With professional sports returning to active play in the next few weeks, many sports fans may be unaware that America's number one sport is about to begin, including all of its great traditions. NFL training camps will potentially open in two weeks as it will be the first time camps will not include fans in attendance due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Although it will be a different year all together due to the pandemic, there is a good chance all the great traditions that make up the NFL season will be intact, especially traditions for Bears fans.
It will start in a training camp with an all-important starting quarterback competition between Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles. Bears fans will be split down the middle as every throw of every practice will be overanalyzed. When the two scheduled pre-season games potentially take place, Bears' social media will erupt and crown the starter before the fourth quarter of the second game. There will be a small number of fans who will automatically clamor for the team's third-string quarterback to get a chance at the starting job because of his performance against second-rate subs. Fans rooting for the Bears' third-string quarterback to be named the starter due to pre-season performance is probably one of the longest-running traditions of Bears fans in August.
The season will start, and so will the weekly Sunday rituals that take place across Chicago before, during, and after the games. Fans will wake up and go to church before running to the grocery store to stock up on football food to munch on during the game. In Chicago, one of the best ways to tell how a Bears' season is going is by the number of people at the grocery store before a game. It is vital to see how many people are wearing Bears' attire. If Chicago's football team is doing great, there will be a line at the deli section of the grocery store an hour before kickoff filled with fans wearing Bears jerseys and sweaters.
During the game, Bears fans will be in their favorite weekly spots to watch a day full of football. These places include basement dens, local bars, or the backyard with the projector. After the game, fans will rejoice in a win or want to want the coach and quarterback benched. Even with a Chicago win, a good majority of fans will still call 670 The Score or ESPN 1000 immediately following the game to complain that the team is lacking something.
Once a season, there will be one road game against an AFC opponent or NFC opponent that Chicago doesn't usually play where Bears fans will invade the opposing city. Whether it was Nashville in 2012 against the Titans, 2015 against the Kansas City Chiefs, or 2018 against the Miami Dolphins, Chicago fans will show up in force to watch and support the Bears. The 2012 game against the Titans was remarkable because fans from Chicago drank Nashville dry, as many bars ran out of beer to serve fans.
As the weather turns with the change to fall to winter, Chicago fans will cling to their favorite saying to use late in the season for home games known as Bear weather. Any game from late-November until the end of the season, fans will use the term thinking that any team other than the Green Bay Packers will not be able to compete in below-freezing temperatures will their beloved Bears. If Chicago is competitive due to a dominant defense, the city will become more enticed with each game. There will be fewer people outside during the three hours the Bears are on turning the third biggest city in America into a virtual ghost town.
Two traditions take place in January, depending on if the team has made or missed the playoffs. If the Bears miss the playoffs, fans want everyone in the organization fired and will demand that the McCaskey family sell the team. If Chicago is in the playoffs, non-stop references to the 1985 Super Bowl champion Bears team will be made, along with how the current playoff team stacks up. Supporters of the team will look back and see which moments cost the team the most as players and coaching decisions will live negatively in Bears' lore going forward.
With the concerns surrounding Covid-19, some other traditions seen during the Bears' season will most likely not take place this year, including sold-out games at Soldier's Field and tailgating. Although the 2020 season will be different, the support and obsession for Bears football will still be there as long as games take place. It is these traditions that make the Bears one of the most beloved franchises in the NFL and why in just a few weeks, it will start all over again.
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