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The Chicago Bears went through the 2025 NFL trade deadline without making any major moves, much to the dismay of Rome Odunze’s father, James. The frustrated parent made a lot of noise, directly asking for his son to be moved by the deadline, which the second-year receiver shrugged off.
James Odunze’s comments came after Rome caught none of his three targets during the Bears’ 47-42 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Rome Odunze offered a response to his father’s widely reported comments by making it clear that he does not feel the same way.
“I don’t make a big deal out of it,” Odunze said, via Dan Wiederer of ‘The Athletic.’ “Obviously, he has his opinions and I have mine, and he feels like he needs to voice those things on social media. That’s his prerogative. But he speaks for himself. I speak for myself… At the end of the day, he’s a Rome fan. He’s in full support of Rome Odunze, so that’s first and foremost for him.”
Odunze also made it clear that he does not want to leave the Bears. The 23-year-old is currently leading the team in targets, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, and is tied for the team lead with 31 catches.
Although Week 9 was an anomaly, Odunze has fewer than 35 receiving yards in three of his last four games. He is likely in for a rebound in Week 10, when the Bears host the 2-7 New York Giants.
While many relatives have made cryptic comments about players before, James Odunze hardly attempted to hide his thoughts from the Bears. The father is evidently not satisfied with his son leading the team in receiving in his second year.
James Odunze initially turned heads when he tweeted his son’s stat line on Monday, one day before the deadline. He not-so-subtly included the “catchable target” stat, highlighting his belief that Rome was being under-utilized.
Rome Odunze
Targets:59
Catchable targets:37
Receptions:31
Reception for 1st downs:27 (87%)
Drop:3 (8.3%)
TD:5
Yards:473STATS OVER NARRATIVES
— JAMES ODUNZE (@JamesOdunze) November 3, 2025
He then responded to a tweet from a different fan asking Rome to be traded to “a team that will actually throw to him” in apparent agreement.
Rome, of course, has sat on the fence as the line between his personal and professional lives begins to blur. The Bears were not as subtle and indirectly responded to James’ comments with a Week 9 highlight reel of Rome Odunze’s comments while he was mic’d up.
The video showed Odunze celebrating with his teammates after their multiple scores in a game he caught zero passes, with the caption, “Selfless.”
Selfless. pic.twitter.com/nmwwNMJuqY
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) November 5, 2025
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