NEWSLETTER
It’s disappointing that I was not previously made aware that the Bears and Jaguars were duking it out to see which team could pull up with the most embarrassing Friday headline.
Seriously, who decided to keep me out of the loop?
Jacksonville coming out firing on Friday morning, when reports surfaced that they’d interview Bill O’Brien for their head coach opening. And it was looking like the Jags would extend their lead when Brett wrote a post with one of the wildest headlines. I mean, “A Company is Suing the Jaguars So They Don’t Have to Be Associated with the Team’s Final ‘Clown Game'” caught your eye, too. Right?
But in an effort to not go down without a fight, this is now on the Bears’ radar:
.@olin_kreutz says the Bears offered him a job to be a player consultant under Harry Heistand for the offensive line in 2018.
The offer: $15/hour.
Seriously.
— Danny Parkins (@DannyParkins) January 7, 2022
Here’s Olin telling the story:
— Danny Parkins (@DannyParkins) January 7, 2022
OOF! On the one hand, this seems like a low-ball offer. Not just for a popular (and successful) former player, but for anyone. But on the other hand, I could point to this as a high-profile example of how billion dollar entities don’t value the modern worker. And if I had a third hand, I’d use it to underscore how people aren’t getting paid what they deserve. But in the end, I circle back to thinking how this moment represents a snapshot of how out of touch the Bears are with reality. And perhaps that is the most damning thing to emerge from that snippet.
Let’s be honest with each other. The quote on its own is a bad look for a charter NFL franchise.
The offer has to be stronger when someone actively asking to help the team comes along. Even if Olin Kreutz doesn’t need the money after a lengthy NFL career, it is still insulting to see a low-ball offer. Kreutz deserves a little bit more respect than that, especially when you think of what he did in the trenches as a franchise. I doubt any backlash the Bears get from this will teach them a lesson in how to treat their former players, but maybe it should. At minimum, it should put in perspective how to better treat those who want to go out of their way to help this franchise shake out of the doldrums.
This doesn’t necessarily feel like rock bottom as far as a news cycle story goes, but it feels like a new low for an organization that should be doing better.
Even still … the Jaguars will likely eke out a win for worst-of-the-worst here due to the tie-breaker. Let’s face it. While O’Brien has a 52-48 overall record and won four NFC South titles coaching the Texans, he also was a key cog in orchestrating the DeAndre Hopkins trade that got the ball rolling on Houston’s demise. C’mon, now. How that thing came to an end in Texas should make anyone hesitant to interview the guy. Leave it to the Jaguars as being one of the few bastions of hope keeping the Bears from absolute rock bottom.
