He Gone, Contd.

Well, the obvious finally became official yesterday, when the Bears traded quarterback Justin Fields to the Steelers for sixth-round or fourth-round draft pick, depending how much Fields plays next season. Munsters’ GM Ryan Poles better hope Fields falls flat on his face, because, if he succeeds, this will highlight the difference between the two franchises, both founding pillars of the NFL. Hint: It has something to do with ownership. The Steelers are and always have been operated by the Rooney family in the same way the Bears are a Halas/McCaskey entity. The Steelers used to be hapless back when the Munsters were Monsters, but that all changed since the dawn of the Super Bowl Era, six Super Bowl championships to one. Since 1969, the Steelers have employed three head coaches—Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin. The Bears? Would you believe twelve? Trust me, there’s no need to list them. For my money, what Fields may have lacked in physical skills he more than made up for in leadership. Consider the opening of the statement he released after the trade was announced: ”Can’t say thank you enough to the city of Chicago for taking me in and embracing me.” He went on to thank ownership, the organization and his “brothers,” aka teammates. This is one savvy, just-turned-25-year old. I’m pretty sure his new teammates will have no problem taking to him from the get-go. It’ll be the same player part of two different organizations and systems. Let the comparisons begin.