O’Donnell: Forget Dr. Seuss — Bears people can cry because it’s over
AND AS THE CHARGE OF THE LATE BRIGADE fades to lakefront silence, select takes after one of the most theatrical seasons in the history of the Chicago Bears:
Ben Johnson — He has called more complete games than he did Sunday night vs. the Rams, but so what? … Sensational first season in CHI and the hope of fans has to be that he avoids the brittle Lake Forest arc of Matt Nagy. … Is also given massive props by some around Halas Hall for protecting his locker room against non-football distractions, especially from mid-December forward.
Caleb Williams — Charismatic, telegenic and an amazing football mix of superior talent and instincts. … Has said he wants to aim toward the billionaire class of Michael Jordan and LeBron James and why not? … He, his father, Carl, and associates are better positioned than ever to shift into a higher business gear regarding more profitable client links.
Dennis Allen — Some smart football folks give him top grades for guiding a patch-worked unit to the divisional weekend. … But one Q. please: Why did he blitz Kyler Gordon on that critical LAR third-and-6 in OT? … Puka Nacua hasn't seen that kind of open space since he was rock climbing back in his native Utah.
Cole Kmet — The fear is that the St. Viator grad has played his last game as a Bear. … If Sunday night was, Kmet departs possessing a pro ledger overflowing with intelligence, class and competitiveness. … His push-off against Cobie Durant on Caleb's phenomenal tying TD toss was right out of the bright-and-brawny “Book of Ditka.”
Mike Tirico-Cris Collinsworth — Amazing how many viewers really dislike NBC's nighttime NFL tandem. … They called a solid game Sunday, although Tirico will always be Tirico, and Collinsworth is like the well-intended sociology professor whose gabbiness won't allow a student to leave his office.
Matt LaFleur — Ben Johnson will be starring in his dreams — and nightmares — for months to come. … The gauntlet has been thrown down in the GB-CHI channel to a degree unseen since Mike Ditka and Forrest Gregg. … It's odds-on that a healed Micah Parsons will show up at Packers camp wearing a “(Bleep) Ben Johnson” T-shirt.
Jordan McFadden — Security guards at 1920 Football Drive were probably still asking him for identification before Sunday night. … Then, boom-zappo, he's thrust into a most improbable start at left guard and plays like a tiger. … Has since been upgraded from a $2,000 to an $1,800 answer on revised '25 Bears “Jeopardy!” boards.
Jaquan Brisker — Representative of a Bears secondary that hit so many right notes this season. … The problem now is that there are too many unrestricted free agents in that batch and a new band of back-end brothers appears inevitable. … That's the transiting Semper Fi of the modern NFL.
Dan Campbell — The only rival coach who “owned” Johnson's inaugural Bears. … Also a fixed reminder that the Monsters went 2-4 against NFC North foes and that ain't no formula for sustained success.
The NFL's 2025-26 “Final Four” — Actually, now a “Final Three-and-a-Half” with the Bo Nix-less Broncos wishing upon a Rocky Mountain high as 4½-point home 'dogs vs. New England Sunday. … Think the league and its broadcast partners wanted more of Caleb and his Magic Crusaders right on down to a hard-rockin' Super Bowl 60?
Bears fans — Whether paying or the cozy stay-at-homes, they've always deserved more. … This season, they got a lot. … During frightening times in America, their blue-and-orange heroes provided massively welcome moments of temporary relief.
The 2025 Chicago Bears — Good. Better. Unbelievably entertaining. … The hope is that all scripts for the 2026 season are as good.
STREET-BEATIN':
Worth a look Wednesday — Maryland at Illinois (6 p.m., BTN). Brad Underwood's Illini are once again winning a lot of games before March; the upstreaming Terrapins are polishing tynamo David “Diggy” Coit, a transfer of “video game dimension,” according to the Washington Post. …
During CBS's telecast of the Bills-Broncos divisional, Tony Romo called Buffalo QB Josh Allen “Mahomes.” At $10M per season, Romo should be forgiven, like a dilettante wrapping a Porsche 917K around a tree. The two most monstrously diminishing contracts around the NFL right now are his and DeShaun Watson's cap cracker with the Browns. …
Connie Kowal reports that it was 40 years ago this week that he and John McDonough directed the first Cubs Convention. A little thing called Super Bowl XX stole the marquee. The event always had guaranteed backstage snap and sizzle when the mythic Mike Miller was beverage director down at Chicago's Hilton Towers. …
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.