Thanks a lot, Cody Parkey. I really mean it.

Thanks a lot Cody Parkey. But hear me out, I really mean it. It’s been nearly two weeks since the infamous Double Doink of 2019. The moment that our beloved Bears were weighed and found wanting. Growing up in Chicago, I learned early on that thick skin and unwavering optimism are the only things that will help you survive the very real, very angry winter weather on the Lake Shore (summer will come again). This same thick skin and unwavering optimism help us survive the long emotional winters that our sports teams insist we endure (there will be a next year). We say it often, often we say it early, and boy do we mean it! Up until 2016, as a Cubs fan, I’ve been known to fight off the nightmares by soothing myself to sleep with this phrase as early as mid-May.

The Bears haven’t been much better recently with mathematical elimination coming early in the season. I’ll never forget watching one of the last games of 2016, a classic Bears vs. Packers match up at Soldier Field with a -18℉ temperature. The decal was literally knocked off of Ka’Deem Carey’s helmet by Joe Thomas. If that’s not a picture of our season I don’t know what is, even our logo didn’t wanna stick around.

But that’s the Bears of the past. Come to the 2018 season and we are full of excitement and promise. A young promising quarterback, a young promising coach, the best defense in the league (don’t @ me), and a city that was once again fully behind the Monsters of the Midway.

Every downtown building that had lights was lit up in blue and orange, “Bear Down” shining over LSD on the Blue Cross Blue Shield building. The entire week before the game the city was buzzing. Then the kick happened. Clean snap, good hold, barely tipped, then the upright, then the crossbar, and out. The Pony Inn which moments before was the loudest place I’d been for a game in a long time, was now completely hushed. Season over, the Bears and Cody Parkey leave the field to boos and shouts of much worse.

This is what it feels like to be a Bears fan, welcome to Chicago.

Can you blame the initial reaction, though? So much expectation so quickly dashed and in such a cruel way. I’ll admit it, I vented to my wife on the way home about how Parkey, “got into his own head with all the times he’d hit the uprights this year”, and “Of course this would be the way our season ended”, and, “This is what it feels like to be a Bears fan, welcome to Chicago”.

When I first said them, I meant those things as pretty big bummers. But as the last two weeks have unfolded, my words have come back to me with a much different sentiment attached to them, pride. I’m sure you’ve seen the highlights of the kick so I’m not going to post it, but if you haven’t watched Cody Parkey’s post-game interview, you owe yourself and him a favor. Take 2 minutes right now to check it out:

What you just watched was an example of a person taking ownership of what they did at possibly the most crucial moment in his career up to this point. Clearly and unequivocally owning the circumstance for better, or in this case, worse. Being comfortable with other people holding him accountable for his actions because he holds himself accountable first.

And it didn’t stop there, as the days went on, many Bears teammates stood up for Cody, owned their piece of the defeat, and pointed to the new task at hand: building on what’s been accomplished and preparing for the next opportunity. It’s clear that Matt Nagy created a really special culture with this Bears team. One that obviously pursues excellence and is results driven but one that equally promotes ownership, healthy accountability, and trust in each others effort and ability. We still have to wait and see how successful this team is on the field, but in the darkest moment of their season, they showed that they’ve got some really important things already sorted out.

"You have one job to do."

Filling the kicking cleats of someone like Robbie Gould in a city like Chicago is a big task, especially in a position where the game often hangs on your foot and you're seen as having "one job to do.” Sure, Cody had one job to do but I don’t see it as making field goals. It’s the same job that anyone who hopes to reach the pinnacle of their field has; prepare, perform, and represent personal excellence. He did that incredibly well in the face of incredible scrutiny. That’s someone I would want on my team, something I hope to do when scrutiny comes my way, and something I hope to teach my kids someday.

So, I’ll say it again but with a lot more pride than I originally meant it.

This is what it feels like to be a Bears fan. Thanks a lot, Cody Parkey.

-Adam

P.S. as a bonus, here's a bunch of Chicagoans attempting that 43 yard field goal. Spoiler alert, it's not good.