Bears GM Emery changes frowns into smiles

Phil Emery successfully completed his first assignment.

The Bears' rookie general manager took his mood ring, waved it over the heads of local fans and calmed the civic anger he inherited from Jerry Angelo.

Is Emery's activity being confused for production? Maybe. Is change being confused for progress? Maybe.

Regardless, Emery's moves have been the means toward the end of upgrading the perception of the Bears around town. A measure of trust has been restored along with confidence, optimism and pride.

Emery earlier this week secured Matt Forte's services long term. Suddenly Michigan Avenue appeared in danger of being stomped on by a parade.

The sense is that the Bears already have a 2-0 record, the first victory being the last game of last season in head coach Lovie Smith's mind and the second being Forte's contract.

Bears fans have bought in, for now anyway. It's as if Emery plopped them down on a psychiatrist's couch and let them talk themselves into believing this is the franchise's best team since 1985, or maybe even including 1985.

Never mind that little has been done to improve a dubious offensive line, or that elements of the defense are older than Congress, or that Smith has coached the Bears to the playoffs only once in the past five seasons.

Emery has made people think that Smith is an adequate game coach, that club president Ted Phillips does actually know which end of a football is up, and that the McCaskeys really are leaves that fell from Papa Bear Halas' family tree.

During the past 48 hours one presumably sober analyst said that the Bears' offensive line is the best in the NFC North. No TV, radio or newspaper genius predicted the Bears will go 19-0 this season, but not all precincts have been heard from yet.

Reborn most remarkably, however, are Bears fans who following last season were prepared to march on Halas Hall with malicious intent.

Those same people — you people — sure are a resilient bunch. Maybe that's why Emery was so complimentary the day he was hired, when he didn't indicate any inkling that the faithful weren't all that faithful at the time.

The truth was that the new GM walked into the eye of a tornado and was responsible for managing it. The storm was forming over Lake Forest and wasn't going to pass by merely replacing the general manager.

Bears fans had run out of patience, a step beyond disappointment and a step short of apathy.

Emery was charged with being good enough at team building to prevent Bears fans from lapsing into indifference, the absolute worst condition a team can have in its customers.

It wasn't out of the question that fans were about to fall off the Bears' bus running … away from Soldier Field.

Now, though, those same people are bypassing the bus and racing toward the bandwagon.

Why? Mostly because of a new wide receiver with an erratic personal history, draft choices with all sorts of question marks attached and the signing of a running back that couldn't run away to another team anyway.

So maybe Phil Emery's assignment wasn't as difficult as I thought it was.

By the way, to not be left behind, my prediction is these revived Bears will go 19-0 and win the Super Bowl.

At least it is until the season opener on Sept. 9.

mimrem@dailyherald.com