One Chicago Bears Fan’s Open Letter To Kyler Gordon

Kyler,

You are a Chicago Bear. As a 51-year-old former high-school football player who dreamed of one day following in the footsteps of Butkus and Singletary, let me tell you, you have been given one of the rarest opportunities in the world: stepping onto the NFL gridiron as a Chicago Bear. Bears greats are revered for their lifetimes. They are talked about – decades after their playing careers have ended. And in your career up to last year, while you’ve had your share of injuries, you were on a trajectory of being, if not one of the greats, at least in the Hall of Very Good. And we love our very good Chicago Bears. We cherish them. Especially if you play on the defensive side of the ball. You were a second-round pick of Ryan Poles in his first draft. You have been regarded as one of the better starting nickelbacks in the NFL, in an NFL game that increasingly relies on the nickelback position. You even have a cool superhero name, Spider-Man, to go along with the Bears’ Marvel theme with Iceman and the Hulk. 

But hey, when Hulk decided he didn’t want to play football anymore – he retired. You were given a three-year, $40 million extension. The job tens of thousands of athletes who have worked and sweated and gritted through the pain that is an everyday part of playing football would trade almost anything to have for just one Sunday – it is yours. How amazing is that? You only have to choose to step on the field, and you will get to bask in the adulation of thousands of Bears fans – playing a kids’ game, a game that is setting you and your family up for life.

So, my guy – exactly what is the deal here? Last year you played three regular-season games and two in the playoffs. A lost season – but you came back at the end, and you contributed. This year the calf (or whatever the latest “soft tissue” injury that you’re dealing with is) has kept you off the field through OTAs, minicamp, and all of training camp. The team moved you to reserve/PUP. You will miss at least the first four games – and there are rumblings you may have played your last game for the Bears – despite being under contract until 2028. Your general manager, Ryan Poles, stood at a podium and admitted, despite the fact he remains “hopeful,” that he does not know if you will play for the Bears again. That is not media noise. It is not fans jumping the gun. That is the organization telling the city it is tired of waiting. And I won’t even mention the vibes coming from Ben Johnson when he is asked about you. It is…well…it is not good.

Soft-tissue injuries hurt – sure. Calf strains can linger. Rehab is miserable – my guy, I know, having rehabbed an ACL and a biceps tear. Nobody is asking you to pretend otherwise. What people are asking is: why? Why has this one stretched from last August through another entire offseason and into September while the rest of the roster is preparing to play football? While Ozzy Trapillo has, by some miraculous feat of recovery, come back to practice after suffering a patella tendon tear in the playoffs. Look, here is the deal. Plenty of players in this league push through discomfort, manage the same kinds of issues that it is reported that you have been dealing with, and they get on the field. Hell, I don’t mean to go all, old man, up-the-hill-both-ways-in-the-snow on you, but Ronnie Lott once cut a finger off rather than get reconstructive surgery in order to keep playing. And look, we don’t have to go back to the 80s here. Your teammates – like Ozzy – are doing it. The guys who will take your snaps in Weeks 1–4 are doing it.

And, Kyler, what a time to be a Chicago Bear! We won the division last year. We won a playoff game against the Packers. We were one play away from making the NFL championship game. Don’t you want to be part of that? I can’t speak for you, buddy, but I would give my left…well…a precious thing…to have the opportunity to suit up for the Bears and contribute to their first Super Bowl run since 2006 and their first Super Bowl win since 1985. You have that chance! It is right in front of you.

You are a young man, and now you have a premium contract that has rewarded you for your play, but at the same time sets an expectation that you will give your all to live up to that contract and play your heart out for the Chicago Bears. And it won’t be your last if you do. But you play at a position that rewards availability as much as talent. We know you have the talent. Your availability is clearly in question. They say the best ability is availability. If you want to have a great NFL career and earn, not just this contract, but the next one, you need to be available. But the window is not infinite. Every week you sit is a week someone else learns the defense, earns trust, and makes the case that the slot can function without you. Heck, Kyler, the Bears just traded Dexter for a guy who is clearly intended to replace you. Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson have already said the quiet part out loud: you are not in their plans for the season – if you are in their plans at all. I cannot for the life of me understand why you seem to be fine with this happening.

Look, football is a dangerous sport. And it is nowhere more dangerous than in the NFL. But that is the game you have spent your life practicing and preparing to play. And you have such a short window within which to play it. What I want to hear from you is that you can’t wait to get back on that field and you are doing everything possible to make that happen. That you take the contract you signed seriously and have every intention and desire to fulfill it. But you were talking about fashion and clothes in a fan interview recently… doesn’t exactly say “football is my #1 priority,” does it?

Well, here we are. The season is just days away. You are going to miss the first four games of it, no doubt. And if you are dealing with some mysterious but truly debilitating injury that is keeping you from playing – hey – you have my sympathy and my apologies for questioning you. But you have to admit – those questions are understandable and reasonable. You are working on the record for “length of recovery from a soft tissue injury” and, my friend, that is not a record you want to set.

Kyler, the schedule does not wait. Soldier Field, and the players who step onto it, and the fans who will cheer for those men – will not wait. Will it be you who is lining up against Kraft, or Hendrickson, or LaPorta this season? Will it be you blitzing from the nickel slot, just as Dennis Allen envisioned you would when he joined the team as our defensive coordinator? Will it be you picking off Jordan Love when he throws against his body late in a play back across the field? Or will it be someone else?

Come back. Get back out there. Be the Spider-Man we all know you can be. Help lead us into the playoffs and beyond. Please.

Sincerely,

A Bears fan who wants nothing more than to see you do a backflip and shoot invisible webs at a Chicago Bears game in the VERY near future.

D GOOCH