The Chicago Bears are back.
At least, that’s what the powers that be at CBS Sports are suggesting by sending the network’s No. 1 broadcast team of play-by-play voice Jim Nantz, analyst Tony Romo, and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson to Chicago for Sunday’s Bears-Jets game.
Nantz talked about making a rare trip to Soldier Field to do a game with 670 The Score, and sounded eager to broadcast a game that could unfold in any number of ways: “This jumped off the schedule when it was released in the spring. I desperately wanted to do this game,” Nantz told the Dan McNeil and Danny Parkins Show. “Man, the Bears, a lot of good things happening. I know there’s some disappointment off the last two losses, but things are pointing in the right direction and I can’t wait to see them in person this weekend.”
As sports fans, our thoughts can be driven down a narrow path because there is a natural focus of what’s being said about our teams locally. So it’s always good to branch out and seek perspective from a national point of view. And if the national perspective of the Bears is that things are moving in the right direction, perhaps we should allow ourselves to open ourselves up to that possibility. It couldn’t hurt.
You can listen to the full interview here:
The Bears haven’t drawn a network’s A-Team broadcast often in recent years, and with good reason – they have been bad, and thus, not nationally relevant. So for Bears-Jets to get the Nantz-Romo-Wolfson treatment in a non-prime-time slot speaks volumes for the type of interest these two big-market clubs are drawing, not to mention the potential a competitive game could bring. You can check out the broadcast map via 506Sports here, which shows that a ton of eyes could potentially be watching Bears-Jets on Sunday.
Now, if Romo could only keep his love for the Packers to a minimum, that would be swell.