Jim O'Donnell: Is Justin Fields prepared for Bears fans to keep falling in and out of love with him?
IT'S A PRETTY SAFE BET Justin Fields has never heard of Pure Prairie League.
That means Chicago's Latest Sports Savior isn't familiar with the band's enduring standard "Amy."
And how well the tune's concluding line has served as a concise summary of the history of the relationship between the Bears fan base and the team's starting QBs:
Fallin' in and out of love
With you
That's it. And that roller coaster of flub is freshly greased and set to go when young No. 1 is slated to make the first start of his NFL career at Cleveland Sunday (Fox, noon).
THE FANBOY MEDIA HAS had its way with the Bears quarterback "drama" for four months now.
And all that most of that panting herd has proved is that it's as compliant and straightlined as U.S. Army recruits at Fort Benning.
Hot take: No gifted young quarterback should be starting on the road in Game 3 of his pro career behind such a paper-laced offensive line as that of the current Bears.
Field Museum of Unnatural History addendum: Does anyone remember that in the nine drafts when Jim Finks was building the foundation of what became the legendary 1985 Bears, four of his top first-round picks were offensive tackles?
Four offensive tackles - two more than can start a game!
Correct prioritization!
Your exclamation point here (sponsored by Ed O'Bradovich's Class of '63)!
MEMO TO RYAN PACE: Homework for NFL drafts begins well before the next NFL draft is concluded. This ain't no fantasy league, this ain't no disco.
Fields will not walk on Lake Erie vs. the Browns.
He may be sacked into it.
He will not account for seven TDs - in any combination of running, passing or potential.
He will hopefully return to the Halas Hall manger Sunday night well enough to audible another day.
And forget about "Amy."
The best theme for his debut may be the Beatles' rubber-souled "Run For Your Life."
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Also on Madcap Matt Nagy and his minions, the Bears are early 6-point favorites over visiting Detroit next week. ...
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Early criticism of Drew Brees and his work as NBC's Notre Dame analyst is coldly premature. He hasn't been around the college game in years. (Criticism of his wacky new first-communion hairdo is inbounds.) ...
No less than Arlington Heights-spawned Dave Corzine made a rare visit to Arlington Park to bid adieu Friday. (Corzine's last time there was during the 1987 tent meet with pals Mike Smrek, Martha Cunningham and Pam Eisenberg; Monkee Davy Jones stopped by their table and reportedly asked, "Where's Ray Herr?," referencing the late, great Ide of March.) ...
Speaking of AP, absolutely impossible for track transition monitors not to note the $480M gift that Bears minority partner Pat Ryan and wife Shirley laid on Northwestern. That's the largest in the history of The Enchanted Lakefront. ...
Fremd alum Scott Tolzien (Class of '06) - winner of The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as the nation's top upperclass QB at Wisconsin in 2010 - is in his second season on the staff of Mike McCarthy's Cowboys. (Sneaking suspicion if a properly resourced parochial high school came with a head coaching offer, Tolzien might put family over NFL and take it.) ...
And from the Fighting Ill-Ouchee file: Troy Aikman, honestly surprised to see Lovie Smith's Methuselah whiskers during Thursday night's Panthers-Texans gamecast: "That just tells you how much I was watching Illinois. ... Were you?"
• Jim O'Donnell's Sports & Media column appears Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com.