My Goodbye Tribute to Justin Fields

There were a lot of things that happened over the weekend in the sports world. The Bears’ trade for Keenan Allen was just the start of some awesomely enjoyable moments. Conference tournaments wrapped up in basketball, including very few number 1 seeds making winning it all. The March Madness bracket was chosen, which included my Alma Mater Samford University making it to the tournament for the first time since 2000. Scottie Scheffler completed the largest comeback in Players Championship history and became the first ever back-to-back champion.

One thing that happened over the weekend was heavy enough to put a little damper on all of that for Bears fans: Justin Fields was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was a blow that I had been expecting, preparing for both emotionally and mentally. However, it still hit harder than expected. My Twitter timeline was filled with highlights from Fields’ tenure as a Bear, highlights from Caleb Williams, tributes to Justin and goodbyes from many current Bears players. It is the end of a very short but very fun era that will not be forgotten.

I think if you ask any Bears fan, they will tell you that that surprise trade up to the 11th overall pick to nab Fields was one of the more electric and exciting moments in Bears recent history. The number of videos I saw that day were incredible. I remember exactly where I was: at Truist Park in Atlanta watching the Cubs take on the Braves. I was eagerly watching the draft, not only wondering what the Bears would do with their first pick, but also just enjoying the NFL draft. I remember the feeling of shock and excitement when I got word that the Bears had traded up, and many more butterflies when I realized what that might mean: Justin Fields is becoming a Chicago Bear. When they announced his name, I yelled out in joy, high fiving several of the fellow Cubs/Bears fans I was sitting around. That was a special moment, and it turned out to be just one of a ton that he would provide for me over the next three years.

The next moment I remember of Fields was the first game of the year on Primetime against the Rams. Andy Dalton was still the starter at that point, but the Bears brought Fields on once they got close to the end zone. They designed a QB power for Fields to the right and he ran in his first touchdown of his NFL career. That was after Dalton had already thrown an interception in the redzone earlier that game.

He ended up having many awesome highlights his first year. The main one I remember was that run against the 49ers. You know the exact play I’m talking about. 4th and 1 at about the 30-yard line. Fields was either doing a designed boot run to the right or play action boot to the right, but either way was stuffed by the 49ers defense.  I remember immediately being frustrated at the play call and almost turning away from the TV. This was the play that taught me that you just never know what magic Fields would produce. He cut back hard to the left and juked several players out on his way to the end zone. Soldier Field was as loud as I had heard it, but it would get louder later in Justin’s career.

Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace were both fired after Fields’ rookie season, meaning Matt Eberflus and Ryan Poles would be coming in to take over. This was my favorite year of watching Justin Fields. The Bears were in absolute tank mode, but Eberflus and Luke Getsy were figuring out how electric Fields was as a runner. He almost broke the record for most rushing yards in a season and in a game by a quarterback. He had several breakout runs and was the Bears entire offense in that big rebuilding year. The Bears turned into one of the highest scoring offenses in the league because of Fields rushing in 2022.

There are several that I remember well: His 60-yard run against the Packers at Soldier Fields to put the Bears up 10. His 2nd and 29 run against the Eagles where he was pretty much sacked and then somehow ended up almost in the endzone. The game he had against Miami where Mike McDaniel had to ask him to stop running the ball. It just seemed like every game he was breaking off a 40, 50, and sometimes 60-yard run to the house. The Bears were not a good football team in 2022, but that was the first team in a while that I was genuinely excited to watch. And that was solely because of Fields.

2023 was a year of frustrations as Bears fans. Poles traded the number 1 pick to the Panthers for DJ Moore and a few picks (including the number 1 pick this year) and expectations were a lot higher. Many people expected Justin Fields to take the leap that Josh Allen or Jalen Hurts did year three. In ways, he did that. However, he had to struggle with some awful play calling on the offensive end, plus a thumb injury that kept him out multiple weeks. He didn’t take the steps Bears fans wanted, but he showed many signs of improvement in 2023.

The game he had against the Broncos, which was his first 300-yard passing game, was awesome. The Bears didn’t end up winning that one, but it was such a fun game to watch. I loved the game against the Commanders this year, where Getsy showed faith in Fields to finish the game with his arm and DJ Moore’s hands. I wish Getsy had stuck with that plan. I got to travel to Minnesota to watch the Bears-Vikings Monday Night Football game, which was a highlight just because I got to see the team I love play in person. Of course, that was a horrible game with 0 touchdowns, but it was still awesome. The Bears game against the Lions where Fields drew the defense offsides and hit DJ Moore for a 40 yard touchdown bomb. The game against the Browns where Fields played very well against the NFL’s best defense and shrugged off one of the best defenders in the game, Myles Garrett, before escaping to find Cole Kmet in the endzone.

And then, there was his last game at Soldier Field. This one was special for so many reasons. Fields found DJ Moore on several occasions that game with some incredible throws, including one for a touchdown. Fields also rushed for almost 100 yards and a touchdown, which included yet another magical escape of a sack. The game ended 37-17, and chants of “We want Fields,” rang around Soldier Field. It felt like the first time in a while where all of Chicago was united around Fields. There was so much hope there, but it all unfortunately faded away the next weekend.

One of the biggest talking points in Fields’ Bears career was that he didn’t beat the Packers. There was a lot of thought amongst Bears fans that if Justin could beat the Packers in week 17 and knock the Packers out of the playoffs, it would be the icing on the cake for keeping Fields and making him a Bear for life. However, we saw struggles in that game, as well as the usual horrible play calling and horrible ignored roughing the passer calls against Fields. It was the end that no one wanted, and the offseason of rumors ran through several months until finally Fields was traded last week.

I feel for Fields. He was loved by the whole city and all his teammates. He was drafted into a team that immediately went into a rebuilding year, declared not the starter and then thrown into the starting role against the best defense in the league. He had injuries throughout his career that were just unlucky. His offensive line has never been very good and when the Bears were one of the best offenses in the league, their defense continued to let him down. He played year two with only Darnell Mooney as the WR1 and Chase Claypool for a little bit. The Bears got DJ Moore who was awesome and clearly very helpful to Fields in the passing game, but that was about the only help he got. It also didn’t help that he was seemingly targeted with roughing the passers and late hits by defenses all the time at least twice a game. Players were simply not holding back by the end of his time as a Bear and the NFL should face some kind of consequences for that. Plus, he had an offensive coordinator who only wanted to throw screen passes and never wanted to use his best players. Plus, the coach who drafted him was fired after Fields’ first year.

All that to say, the Chicago Bears failed Justin Fields. Poles and Eberflus are now going down the path of correcting their mistakes for Caleb Williams, who will come into this Bears team with the best options any rookie quarterback has had in a while. But that doesn’t change the fact that the Bears failed Justin Fields. I will always believe that if he gets backed with an offensive line and weapon, he will look better than Jalen Hurts. The best thing the Bears did for Fields was trading him to a team with a veteran starting quarterback who has struggled the last two years to give him the opportunity to go take that starting role and never get it back. And mark my words, he will take that starting role very quickly.

Justin Fields is not Mac Jones. Justin Fields is not Zac Wilson. Anyone who has ever watched football knows that this guy is levels above backup quarterbacks and should be a starter no matter what. However, the media’s coverage of him was diabolical from the start. Fields deserves the absolute best in Pittsburgh. I will always be a Fields fan, and I will always root for him. I hope that this move is the right for both the Bears and Fields to be successful in the future. I hope Fields becomes MVP of the league and knocks Mahomes off his perch to go to the Super Bowl with Pittsburgh. I just hope he’s not playing against the Bears, and if he is, I’ll have to cheer against him for the first time in my life.

Justin Fields deserved better in Chicago. I will always remember his time there and he will be one of my favorite players. It’s always hard to see your favorite players not work out, but I hope he works out for the Steelers. I will wear his jersey proudly around Chicago, while I am at games or while I am watching games on tv. And I will certainly still be a Bears fan and will love Caleb Williams. But man, it’s going to be tough seeing Justin Fields in the black and yellow of Pittsburgh.