What’s Groundhog’s Day to someone who feels as if they’ve been living the same winter day over and over again for the last five weeks or so? is an existential question I found myself asking this morning. Why do we even care about what that thing forecasts in the first place? Suddenly, I’m wondering if Punxsutawney Phil rigging this so we can have more cold, joyless winter days. That’s gotta be it! Six more weeks of winter. RIGGED!
- Heads up! The NFL Honors show, which recognizes the best of the year that was and reveals the upcoming Pro Football Hall of Fame class, takes place one week from TONIGHT! In other words, we’ll know if Devin Hester is a Hall of Fame next week. He better be getting the call. Just saying…
- Papa Bear George Halas would be celebrating a birthday if he was still around today. And Jack Silverstein comes through with yet another glorious thread outlining Halas’ impact on the NFL โ which is still felt today. Here is part of that thread:
- George Stanley Halas was certainly 1 of 1.
- Fast forward to the present and we have Bears Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy coaching in the Senior Bowl. And he was mic’d up, too:
- A Bears offensive coach leading the way at the Senior Bowl isn’t something we’re used to around here. But Getsy’s coaching star is on the rise. And making a good impression now will likely lead to him getting some interviews and interest for head-coach openings that become available next year. To be clear, I’m not ready to push Getsy out the door right now. However, I can’t ignore league hiring trends. In other words, if quarterback Justin Fields takes another leap in his development, then teams with head coach vacancies will see what Getsy has done since arriving in Chicago and want him to do that for their own QB.
- In the meantime, Getsy (and the Bears assistants who have joined him at the Senior Bowl) have a leg up in getting to know a bunch of top prospects who will be available in the 2023 NFL Draft. So while there is an obvious understanding as to why this experience will benefit Getsy in the long run, let’s not lose sight of what it could mean for the Bears right now. Chicago’s football team is getting additional exposure to players who could help the team in 2023 (and beyond!). Here’s hoping they make the most of the situation.
- Alyssa Barbieri (BearsWire) shares a list of 13 players the Bears should be watching at the Senior Bowl. There are 4 offensive linemen, 3 defensive linemen, 2 receivers, and 1 quarterback (among others). One thing I always dig about Senior Bowl week is the wide net teams can cast in one setting. The Senior Bowl hub in Mobile, Ala., is going to be churning out all sorts of interesting nuggets, factoids, tidbits, and clips this week. There is so much good stuff.
- Sometimes, I like watching other teams offensive linemen block and dream of what it would be like if the Bears had the same:
- Alex Shapiro (NBC Sports Chicago) re-visits Tom Brady’s dominant run against the Bears. Brady went 6-1 all-time against the Bears with this stat line: 185/276 (67%), 2,059 yards, 19 TD, 4 INT, and a 105.9 passer rating. Put that into a calculator that spits out those numbers on a per-17 game clip and it looks like this: 449/670, 5,000 passing yards, 46 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions. I sure am glad that guy wasn’t in the NFC (or NFC North) for his entire career.
- Even still … this is my favorite Brady memory:
- Not that this is earth-shattering news, but it is still worth sharing that it sounds like the Bears are (1) planning on sticking with Justin Fields as their QB1 and (2) looking to trade the first overall pick. Let the bidding begin!
- Let it be known that we’re not out of the woods yet. Because there will still be plenty of chatter surrounding this situation. For what it’s worth, Eisen has some words for Fields:
- I love a good devil’s advocate stance as much as the next guy. But I think a scenario where Fields isn’t the Bears’ QB1 in 2023 is far-fetched. Again, it makes for a great conversation piece. However, I’m tired of having that conversation. Can we move on yet?
- 🗣️ Louder for the folks in the back of the room:
- “Earl Bennett’s post-NFL success: From Bears receiver to life with a Ph.D.” is the headline attached to this story written by Jon Greenberg, which is bookmarked for later reading. (The Athletic)
- The Bears shared a brief clip of GM Ryan Poles and Assistant GM Ian Cunningham joining former Bears Matt Forte and Israel Idonije touring The DuSable Black History Museum. And I thought it was cool enough to re-share here:
- Don’t mind me. I’m a history nerd. I love this stuff. In fact, I want more of it. I kinda want to go back and see if I can find old Jean Baptiste Point du Sable book reports I wrote way back when.
- What’s old is new again:
- This is fun:
- Here we go:
- OK, this has me feeling a little better: