Ryan Poles thought he knew what to expect when becoming a general manager. There were obvious responsibilities like drafting, signing, or trading players. He would also have to communicate regularly with ownership and the team president about business matters while keeping them in the loop on personnel decisions. There was also the necessity of providing leadership to everybody in the building and having a good working relationship with the coaching staff. Don’t forget media appearances as well. It is a challenging job, but one Poles felt prepared for.
However, he quickly learned that the Chicago Bears were a far different animal than Kansas City. The fanbase is significantly larger and also way more vocal. That wasn’t a huge surprise. Big cities always have demanding fans. Chicago can be a difficult place to work when you don’t win. Yet that isn’t what enlightened Poles to his new reality. It was how much celebrity came with the GM position. He expected fans to gravitate towards players, as is the case everywhere. He never imagined they would treat him the same way. Poles explained this to Brian Levenson on the Intentional Performers podcast.
It’s a surreal feeling.
“They want their team back. They know that with the Bulls having their dynasty, the Cubs and White Sox having their teams…the Blackhawks…it’s a Bears town, and you can feel that. The one thing I was not ready for, to be honest it was a blind spot, was I’ve always put players on a pedestal. Not really the front office. I get more requests for selfies and getting chased through Targets than I ever thought I was going to be, which is cool because, again, they’re passionate about their football team. They believe in me and what we’re doing with the entire organization. So that’s exciting.”
Ryan Poles has embraced this reality.
The same couldn’t be said for Ryan Pace. He got the same treatment when he took over the Bears in 2015. Pace, though, preferred to stay as far away from the spotlight as possible. He was never out in public much and kept his media appearances to the bare minimum. Poles doesn’t fear the same attention. He has embraced it. He’s a regular in press conferences, podcasts, and radio shows. It seems he doesn’t mind being out in public, either. The man is eager to embrace the city he aims to bring a championship.
This is why it is easy to like Ryan Poles. The guy can be surprised, but he’s not one to get thrown off by surprises. He instead learns to roll with them. Having somebody like that making the big decisions is never a bad thing. You never want a GM that doesn’t do well with unexpected change. One thing is certain. If Poles gets this team back to the playoffs, he’ll have to beat fans seeking selfies off with a stick. If he gets them a Super Bowl? He might need an armed escort.
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HeHateMe: Maybe, but Poles himself said the players were the stars in Kansas City. Why is the GM the star in Chicago? I still think it’s because, on a rebuilding team, the GM is out front and the players haven’t developed into stars yet.
I’m gettin’ real tired of this latest spam of somebody nailing this lady’s mama to make 8 million a week.
different from Kansas City
Hey, passing through, I don’t agree. Today is a different world as far as stars on the team. Have some patience, grasshopper. It’s coming. Onto your other comment. Again, it’s a different world yes , Jim Finks & Vainisi blended into the background because that was a different world. Today, it’s all about social media so I disagree with you, the Finks and Vainisi’s today would be chased and hounded by the fans for selfies and pictures and autographs. The difference was back then, there was no Internet. In 2006 the Internet had been going for nearly 10 years, but… Read more »
Part of it is just the lack of stars on the Bears’ roster right now. I doubt Jim Finks or Jerry Vainisi got this much attention either, because the Bears had a roster full of top players. As the stars rise, Poles will take more of a back seat.