R-E-l-A-X
By Brandon Duplacey
The Bears make their first round selection tonight in the 2025 NFL Draft, barring they don’t trade out of the round entirely. In recent years—and by “recent” I mean every year prior to this one—worry and anxiety are likely the most relatable feelings amongst us Bears fans. Even last season, with two top ten selections, I think we all had the same familiar sense of “how will we screw this up this year?”
We even made an adjective out of the word “Bearsy,” meaning “poor choice” for lack of a more fitting term. All that being said, I think the Chicago fan base can and should feel a whole lot more confident in the future decisions surrounding this organization.
Two years ago, the Bears hired former Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren as the new president of the Chicago Bears—a change made after an almost three-decade-long tenure of his predecessor, Ted Phillips. Along with the hire of Warren came an almost immediate change in the behavior and conviction in which Chairman George McCaskey has been making his decisions.
For the first time in over 100 years, he approved the termination of his head coach in-season—an ideal in which George was infamously known for opposing throughout his tenure. It appears as if he also gave General Manager Ryan Poles the green light in regards to spending capacity in the search for the Bears’ new head coach. For an organization pretty well known for leaving the belt tight since the day they put it on, this struck me, at least, as a big deal.
It seems as if Warren has made his way into the stubborn ear and mind of McCaskey and convinced him to do something that almost every single successful business in every single industry finds to be SOP: trust the men and women you hire to do the job in which they’re hired for.
Getting back to the coach that Ryan Poles so persistently pursued and bagged—Ben Johnson. Ben is clearly a man with a plan. He has a vision and has defined all things required in order to achieve it. Johnson didn’t just design the league’s number one offense in Detroit, he manufactured the pieces in order to make it run.
He’s been ridiculed by the mainstream media outlets for his unorthodox method of scouting and drafting the players that he desired, but what does the baseless narrative provided by mainstream media mean in any facet of life, really? Ben proved that the talent he acquired was the oil his “machine” needed in order to operate efficiently.
Which brings me back to the gist. We can all begin to allow that old familiar uneasy feeling in our stomach to subside any time the Bears face a decision with major implications. Have faith that Ben knows just what it is this team needs in order to win, and that George will allow Poles to get it for him.
No matter what the Bears do with the tenth pick, it’s safe to say there won’t be a single fan left scratching their head. Whether it be flashy, tame, unstimulating, or elating, it’s probably what’s best for the team’s future direction. That alone gives me peace of mind.
So Bears fans, as Aaron Rodgers awkwardly said on a radio spot during the Packers’ early season woes: R•E•L•A•X.
