There are people with mental issues and you feel for them, and then, there are people with mental problems who foist their mental issues on others by throwing, harming, placing others in danger as a result of their actions. These people either don’t realize they have issues, are in denial, need to be the center of attention no matter what, or they just don’t care.
The past year has been very hard on the entire world, and now, with vaccines widely available, people are starting to be able to attend restaurants and sporting events again. Over 130,000 people were at the Indianapolis 500 yesterday. Much of the joy has obviously been returning to some sense of normalcy. Unfortunately, the revelry and fandom is getting out of hand, especially in the NBA. There have been 5 incidents of unruly fans and NBA players in just the past week. The most recent incident happened during the Philadelphia 76ers-Washington Wizards playoff game at Capital One Arena Monday night. A fan ran onto the court and jumped up and touched the backboard in the third quarter. The fan was at the Wizards’ basket as they came down on offense before referees noticed the man and stopped the game. The fan was quickly tackled by a security guard and pulled off the floor before being handcuffed by police. Video footage showed the fan ran full speed down from the main grandstand past several rows of courtside seats and onto the floor within a matter of seconds. Unlike the other incidents that I will be touching on below, this moron didn’t make contact or come close to any player as he headed straight for the basket.
Maybe it’s the playoffs that is ramping up the intensity of the fans along with the obvious joy to attend in person. Still, it is troubling that there are so many incidents in such a short time. In Philadelphia, a fan threw popcorn at Wizards superstar guard Russell Westbrook; the fan was banned from the arena. In New York, a fan spit on Trae Young and was also banned. In Utah, fans who made vulgar and racist remarks to the family of Ja Morant were banned. And in Boston, a fan was arrested after throwing a bottle of water apparently at Kyrie Irving’s head.
Of course, the lack of civility by people toward others is playing a huge part, and is simple narcissism. There is a lot of talk, books, television programs asking what should be done about this, and I don’t pretend to have any answers. It should be noted that other fans are helping authorities identify these unruly people, and yes, sometimes the fans are being arrested, but it seems that the main punishment is banishment from the arena forever. In most of these instances, the laws the perpetrators are breaking are misdemeanors like disorderly conduct, or trespassing or simple battery. It feels like there should be harsher punishment, but what within the span of American jurisprudence? Maybe laws such as those being used on the January 6th members of the insurrection, but not quite as harsh?
One thing is probably lucky – today’s players and their millions have a monetary incentive to not deck these morons. Players back in the day would have just slugged fans who ran on the court, and that simple awareness that there are some big, strong men who weren’t making huge money and would just consider you a trespasser in their place of business. Can you imagine what Bill Laimbeer or Maurice Lucas or Moses Malone or Artis Gilmore would do to a fan? Or the star with the worst reputation back in the day – Bob Lanier. As my old Northwestern roommate Levi Moore reminded me on Facebook this week, l used to say that about every January, Lanier had been beaten up just about enough since the beginning of the season and opponents weren’t giving him enough respect, so Lanier would slap the hell out of some center as a warning to the rest of the league.
Those were the days…

I believe that a sports franchise, no matter the sport, no matter whether professional, amateur, college or high school is marketing itself, and it does so on two things: wins, or the imminent promise of wins, which of course lead to potential championships. It is hard work unless you have a sustainable advantage (like Notre Dame football for decades), or enough money and drive to always get the best players (Steinbrenner in the 1970s and 1980s with the Yankees, or Mike Illych who owned the Detroit Red Wings in the days before a salary cap). Teams are often lauded when successful or held responsible for failure to build a winner. The public relations winds blow and shift directions based on the perceived success or failure of personnel choices and strategies.
Which brings me to a very unusual case: the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers will always be known for its great championship teams with Gretzky, Messier, Fuhr, Kurri, Paul Coffey and others. Now, it would be expected that no team can stay on top forever, or maybe it’s the curse of having traded Wayne Gretzky to Los Angeles? Still, the passion remains; it’s Canada, so the people of Edmonton know, live and breathe hockey, and geographically, there are several natural rivals in the NHL – Calgary, Vancouver, Winnipeg and soon, Seattle.
Still, one wouldn’t think that a team would fall off a cliff for so long and not do a decent job replenishing the corps. Edmonton has been very lucky in terms of draft positions – since the 2001 NHL Draft, the Oilers have been bad enough to get the number 1 overall draft pick, usually the player with the highest potential, 4 times. In 2010, they drafted Taylor Hall, a headcase who may have finally found the right place for him in Boston, but that’s after being on the Oilers, Devils. Coyotes and Sabres. In 2011, they used the number 1 overall pick for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. He was touted as a can’t miss pick, and while he remains on the Oilers, he has never lived up to his draft pick/hype. The 2012 overall number 1 pick was Russian Nail Yakupov who was never a big factor for anyone.
The string of overall number ones ended after that. Darnell Nurse was the number 7 pick in 2013. The defenseman remains in Edmonton, but hasn’t created any waves. They struck gold twice: first with Leon Draisaitl with the number 3 pick in 2014, then grabbing the number1 overall pick in Conor McDavid in 2015. The two of them have played as expected: McDavid the fastest skater in the sport and big, with a marvelous scoring touch – the best player in the sport. Draisitl would be the main star on nearly every team except Edmonton. He can score in bunches.
In 2016, they drafted Jesse Puljujavari and the right wing has bounced back and forth between Edmonton and Finish teams. They took another right wing in 2017-Kailer Yamomoto with the 22nd pick;a defenseman Evan Bouchard with the 10th pick in 2018; another defenseman, Philip Broberg from Sweden with the 8th pick in 2019; and Wisconsin center Dylan Holloway with pick 14 in the last draft. Of course, it takes time for players to develop, so the players from 2016 on can still be considered to have a big upside.
Why all of the attention on Edmonton? Simply, when you have two of the brightest stars in the league, one would expect some playoff success. Last season, the Oilers lost to my Blackhawks in the play-in round, a big upset we thought at the time. This season, the Oilers had a fine season in the Northern/Canadian division forced by Covid-19. In the playoffs, they regressed again, getting swept by Winnipeg in the first round of this year’s playoffs. The straw that broke the camels back was in game 3, up 4-1 with nine minutes left in the game and the Jets skated around, through and over the Oilers, coming back to tie the game in regulation and win quickly in overtime. Last night, they lost the last game, in 3 OTs granted, but they looked as though they already lost.
What is it then? Is it lack of talent after the Big Two? Partly – see the draft history above and there were no lower round picks that standout either. I think we have to question the team’s heart. The Oilers brought in Stanley Cup winning coach Ken Hitchcock in 2019 who blamed the team for lack of effort and returned to retirement. There is a huge difference between regular season hockey and the playoffs. The wide-open style of play and tight refereeing allows the Big Two to run free and score lots of goals in the regular season. Defenses tighten significantly in the playoffs and referee whistles get put away at playoff time.
Where are the other front liners? Other than the Big Two and occasionally Nugent-Hopkins, does anyone outside of Edmonton even know who these guys are? Nurse remains on the team along with several of the high draft choices listed above including Yamamoto, and Bouchard, but none of them make a big splash. The Oilers are wasting the prime years of two of hockey’s biggest stars; how long will they want to play for a team with no grit? Even though there’s not much to do other than watch hockey in Edmonton, eventually the fans are going to get riled, especially the older fans who were around for the glory years.
Should the coach and GM get fired? That’s the easy way out but this team as constructed could probably be coached by Scotty Bowman and not win. Former Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck used to sit and watch the Cubs late in his life from the center field bleachers. He was asked one day by a reporter what would he do if he owned the Cubs? Veeck said, “I’d build a lot of driveways at Wrigley Field.” Seeing the perplexed look on the writer’s face, Veeck continued “so I can back up the truck.” I think that’s what it will take to turn the Oilers around – new coach? Probably. New GM? Definitely, but it can’t stop there. Players have to be held accountable for the lack of playoff success. Other than McDavid and Draisaitl, everyone is available (and even Draisaitl would be available for a huge return). Time to instill some toughness in Edmonton and one of the ways to do it is to identify the mentally weak players and start the rebuild process. Before it’s too late.

By now, everyone should know that Washington Capitals’ forward Tom Wilson in a goon for the 21st Century NHL. Wilson has been suspended for seven games this season for boarding Bruins’ defenseman Brandon Carlo, who had to be hospitalized afterward. This was the 27-year-olds fifth suspension in his eight-year career. In Monday’s 6-3 Capitals win over the Rangers, there was a scrum in front of the net in the second period. Ranger winger Pavel Buchnevich was face down on the ice and Wilson was punching the downed man on the ice several times. Rangers Ryan Strome and Artemi Panerin came in to pull Wilson off Buchnevich and Wilson pulled Panerin’s hair to pull him to the ice, hit him in the face, then grabbed him by the jersey and slammed him to the ice again. Panerin, one of the league’s best scorers and biggest stars will miss the rest of the season (only 5 games, but still…)
Wilson received a double minor for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct, ending his evening. George Parros, a former goon himself who is now in charge of player safety gave Wilson a $5,000 fine, the most allowed under the league’s collective bargaining agreement. No suspension, no missed games, just a slap on the wrist. As one would expect, the Rangers were pissed about the chain of events and under the schedule for this pandemic season, the Caps and Rangers met again last night. It looked like the film “Slap Shot” – one second into the game, the forwards from each team were fighting. Brendon Smith went after Wilson the first time he touched the ice – 50 seconds into the first period. Some measure of revenge was dished out since Wilson did not finish the game with an “upper body injury.” Of course, there wouldn’t have been the melee if Parros had done his job and suspended Wilson for at least the rest of the season. The Capitals are in the playoffs; the games have meaning only for seeding – Wilson should have had to take a seat for at least that long, if not a 20 or 30 game suspension stretching into the playoffs and perhaps the start of next season.
But it wasn’t over. The Rangers issues a statement calling the soft penalty from Parros a “dereliction of duty” and that Parros is “unfit to continue in his current role.” Then, goofy New York Rangers/Knicks owner James Dolan fired president John Davidson and GM Jeff Gorton. The team said that it was not on account of the statement, but the duo had put together a good young team that will miss the playoffs, but mostly because of a rough start to the season and Panerin missing 10 games settling personal issues related to supposedly hitting a woman in a Russian bar several years before. (It should be noted that it was a coach who went to the press and just after Panerin had comments in support of Vladimir Putin’s political rival.) So, if it wasn’t the statement, what was it?
Then, NHL Commissioner Gary “The Count” Bettman had to remind everyone of what a thin skin he and the league office have. Bettman levied a $250,000 fine on the Rangers and said in a statement “Public comments of the nature issued by the Rangers that were personal in nature and demeaning of a League executive will not be tolerated. While we don’t expect our Clubs to agree with every decision rendered by the Department of Player Safety, the extent to which the Rangers expressed their disagreement was unacceptable. It is terribly unfair to question Goerge Parros’ professionalism and dedication to his role and the Department of Player Safety.”
Bettman is throwing a hissy-fit only because the Rangers statement was public. I, for one, blame Parros for failing to suspend Wilson; first, he failed to protect Panerin, one of the game’s biggest stars and the face of the franchise in the biggest market in the country. Also, by not suspending Wilson, everyone in hockey knew that last night’s game was going to be a donnybrook. Wilson was hurt (maybe) but all the other players are subject to injury having to get revenge because the league refused to do so.
Parros was an enforcer, he knew what was going to happen. Maybe he would have suspended Wilson if the referees in Monday’s game hadn’t given him the double minors and 10-minute misconduct. Still, he failed, and for Gary Bettman and the NHL office, the truth hurts.

I admit that, as a Northwestern alum and fan, there’s this presumption that the university is cleaner than other schools. Cheat less that the rest of the Big Ten, not to mention conferences like the SEC, which has a reputation (often appropriate) for being lawless NCAA rules breakers as they bring in great athletes who shouldn’t be in college, or only plan to stay for a year or two. Let’s not even mention payments under the table or entrance scandals.
However, NU has had gambling and throwing games, a football player dying at summer practice. We have to be honest in saying that there are things we don’t know about every college and university programs; maybe there aren’t headline grabbing/NCAA death penalty threatening violations. Can any school say that they don’t violate the small, technical rules of the huge NCAA requirements? I didn’t see any involvement in the entrance for cash scandal that has sent famous actors to prison for short periods but that doesn’t mean that there was none.
As bad as all that is, can Northwestern have made a bigger blunder than in the search for the replacement for former Athletic Director Jim Phillips who has left to become the Commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Phillips’ left big shoes to fill: he did a great job in supporting the football team as it got better, the basketball teams more interesting (the men for one season). and keeping the women’s lacrosse team as a national power.
However, all apparently was not as clean as portrayed. There was a party held sometime last year and this past January, a cheerleader sued the university for having the cheerleaders sexually exploited and harassed at a party held for major donors and boosters.
This didn’t seem to be a major concern as the university held a search for a new Athletic Director, but maybe it did because unlike other searches, this search was conducted under very tight security. Maybe that was necessary because the school selected Mike Polisky, who has been a deputy AD for external affairs (make your pun here) since 2011. Polisky is one of four defendants along with the university in the suit filed by cheerleader Hayden Richardson. Polisky was reportedly dismissive of her complaints about unwanted touching and comments from the men at the party. Besides being dismissive, Polisky reportedly accused her of fabricating evidence.
In February after the suit was filed, 80 female faculty members sent a letter to University President Morton Schapiro, Provost Kathleen Hagerty and other officials in February demanding greater transparency concerning the investigation into the allegations. When it was announced that Polisky was chosen as the new AD, eight of the signers of the original letter submitted a new letter to
Provost Hagerty protesting Polisky’s promotion. The letter demands greater transparency into the hiring, and they’re planning to march Friday afternoon from campus to President Schapiro’s home. Schapiro is also wrapping up his time as university president and I would think this is Schapiro’s worst nightmare.
The letter states, “we are alarmed by this decision and, indeed, embarrassed on behalf of the university. We believe that, at the very least, before Polisky is formally hired, the university must commission and make public an independent, transparent, third-party investigation that demonstrates that Polisky performed his legally mandated duties and acted with integrity when addressing the concerns of the cheerleaders and their allies.”
Of course, the monolithic university is supporting its actions; Northwestern has filed a motion to dismiss “most of the complaint, including the individual defendants,” a university spokesperson told the Chicago Tribune this past weekend. “The university has reviewed the complaint and denies that Northwestern violated any law, including Title IX.”
Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, a political science professor and the Crown chair of Middle East studies, signed both letters and was interviewed by the Tribune. “Where are the facts and where is the evidence they’re basing this (hire) on? They owe us transparency. I think there’s a lot of disappointment. We want to make clear we’re not going to lie down and they can’t continually push women and people of color to the side.”
At least three members of the university search committee have expressed displeasure and multiple members of the board of trustees also are dismayed about the hire, according to sources talking to the Tribune. They have not received an explanation about the reasons for hiring Polisky or an update on the status of the investigation or the lawsuit, sources said. Sources described the search process as closed-door, muddled, frustrating and led by a “good ol’ boys” university network.
This does not surprise me one bit. Back when I was at Northwestern, campus police came to break up a party at a dorm. The party was over, we had abided by the rules of the dorm, but there was a large group of students of color and the dorm president freaked out and called the police. They were out of line, since all of the people milling in the lobby of the dorm were NU students, chatting before going beck to their rooms. I wrote a letter that was published in the Daily Northwestern newspaper complaining and I was called to a meeting with the then provost basically saying “this is not a big deal; we will handle this.” Northwestern, as an elite university often acts as though the leadership are beyond reproach. There is no question whatsoever that Polisky is too tainted to get the AD job. The search should be restarted and be openly transparent to faculty, athletes, students, and parents. The university and the athletic department are not beyond reproach.

Ever since White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf overruled everyone and hired 76-year-old, previously retired, Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa to manage his young team burgeoning with young stars, fans and the press have been skeptical. Concerns about baseball having passed him by since he hadn’t managed in 9 years were voiced. Despite the fact that he is fluent in Spanish, important for a team with so many Latin players, could La Russa relate to these young players? Reinsdorf is making up for his great regret, letting then GM Ken Harrelson fire La Russa in 1984 then go on to a Hall of Fame career managing the A’s and Cardinals. These same critics said that the 85-year-old owner was thinking with his heart, not his head. At first, the Sox had to deal with La Russa being stopped for a DUI in Florida in February at which time La Russa asked the police if they knew who he was. Then the season started and the critics’ concerns are becoming loud here in Chicago.
Managers are supposed to help teams win by making right decisions. Of course, the decisions are based on the players doing what they are supposed to do on the field. Most pundits say that a manager makes a real difference in 5-10 wins per season, which isn’t many in a 162 game year. However, those few games could make the difference in making the playoffs or playoff position. Already, La Russa has cost them three games. On April 27th, the senior citizen said that he was unaware that starter Lucas Giolito was tiring and he left his in too long, leading to a big inning for the visiting Tigers who won 5-2. In another game, he chose not to pinch-hit for weak hitting Billy Hamilton, trailing by three runs with two on and two out because he “was looking for a single.”
Yesterday however, La Russa made an error because he didn’t know the rulebook. To be fair, all of the new rules in baseball have changed the game substantially, and I don’t even know all of the rules. However, some one should have known. La Russa had closer Liam Hendriks be the runner on second base at the start of the inning, believing whoever was in the last spot in the batting order the previous inning was the designated baserunner. That was correct. But what La Russa didn’t know was another part of the rule states if that player is a pitcher, the manager can place the player preceding him in the batting order in this case, José Abreu on second.
Now, Abreu is no speed merchant and may not have scored in the 10th inning either, but it would have given the Sox a better chance to win a game they ended up losing 1-0 to the Reds in 10 innings.
To be fair, La Russa accepted his mistake. When The Athletic’s James Fegan asked La Russa after the game why he didn’t use Abreu as the runner instead of Hendriks. “Well, I didn’t know that,” La Russa replied. “We all thought Liam was going to be the runner, and that’s how I wanted it because if you want to double switch, you keep him in the game. … I wasn’t aware that Abreu could have run. I thought it had to be the guy who made the last out with that spot in the order.” However, it is not all the manager’s fault – where were the other coaches and front office people who could have informed La Russa of how the rule works.
Everyone is looking for signs that La Russa has lost the clubhouse, which would be the death knell for his tenure since this team is a legitimate World Series contender, but two of the veterans with the most clout – Abreu and pitcher Dallas Keuchel have been very upfront with their support of the manager, but how long will this last?
I thought that the jury was out on LaRussa – his Hall of Fame record and numerous World Series wins gives him the benefit of the doubt, and the White Sox are 16-13 in second place 0.5 games behind Cleveland and just ahead of the early surprise, the Kansas City Royal. Add two young stars out: Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert injured for extended periods, the young team has fared pretty well.
But the seat under Tony La Russa is warm, except in the one place that counts, the owner’s office.

The first round of the NFL Draft was already must-see TV. There were five terrific quarterbacks in play; it remains a deep draft for wide receivers. Hope springs eternal, aided by vaccinated fans, players and league officials who could actually participate live in the draft frenzy. Earlier in the afternoon however, another bombshell hit the league and potentially altered the draft: ESPN reported that reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers told various Packer management that he no longer wants to play for the Packers.
This was a league shattering announcement and I think, completely calculated by Rodgers. Last season, the Packers traded up to draft Jordan Love without notifying Rodgers at the 2020 Draft; now Rodgers was making his own noise on draft day at the expense of the Packers. Adding to that, Rodgers is still hurt over Head Coach Matt LeFluer taking the ball out of his hands late in the NFC Championship Game against eventual Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay by going for a field goal at the Buccaneers’ 8 yard-line. A TD and two point conversion and OT decides the game. Instead, after the field goal cut the lead to 5 points, Tom Brady eat up the remainder of the clock and Packer time outs to go to the Super Bowl. (A contestant on Jeopardy! Couldn’t answer a Final Jeopardy question so he made a comment about going for a field goal. Rodgers chuckled, but was there a little anger in that?)
ESPN and the NFL Network exploded with the news – the MVP was available, a historic proposition. The only two times an NFL MVP did not play for the same team the year after winning the award was due to retirement – Norm Van Brocklin and Jim Brown. This was no retirement – Rodgers still has plenty in the tank and other than plans to host Jeopardy! In the future, Rodgers became the hottest available QB in the NFL. A proven superstar, no need to be groomed like the draftees.
It has been rumored that the 49ers offered the number 3 overall pick along with other picks and perhaps players to Green Bay for Rodgers. This would make sense since Rodgers is from California and made numerous references to his alma mater, the University of California, Berkley on the game show, leading to some very funny “Go Bears” comments (Certainly not the Chicago Bears of course.)
The Packers say that they have no interest in trading Rodgers but they may have no choice. Rodgers is a bit of an iconoclast. He has not spoken to his parents in years. Long time relationships with movie star Olivia Munn and NASCAR race driver Danika Patrick before being suddenly engaged to actor Shalene Woodley. He has probably made enough money to retire, but then the Packers lose him for nothing. The best thing they could do is trade him to a West Coast AFC team like Vegas or Denver and let the Jordan Love era begin.
I think that Aaron Rodgers may be the best quarterback to ever play. He not only throws touchdowns by the bunch, but he has the lowest interception percentage in NFL history. Only a poor supporting cast on offense and mediocre defenses have kept Rodgers from winning more than one Super Bowl. Like Rodgers’ predecessor Brett Favre, as a Bear fan had to appreciate the quality of the QB play despite it being for our most hated rival. (Of course, besides the opioid addiction, sexting pictures of his member to a female sportswriter who was not interested in him, Favre’s friendship with Donald Trump and his insensitivity toward athletes protesting injustice shows that Favre is a loud mouthed good old boy who may have taken too many shots to the head.)
As a Bear fan, we know that there is no way that the Packers will let Rodgers play in Chicago. Rodgers would love it from a revenge standpoint, but the Packer faithful remember the sight of Favre in a purple Minnesota Vikings uniform. However, it is amusing to watch the soap opera going on in Wisconsin. In this case, the Packer front office has no one to blame but themselves. They can’t blame an insane owner like Jerry Jones or Bob Kraft.
It is fun to watch.

I guess there’s no motivation greater than keeping one’s job. Most Bear fans, myself included, wanted CEO George McCaskey to back up the truck and fired GM Ryan Pace and Head Coach Matt Nagy. Two underwhelming 8-8 seasons after having posted a 12-4 record made the fans restless, if not outright hostile. The blame was easy – giving up too much to move up one spot in the 2017 draft to take Mitchell Trubisky and passing over Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes. Trubisky is a serviceable backup, not the savior he was touted to be and finally, the Bears refused his fifth-year option and let him become a free agent. He will be backing up Josh Allen under center in Buffalo.
Despite signing Andy Dalton in the offseason, the QB position had only the castoff and Nick Foles who had been brought in last offseason to push Trubisky with his usual inconsistent results. There were five top quarterbacks coming into the draft and it was possible that all of them would go in the first 10 picks. The Bears, picking at 20, had already attempted to acquire Russell Wilson after the Seattle QB gave a list of teams he would be interested in playing for, that included, surprisingly, the Bears. I am sure that Pace was on the phone with Houston inquiring what it would take to get Watson, who also wanted out (of course, the numerous sexual allegations made by women at massage parlors saved the Bears huge embarrassment). Still, it looked like no one would give up a high pick to give to the Bears, since the 20th pick is not that attractive. Hope was nowhere to be found.
So, the first round of the draft was last night and as expected, Trevor Lawrence went with the first pick to Jacksonville; BYU’s Zach Wilson went to the Jets. That left the 49ers, who traded up to get this pick. They took Trey Lance, a bit of a reach, but you can see a bit of Mahomes in him (including the biracial family and similar appearance). Were the Falcons ready to let Matt Ryan go? No. The Bengals already have Joe Barrow, so they weren’t going to get a QB. Same with the Dolphins with Tua Tagovailoa. The Lions just picked up Carson Wentz, so no QB need there. The Panthers were interesting; they were in the market for a QB early, but just acquired Sam Darnold from the Jets and traded Teddy Bridgewater to Denver. With Bridgewater, the Broncos no longer needed a QB with the number 9 pick. Same with the Eagles who traded Wentz to give the ball to second year QB Jalen Hurts.
That left the Giants at number 11. Justin Fields and Alabama’s Mac Jones were still on the board. The Bears traded their number 20 pick, the first round pick next year, a fourth rounder in 2022 and a fifth round pick later in the 2021 draft. As I have written often, a sports franchise is selling one of two things – wins and if not wins, hopes for future wins. Pace knew this was his last chance with the Bears – a mediocre team with a 33-year-old former Pro Bowl caliber QB who is now just a backup was not going to win, and there was little hope for the future since Dalton is on a 1-year deal.
Something was up. There were two QBs on the board – Justin Fields, athletic, strong arm, just led Ohio State to the College Football Championship Game; and Mac Jones who was the QB on the Alabama Championship Team. Jones is a solid, but unexciting pick. He is immobile but makes good reads, however, considering the amount of talent Jones had on offense, the Crimson Tide could have won with Mitch Trubisky.
Now, I was nervous. I felt that the 2017 showed racial bias on the part of the league scouting apparatus and of the Chicago Bears. Trubisky was listed as the number one QB by the scouts, but Pace never even spoke with Watson (he did reportedly speak to Mahomes). How can you not even speak to a QB who had led his team to two national championship games and one win? That to me was the question that no one answered. Watson went on to be one of the best players in the league and both he and Mahomes tried to exact revenge on the Bears in games at Soldier Field (Mahomes was successful, his Chiefs thoroughly beat the Bears and Mahomes counted the number 13 on his fingers after a touchdown, the draft pick the Chiefs traded up to get him; Watson’s Texans were a dumpster fire by that point in last season).
What would the Bears do? Take the safe, white QB or take a chance on an African-American QB with excitement? Maybe I was too sensitive injecting race into the 2017 decision, but I couldn’t shake the worry. As we all know now, the Bears chose Fields over Jones (who still had a good night, falling to number 15 and being taken by the Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots). Now, the Bears can sell hope again.