Imrem: Bears' McPhee stands up to Packers' Rodgers
Bears linebacker Pernell McPhee should be Chicago's favorite professional athlete after what he said this week.
Heck, nobody else in town deserves the designation anyway.
The Bears' starting quarterback normally should be a candidate, but Jay Cutler? Uh, no, not even while he's having a decent season.
A homegrown product normally would be up for the honor, but Derrick Rose? Consider the opportunity squandered.
All those young Cubs sluggers who emerged during last season, the Kris Bryants and Kyle Schwarbers?
Well, maybe some day soon, but not yet, not until they stack a few more powerful seasons on top of 2015.
Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane? Well, you know the problem there. Hawks captain Jonathan Toews? Great player, great guy, too bland.
Chris Sale's only obstacle is he plays for the White Sox, and Jose Abreu's command of English limits his appeal.
My personal favorite was Bulls center Joakim Noah, with his attributes Chicago sports fans love, from hustle to spirit to soul.
But Noah, who also tries to solve problems in the inner city, is coming off the bench now, and embraces go only halfway around a reserve.
So despite a relatively successful sports year — the Hawks' Stanley Cup, the Cubs' emergence as a playoff team and the Bears' fun ride — teams have been more compelling than individuals.
Look out, though, because here comes Pernell McPhee.
This week, Mr. McPhee earned “all-favorite” votes by calling out Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
In recent years, Bears players handled Rodgers with care in deference to his status as the NFL's best player.
Meanwhile, Packers players were dismissive of the Bears because the NFL's oldest rivalry had tilted so far in Green Bay's direction.
Then there's the matter of pro athletes backing away from rivalries in general because they're all essentially brothers in a fraternity.
The Bears-Packers rivalry has been muted since the days when respective coaches — not to be confused with respectful coaches — Mike Ditka and Forrest Gregg — stoked the fires.
Suddenly, though, the good old days returned after the Packers beat the Bears in Week 1 and Rodgers expressed that he enjoyed beating up on the Bears.
McPhee took that comment personally, as every Bears current player, Bears alum and Bears fan should.
(By the way, they all also should be disgusted that Jim McMahon wore a Packers No. 9 jersey in Lambeau Field last week when Brett Favre's No. 4 was retired.)
McPhee — 6-feet-3, 280 pounds of NFL nasty — lashed back at Rodgers in the wake of the Bears' victory in the rematch on Thanksgiving night.
McPhee already was on the cusp of being a local favorite because of his ferocious play and because his name sounds like it should belong to a comic-strip crime fighter.
Taking on Rodgers, defending the Bears' honor, invoking the rivalry … well, this elevates Mr. McPhee to another level.
In his first season with the Bears, McPhee awakened the hyphenated echoes of Ditka-Gregg, Halas-Lombardi and Butkus-Nitschke.
As of this week, the rivalry became more than just a fan's thing in which players add, “Oh, yeah, we want to beat those guys, especially because it's a division game.”
No, fellas, you want to beat them because it's the Bears and the Packers.
Pernell McPhee, my new favorite player, sounds like he gets it, and hopefully now all his teammates will also.
mimrem@dailyherald.com