Chicago Bears fans had hopes of the team acquiring Russell Wilson from the Seattle Seahawks in recent weeks. That fell through, despite the Bears reportedly being “very aggressive” in their pursuit. And not just did the Bears — a franchise that has forever been allergic to competent quarterback play – miss out on Wilson; they signed Andy Dalton. A team that went .500 the last two years and has no real direction, stuck in mediocrity purgatory, went with the guy that would be like the dictionary definition of “mediocre quarterback.”
Well, even with the signing of Dalton, there’s been speculation/hope that the team wouldn’t actually pin their 2021 hopes on Dalton. Maybe the Seahawks/Wilson drama gets worse before the draft, maybe the Bears want to trade up in the draft for Justin Fields, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, or Mac Jones, etc. It’s especially hard to imagine Bears general manager Ryan Pace wanting to enter his hot-seat season depending on Dalton to elevate a mediocre team (and a team that just cut star cornerback Kyle Fuller!), but then again, this is the same guy that decided to give $18.5 million guaranteed to Mike Glennon, traded up one spot to draft Mitch Trubisky- picks ahead of Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes, and went all-in to acquire Nick Foles.
And then the Bears fired off a tweet (and Facebook and Instagram posts) on Wednesday night suggesting that Dalton is indeed the starting quarterback, and that they’re proud of it!
“QB1” with a photoshopped picture of Andy Dalton in a Bears uniform.
QB1. pic.twitter.com/TuyrAcpoCM
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) March 25, 2021
Is the Bears’ social media handler fully aware of the organization’s plans? Probably not. Is Ryan Pace telling this person who the team’s quarterback will be come training camp? Probably not.
But still, yikes! Salt. In. The. Wound.
Andy Dalton is nothing to brag about, and the fan base is already frustrated enough. Maybe read the room and stay quiet on that front until at least camp starts?
Naturally, there’s been A LOT of reaction to (mocking) this tweet. Here’s just a small sampling of what’s out there:
i wouldn't remind people of this. that's just me, tho. https://t.co/bdsme0RMRR
— bomani (@bomani_jones) March 25, 2021
is this a threat https://t.co/VfAaonGTDx
— ¡BUM CHILLUPS AKA SPENCER HALL! (@edsbs) March 25, 2021
A statement from the Bears: https://t.co/SuL4oLI4iL
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 25, 2021
The social media account is all in. https://t.co/oq0WKL7o0X
— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) March 25, 2021
That's obviously just a ridiculous tweet, but the bigger issue is the Bears have Country Club With A Men's Bar Bo Burnham as GM1 https://t.co/3pFr4twV8Q pic.twitter.com/ySHW2dF0HH
— Jay Rigdon (@jayrigdon5) March 25, 2021
— Louis Riddick (@LRiddickESPN) March 25, 2021
Does QB mean Quite Bad here https://t.co/A6zKRuWkwM
— James Tyler (still) (@JamesTylerESPN) March 25, 2021
wild last 7 months in Chicago pic.twitter.com/szkDuQLMWX
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) March 25, 2021
We live in interesting times. https://t.co/dNhITXXfbc
— Blogging The Boys (@BloggingTheBoys) March 25, 2021
Bears account been hacked https://t.co/PXaeXWaFss
— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) March 25, 2021
Are the Bears just a social experiment to test exactly how far you can push a loyal fanbase? https://t.co/Ah1Tvg4zj3
— Alex Barth (@RealAlexBarth) March 25, 2021
Ever been trolled by your favorite football team? Because I have. https://t.co/ExA8uacLds
— Brad Robinson (@bradrobinson8) March 25, 2021
Big Ten fans begged the universe for a Rose Bowl winning QB and boy howdy did that monkey’s paw curl https://t.co/N0HGYaYulF
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) March 25, 2021
So that was an interesting social media post choice by the Bears.