Sell ​​the team? McCaskeys will once again fail to give Bears fans what they want most

A year ago, at the Bears’ home finale against the Falcons, the Soldier Field crowd made its voice heard: “We want Fields. We want Fields.”

The fans didn’t get their wish. The enigmatic Fields finished on a high note in front of his home crowd on December 31 – completing 20 of 32 passes for 268 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions, for a passer rating of 99.5; plus 11 carries for 45 yards and a touchdown in a convincing 37-17 victory.

But when the Bears clinched the No. 1 overall pick — something they did just minutes earlier that afternoon when the Panthers lost 26-0 to the Jaguars — Field’s fate with the Bears was all but sealed. The Bears ultimately traded Fields to the Steelers and selected Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick.

A year later, the Soldier Field crowd spoke up again in the home finale – this time in a terrible 6-3 loss to the Seahawks on Thursday night, the Bears’ 10th loss in a row: “Sell the team. Sell ​​the team.”

And once again fans will be in for a disappointment. The Bears broke with tradition this year by firing a coach in a season for the first time in franchise history, but the McCaskeys won’t sell the Bears. This requires a court order.

The fact is that the McCaskeys are more proud of owning the franchise than they are ashamed of destroying it. For her it is a family heirloom and the tarnish we see is like an attractive patina for her.

In George McCaskey’s 14 seasons as Bears chairman, the Bears are 93-134 (.410), which ranks 27th in the NFL. They are coming off a successful season (29th place) and two playoff appearances (28th place) and are one of five teams without a playoff win in that span. They have fired five head coaches and two general managers during that period. When their pride embarrasses everyone else, what else can Bears fans do? Cheering for the Lions?

In fact, in 32 seasons since the unofficial start of the McCaskey era – after George Halas’s hire Mike Ditka was fired after the 1992 season – the Bears have ranked in the NFL’s bottom 10 in almost every major measure of success. They are 231-284 (.449), which is 23rd; They have nine winning seasons (tied for 27th) and seven playoff seasons (tied for 26th). They have four playoff wins (only the Lions, Commanders and expansion Browns have fewer).

The Bears made one Super Bowl appearance in that 32-year span – they lost Super Bowl XLI to the Colts after the 2006 regular season. But half of the current NFL (16 teams) has two or more Super Bowl appearances during that time frame.

If the McCaskeys were selling anything other than an addictive product – football – with this track record, they would be out of business long ago. But making money in the NFL is like shooting fish in a barrel, with ever-increasing broadcast/media contracts (currently over $400 million per team) supporting operating revenues of $600 million per team.

The dismal loss to the Seahawks on Thursday Night Football exposed the Bears’ pathetic season to a national audience (the third time in the last month after the Thanksgiving Day loss to the Lions and a 30-12 loss to the Vikings on Monday). Night Football). Dec. 16)

As for the players, they are conditioned to block out the “outside noises” even when they hear them. Linebacker TJ Edwards said he was so engrossed in the game that he didn’t hear the call to “Sell the Team.” Williams indirectly admitted this when asked about the “frustration of this fan base.”

“This is only my first year,” Williams said. “Their frustrations go back much longer than when I was here. My job is to go out and win games.”

Changes at Halas Hall will give him a better chance to do that. But at this point, it won’t be the change Bears fans are looking for.