For Chicago Bears fans, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Rick Morrisey is the equivalent of Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe. Extremely critical.
So when Morrissey unloaded a wild take about the latest injury to Bears quarterback Justin Fields and his likely absence on the backpage of Monday's issue of the Sun-Times, it was not the biggest surprise that it immediately incensed the fanbase.
The @suntimes_sports cover, featuring Tyson Bagent, who deserves a real chance to be #DaBears quarterback, by @MorrisseyCST. https://t.co/DQ6GZL0Zkl pic.twitter.com/YP18N9wT7B
— Sun-Times Sports (@suntimes_sports) October 16, 2023
Naturally, Windy City fans didn't exactly take too kindly to this, referring to backup quarterback Tyson Bagent as "The Bagent of Change", indicating that this could actually be a positive for the Bears.
This is the dumbest #Bears take you’ll see all day, and it’s the COVER of the sports section in a Chicago newspaper.
— Jacob Infante (@jacobinfante24) October 16, 2023
Journalism is dead. https://t.co/qi4KS5BgA0
"BAGENT OF CHANGE"
— Jack M Silverstein (@readjack) October 16, 2023
He lost. https://t.co/HfovbdhHmF
You got to fucking kidding me. Kid can't even throw the deep ball. Smdh. Trash article 😒 https://t.co/xR65GPq2E0
— Pepp (@lilpepp23) October 16, 2023
Bears media stokes fire with unhappy fanbase, perhaps in the wrong ways
This isn't the first time The Sun-Times angered Bears fans. Few will forget the 2006 NFC Championship Game, the last time the Bears were any form of relevant. Multiple writers picked the Bears to lose to the upstart New Orleans Saints. The final score? Chicago 39, New Orleans 14, and it was ironically, Morrissey, who had the winning story of the game.
But the reality of the situation is that the Bears organization is not in a position to fire back. They have been incompetent.
The 2010 NFC title game appearance is now nothing more than a fluke. Even 2018 was a fluke. The franchise is at the bottom of the league for a reason. They don't draft well, the players they do draft well leave quickly, and the coaches they hire are more "yes men" than actual coaches that can thrive.
The job of a newspaper columnist is to have an opinion and maybe they add a bit of hate-take material inside of it. But until the Bears actually start winning and being a competent organization, there's nothing that they can say that can deter writers and fans from lashing out on each other or at the organization as a whole. It's a complete mess and it doesn't look like anything will change.