O’Donnell: Listing only some of the ways this Bears season could get weird
WITH TRAINING CAMP AT HALAS HALL now officially up and grunting — and CBS's “Late Show” franchise headed for a bizarre extinction — borrowing a concept to present “Top Ten Things That Will Juice the 2025 Bears Season”:
No. 10 — The Bears hit their bye week 4-0 — Nothing says “break time” in the modern NFL like “getting healthy” with less than 25% of the schedule played. … Plus the Vikings, Lions (in Detroit), Cowboys and host Raiders will have a say in the McDreams of September.
No. 9 — The Bears open 0-4 — Has only happened once in the team's Wallowing 2020s and that was back when Justin Fields was running for his life in 2023. … Unbridled media angst would chew up an awful lot of Cubs' postseason coverage but would still be keenly entertaining — to a point.
No. 8 — Grady Jarrett illegally hits a Minnesota OL upside the head in the Monday night opener — The mean veteran would set quite a tone for a defense that will have to be a safety-netting constant. … With a three-year, $43.5M deal in his hip pads, the recycled Falcon could bring enough attitude to actually make Montez Sweat break a sweat.
No. 7 — Carl Williams signs with any local media outlet as a weekly Bears insider — “QB Father” has already authored the most memorable bromide of the new Chicago NFL millennium … (That would be the one about Our Town being the place “where quarterbacks go to die.”) … A regular broadcast platform might provide the edgiest analysis since Mike Ditka was critiquing his own brood.
No. 6 — Cole Kmet opens the season as No. 1 TE and stays there — Oooh, is this a quizzical topic, especially the closer the curious get to the St. Viator-Lake Barrington Shores corridor. … A team can only run so many two tight-end sets. … Kmet should be entering his pro prime and do they make athletes any smarter, tougher or more competitive?
No. 5 — All alleged “Bears experts” — broadcast, print and otherwise — quite publicly wager one week's income against the point spread on a game involving the Monsters — Winnings go to a designated charity; losses dent the exchequers and smarm of “the experts.” … There's a vast sea of babbling burnt orange-and-blue poseurs out there.
No. 4 — Rome Odunze doesn't sophomore bump — Ouch, as any reputable fantasy football player can tell you. … He projected as the 37th best wide receiver as a rookie and finished WR56. … (That's not good.) … With Colston Loveland and Luther Burden III now also in the room, his “target competition” is nastier. … He also did himself no favors with a very poor ranking in “catchable target value.” … Further fantasist jargon upon request.
No. 3 — Johnny Morris comes out of retirement to host the weekly “Ben Johnson Show” — Only if the Bears' fresh head coaching savior agrees to show up prepared to do some live segments in the memorable style of “Ditka relaxed.” … No matter how “distracted” ol' No. 89 seemed, ol' No. 47 kept matters pretty much between the wine corks. … As an interview counterpoint, Matt Eberflus was about as frothy as George McCaskey reading Dr. Seuss to a kindergarten class.
No. 2 — Bears announce a firm schedule for shovels in the ground at Hawthorne Race Course — OK, so the Arlington Park gambit will prove to be merely Dick Duchossois's Revenge. … He wanted an extended, stark, barren reminder to politicians, horsemen and all others who honked him off about what an annoyed rich man could wrought even from Beyond The Finish Line. … Hawthorne has a great location, a startling sense of ownership helplessness and is where local thoroughbred racing has gone to die.
No. 1 — Caleb Williams wins Super Bowl 60 — Pete Crow-Who? … What malaise? … What erosive organizational culture? … Who fanned on breakable beanpole Jayden Daniels in the 2024 NFL Draft? … A Williams-engineered victory in Santa Clara in February would mean riotous joy for fans, redemptive righteousness for Ryan Poles and liver for the cats.
Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.