An Open Letter to Cody Parkey
January 7, 2019
Dear Cody Parkey,
You deserved the intense amount of negative energy that was directed towards you at Soldier Field following a 43 yard field goal miss that would have sent the Bears to the divisional round against the Los Angeles Rams. Even if the ball was tipped by Eagle’s defensive tackle Treyvon Hester, you still have to put the ball in a place that can find its way through the uprights. Your contract guarantees you $9,000,000, and you were already paid $3,500,000 this year to make kicks, yet you managed to miss eleven field goals and extra points this season, including the most important kick of the year against the Eagles. Six of those eleven misses struck the uprights along with last night’s game- deciding kick.
Being guaranteed a great deal of money comes with the expectation that you will have no issues in late-game situations and the confidence in yourself that you can get the job done. You did not do your job, and you failed the people of Chicago and your teammates.
With that being said, the people of Chicago cannot completely blame you for the loss. The Bears offense was practically non-existent until early in the 4th quarter when they finally mustered together a touchdown drive behind great play from quarterback Mitch Trubisky and wide-receiver Allen Robinson. Also, I believe the Bears completely under-utilized running-back Jordan Howard who could have been given the ball on the crucial two-point conversion following the Allen Robinson touchdown catch.
As easy as it is for the people of Chicago to direct hate towards you, we have to remember that you’re a human being like the rest of us. Threats directed towards you are completely undeserved, and as a city and a fan base, we have to be better than that. The way you handled yourself after the game was also very impressive. “I thought I hit a good ball and unfortunately I didn’t make it. I feel terrible. I 100 percent take that loss on me. It is what it is. But sun’s gonna shine tomorrow, life’s gonna go on and unfortunately it’s going to sting for a while.” You said this to reporter which I think the fans of Chicago can appreciate immensely. With the pressure of the world on you, you failed us, but your character after the miss proved to me and the sensible fans of the Bears that you do not deserve to be attacked and threatened.
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Ferris Johno • Jan 10, 2019 at 10:39 pm
I think it’s extremely unreasonable to ask for a kicker to “get the ball through the uprights,” when the ball was tipped at the line of scrimmage. It was 43 yards, and that small of a tip can have such a big influence. Have you ever shot a three in basketball and it was knicked by an opponent a little short?
Chase • Jan 7, 2019 at 6:34 pm
We have to remember the person who kept us in the game was in fact Cody Parkey with 3 field goals accumulating 9 points. While he did miss the game winning field goal, I don’t think he lost the game for the bears. It was a mix of the defense not making crucial plays when we needed them to, loads of unnecesssry penalties, and like you said the offense was practically non existent. Cody Parkey did not solely lose the game for the bears, he had the opportunity win it.