None of us imagined him referring to fans as sheep, refusing to talk to the press and shake another teams hand after a loss. Those were all real things that he did. He didn't merely hug his mother. He ran into the stands to cry in her bosom b/c his team played like shit. When he was asked about it after the game he said he wanted to go home to cuddle with his doggie.
Does this strike you as normal behavior? Strikes me as bizarre and certainly not the conduct you'd expect or want from someone you're investing millions in to lead a team of athletes in a billion-dollar franchise. But maybe I'm wrong and he's a fantastic leader. I can imagine a scenario where the linemen rally behind him, applauding his display of vulnerability - look at our qb boys, hugging his mommy with painted finger nails and having a healthy cry after a tough loss. How brave, let's block hard for him next week.
If the OL was bad, fine. If the OL didn't block for him, I'm supposing their own draft prospects would need to be questioned as well should they have NFL ambition? At least you're presenting your case differently than "he seems like he's something I don't like, so he's going to be bad because me no likey."
Wendy’s, Beats, Dr. Pepper, United Airlines, PlayStation, Alo, Neutrogena and others have hedged their bets on him. Ryan Poles seems to be doing it as well, hiring offensive coaches who quite honestly I am stunned would come to the lowly Bears unless they thought they were going to be able to parlay it into head coach and coordinator jobs. It would appear that these professionals are stacking their coaching staff and roster to roll the dice on this particular player.
He's 21 and has acted like a regular 21 year old, which he is not afforded to do. It's up to Ryan Poles to determine if he thinks this guy is going to be like this when he's 25 or not. He's done immature things for someone in the public eye who was a millionaire before he was able to legally purchase alcohol. Bears fans are acting like this number one pick is a giant box of herpes. I find that bizarre. The talent is there. Mentally, this is not a 32 year old Pro Bowler, and few coming out of college other than Peyton Manning generally have been. Andrew Luck had his shit together too, I guess. Jay Cutler was an adult asshole. There's the bar maybe?
The sheep quote has been used by world leaders past and present. He said this because some ND fan who rushed the field talked shit to him. He shouldn't have even addressed it. No animals or children were harmed. Can't say the same for the animals depending on the nail polish he uses.
Skipped media after the UCLA game. I don't recall him skipping media after any other games. Showed up at Combine and first question was from a very nice reporter asking him if he's "afraid to compete." Combine media did enough for him for people to draw their own conclusions. He'll interview with the handful of teams in position to draft him and they can make their own decision.
Not shaking hands after losing to Utah is on him. I believe this was the only time he did this, much like skipping media after UCLA, but as a Heisman Trophy winner and likely number one pick he's obviously got to do better here. Do the song and dance after the game. Nobody cares if you do, but when you don't, people notice.
To this point no drugs, no guns, no homicides, no pregnant strippers. Just a high profile athlete that didn't make the most appropriate decisions after losses during a frustrating season. All of it can be corrected, and some people believe this is who he is going to be forever, while others are going to risk that by 25 years of age he's something different than what he is now. That's life, and that's what being a GM is about. I agree there is an element of risk involved, but at this point the Bears have not been in the position of having the number one pick, haven't won a Super Bowl in nearly 40 years and still probably have to claim Sid Fucking Luckman as their best QB. I think Poles should draft him, and I think he will.
Recruits, parents and high school coaches may want to take note at the Lincoln Riley ship is another takeaway I'm getting from 2023. That's another topic.
