmaking and passing abilities were starting to develop into the player that fans had been dreaming of or you reset the “quarterback clock” by potentially acquiring Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams out of the University of Southern California.
Such decisions, fraught with the need for change, divided the fanbase, media, and outsiders alike. Some, including myself, believed that Fields was on the cusp of being “a guy”. The desire that fans had envisioned upon him when he was drafted to the Bears. Yet, others contended that too much time had elapsed, and a fresh face was needed to lead the team.
Now, let’s fast forward to March 16th, 2024. On this day, Chicago Bears have embraced a new chapter. Justin Fields, who was once considered the cornerstone of this franchise, has been traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers, a movie that signaled that the Bears were ready for a new start. It’s a shift that feels familiar, akin to the nervous anticipation my students face with their ACTs—where they face a mixture of apprehension and the weight of potentially promising future.
The Bears history since the lauded 1985 Super Bowl winning season has been a tumultuous one, often falling short of fans (sometimes unreasonably) high expectations. To cope with this knowledge, some fans have elected to remain paranoid of the possibility of future disaster as the errors of the Bears past envelop their minds.
On the opposite end of the coping spectrum, there's a faction of the fanbase that see a franchise reborn, unburdened by the echoes of past failures and disappointments. I find myself in the middle, not oblivious to the errors of the past but filled with a reasonable hope of a bright future.
