Windy City Gridiron
“Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.” – Ellis Redding (Shawshank Redemption)
Sunday was an emotional roller coaster.
“How are they not getting points off these turnovers?”
“Somebody tackle Ashton Jeanty!”
“Caleb is cooking!”
“They are going to lose this game, aren’t they?”
“Josh Blackwell!”
Without a doubt, Sunday is the type of game that builds character in a locker room, but it’s also the kind of win that gives a fanbase hope.
I’ve had hope with this franchise before, but I’ve been hurt before. I’ve been hurt many times.
Over the years, that hope has calloused over. I expect the worst, and the worst happens. You shrug your shoulders, and you move on with your day… your week… your life.
But every once in a while, something happens, and it files away the callousness, and hope starts to bubble up.
That win against the Raiders was certainly one that builds hope.
But, Chicago Bears, we need to have a conversation. If I do this, if I make myself vulnerable again. If I give myself hope again, you can’t crush me. You can’t give me Caleb Haine. You can’t give me Cody Parkey. You have to be nice.
No, I’m not thinking this team is winning the Super Bowl this year, but I think there’s potential to have a lot of fun as Ben Johnson spins the culture on its head at Halas Hall.
There are plenty of issues that still face this team. They don’t have a running back that can get the yards they need. Caleb Williams still has puzzling errant passes, the defense can’t rush the passer, and Jaylon Johnson is out for the year.
Those who don’t want to embrace the hope can embrace those reasons and keep their callous thick.
But others can look at this and see that Ben Johnson is starting to get this team to believe. Ben Johnson is teaching this team how to be winners. Caleb Williams is figuring this out. Caleb and Ben look like they might just be that duo. Rome Oduzne is breaking out. Luther Burden is showing promise. The offensive line looks largely functional for the first time in half a decade.
Those who want to embrace the hope have plenty of reasons to do so.
So here I am at a crossroads. Fortunately, the Bears don’t play this week, and it gives me two weeks to decide.
Should I hope? If I do, will it drive me insane?
“Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” – Andy Dufresne.
Andy is right. The hope is there. It might be calloused over, but it’s there. Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams have the file, and the callous is being worn away.
If you recall, at the end of Shawshank Redemption, as Ellis Redding was on the bus and headed to Mexico, the words he spoke still ring true today. “I hope the Bears have found a...
