Former Chicago Bears tight end Martellus Bennett is known to often have something very insightful to say, and never being shy to say it. We’ve had several exclusives with Bennett on this site, and I would strongly suggest reading them and seeing his point of view. Bennett made some Tweets (I’m sorry, “postings on X”) last month that perfectly summated the futility of the Chicago Bears franchise.
During my recent appearance on WGN News Now, host Larry Hawley asked me which local team has the best chance of competing for a championship again, any time soon? He knew I was going to say the Cubs, because it’s the only way that you can answer that question right now.
The question is who are the bears of tomorrow? We’re always pitched the bears of yesterday. What are the plans of the future? The lack of creativity is astonishing. Yesterday ain’t winning today.
— Martellus Bennett (@MartysaurusRex) November 19, 2023
It’s definitely not the Bears, for several reasons, and Bennett hit the nail on the head as to why.
“Bears ownership lacks futurism,” Bennett Tweeted. “The entire business model is built on selling the past. The 85 bears. They’re always trying to recreate that old product instead of buying into and producing a new product.
“Their audience is a legacy audience and they’re afraid of changing because they don’t want to lose out on those legacy fans that make them money. Nostalgia is the greatest marketing tool. I’d be interested in seeing fan growth of the bears.”
Those are just two of the tweets in his seven tweet thread, which you can see the rest of here.
He’s obviously referencing the incessant throwbacks to the ’85 Bears, a bit that has been far beyond the pale of shopworn for quite some time. Re-living and re-celebrating the ’85 Bears is the most long beaten, deadest horse there is.
Except for maybe the “Daaaaaaaaa Bearsssssssssss” routine.
My god is that “joke” old at this point. Kudos to George Wendt, to keep collecting a paycheck off that, for the past 30 some years, but there is nothing more played out, in Chicago’s history of both pop culture and and sports than recycling the Saturday Night Live “Superfans” bit.
The new Chicago probably lacks all connection with the bears of today. The youth of Chicago favorite team probably isn’t even the bears.
— Martellus Bennett (@MartysaurusRex) November 19, 2023
Fun fact: it’s the Bears, not SNL, who own the trademark on the phrase “Da Bears.” And this fact really explains it all quite well- this NFL franchise wants to keep harkening back to a comedy routine from 1991 and a team from 1985. That’s all they have, and that is all they are.
They only have a past, no present or future. And every time the Chicago Bears talk about ’85, or the Wendt-led comedic sketch, they keep themselves from moving forward.
Until 1995, when Ron Turner led the offense in a scheme centered around QB Erik Kramer and WRs Curtis Conway and Jeff Graham, this franchise never truly had a legitimate passing attack. To this day, they have never had a 4,000 yard single season passer. In a quarterback-driven league, Chicago has had one Pro Bowl QB (Mitch Trubisky 2018) in the past 30 some years.
Jay Cutler is without question the greatest passer in the history of the Chicago Bears. There are a lot of reasons to dislike him, both on and off the field, but nevertheless it is true.
When Rex Grossman was good for the first half of 2006, terrible for the back half, it still constituted a top three QB season in Monsters of the Midway lore. The ’18 season put up by Trubisky, which was only good, but not elite, is easily top three.
Remember the NFL has completely re-written the rules, for decades already, to help facilitate passing. The league is begging you to throw the ball and put up points. They’re telling you that’s how you win!
This is the place where the careers of quarterbacks go to die. It’s an organization where they have people in place, who are as meritocracy hire as Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz.
The only hope for the Chicago Bears is if/when they get to Arlington Heights, but only if they can follow the lead of the Los Angeles NFL teams. Take the land on which a horse racing track once stood, and build the following:
a high end stadium, high end mixed-use real estate, including shopping, bars, restaurants, residences, hotels and more. Given what a disaster this franchise is, especially on a business level, you should have no confidence in the Chicago Bears being able to pull that off.
Expect more first overall pick in the NFL Draft seasons in the future.
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Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.