Die-hard Chicago Bears fans should be commended for their patience.
After all, this fanbase is going on 38 years since its last Super Bowl championship.
Even still … Bears Chairman George McCaskey is asking for more.
Chairman McCaskey chopped it up on Thursday with Patrick Finley of the Sun-Times. Among the things that came up was a request for fans to be patient with rookie quarterback Caleb Williams:
“Typically, the No. 1 pick in the draft comes into a situation where it’s going to take a while for things to come together. Caleb’s got a lot of support — a solid defense, good receivers, good offensive line, a good running game, tight ends. But I hope people will be patient. There are going to be growing pains. He’s going to make mistakes. That’s part of the learning process for any young quarterback.”
Caleb Williams is uber-talented. But you probably already knew that going into this post. The top pick in last April’s NFL Draft is gifted with arm talent, athleticism, moxie, and poise. A player like Williams oozing with talent often makes fans forget that he is a rookie. And rookies make mistakes. They are often maddening, mind-numbing, and frustrating as heck. That George McCaskey is serving up a reminder that even the best rookie quarterback prospects hit bumps in the road is an important one. This is a good bit of perspective to keep. There is nothing wrong with being grounded from time to time.
More notes from Chicago Bears Chairman George McCaskey
The Patrick Finley story is a good read. And if you don’t have any big plans today, I’d encourage you to sit down with it and give the piece some of your time at some point over the weekend. In the meantime, here are some highlights I thought we worth re-sharing:
- I think this quote helps explain why George McCaskey didn’t want the HBO “Hard Knocks” cameras at Halas Hall in the first place:
“The nature of the program, the drama, if there is any, is the player personnel and the general manager and the coach building a roster and guys fighting for roster spots. In our opinion, when you tell a young man that in all likelihood his lifetime dream is over, that’s a private moment. We want to be very sensitive about it; we want to handle it tastefully and sympathetically.”
- Look … I understand that the ownership situation isn’t perfect in Chicago. But sometimes, having a team owner who isn’t a cold-hearted business tycoon whose lone focus is profitability has its perks. You know, like understanding that it is OK to allow safety Jonathan Owens to spend time watching his wife Simone Biles at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
- Chairman McCaskey shares Virginia Halas McCaskey’s expectations for the 2024 season: “She’s excited, like everybody else. She has high expectations, like everybody else.” Reading that line reminded me of when I’d go visit my grandma when she was in her late 80s and early 90s, and ask her if she was excited about the return of baseball season. Of course, it was always an emphatic claro que sÃ. In Spanish, that translates loosely to “duh.”
- McCaskey on the history of Bears quarterbacks: “We’ve all seen some very talented quarterbacks who didn’t have the help around them and who struggled as a result.” Good thing George isn’t meddling in football decisions and is giving General Manager Ryan Poles clearance to do what he deems necessary to build a winner.
- And yes, he addressed the lack of cursing in “Hard Knocks” this season:
“We understand that professional athletes swear from time to time. We wanted kids to be able to watch the show without their parents worrying. And we didn’t want to have a daytime PG version and a nighttime (one).”
I am wholly unbothered by the lack of cussing in this season of the HBO series. It hasn’t bothered me one bit. Heck, it didn’t even come up on my radar until friends in text and DM threads made a point to underscore it. I feel as if people worrying about it just want something to be upset about, which is odd behavior. Whatevs. There’s just one episode left. And I hope it is a good one.