Justin Fields provided a memorable image when the Chicago Bears selected him 11th overall in the NFL draft three months ago. He hugged his family and put on his team hat, but all of it without a smile on his face. There was a sort of stoic demeanor to him. This led many to wonder if the quarterback wasn’t happy with his new team. In reality? That had nothing to do with it.
The reaction was more about two things. First and foremost, simple relief that the entire process was done. The pre-draft work had been long and taxing. He was finally on a team and could focus on the next stage of his career. However, there was another part to his reaction. An undercurrent of frustration. Not with the Bears but with the 10 other teams that chose to pass on him in the 1st round.
Fields felt disrespected.
It isn’t hard to understand why. Three quarterbacks had already gone ahead of him at the #1, #2, and #3 picks respectively. Then a number of teams that appeared to need a young quarterback like Atlanta, Carolina, and Denver chose to pick players at other positions instead. So when the Ohio State star finally did come off the board, he wasn’t just thinking about the excitement of playing in Chicago. He was thinking about revenge. He alluded to as much during a segment of an NFL Films documentary called Hey Rookie Welcome To The NFL.
Fields hasn’t backed off that stance since the draft ended. He made it clear he still believes he is the best quarterback in his class. Even over #1 pick Trevor Lawrence. A guy he beat just a few months ago in the Sugar Bowl during the College Football Playoffs. To do that, work as hard as he has, and still get passed over by ten other teams? For a competitor like him, and that is nothing short of an insult.
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Justin Fields revenge tour could start as early as Week 4
It isn’t clear when the rookie will first see action this season. That depends on what head coach Matt Nagy does with Andy Dalton. If the veteran flounders early in September, the Bears might decide to get Fields in by Week 4. That will be at home against the Detroit Lions. Conveniently one of the teams that passed on him. Detroit had a chance to pick him at #7 overall but decided to go with Oregon tackle Penei Sewell instead.
That said, the game Justin Fields probably has circled the most on the 2021 calendar takes place on Halloween. This is when the San Francisco 49ers come to Soldier Field. They delivered perhaps the most shocking of the quarterback picks in the draft when they took Trey Lance at #3. A player with just one season of starting experience at an FCS program in North Dakota State. He was far less proven yet was still considered a better prospect.
It wasn’t just that though.
Picking Lance was bad enough but the fact that Fields wasn’t even mentioned as a possibility is what burns him the most. Leading up to the draft, most experts agreed it was a tossup between Lance and Alabama’s Mac Jones for San Francisco. It is little wonder Fields looked so irritated when the Bears drafted him.
One can imagine Nagy and the coaching staff will gleefully use all of that as motivational fuel once training camp begins.
