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“I’ve owned you all my f*%&# life! I still own you! I still own you!”
These are no words a fan of any team wants to hear from a rival, yet Bears fans were forced to after former Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers put them in their place just two years ago.
Rodgers, a future first-ballot Hall of Famer, had a whopping 25-5 record against Chicago. To make matters worse, before Rodgers was Green Bay’s starting QB, the Packers had another Hall of Famer, Brett Favre, who started the domination with a 23-13 against them.
This year things are different for both teams. On one hand, the Packers traded away Rodgers to the Jets, giving the keys to their offense to 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love. On the other hand, Bears young QB Justin Fields is poised to have a breakout season with the new weapons Chicago surrounded him with this offseason, such as WR DJ Moore and rookie OL Darnell Wright.
Many Chicago fans anticipate their season opener against their hated foes will be the turning point in the oldest rivalry in NFL history.
“This game means a lot more than any other regular season game. Not only because it’s the Packers, but because now the Bears may actually be able to flip the script after decades of dominance the Packers have had,” said longtime fan, senior Mason Kelly.
If there was ever a time to “flip the script,” it would be this weekend. Bears fans have endured too much pain for too long, and beating the Packers would give them something to celebrate.
Senior Travis Calaway experienced traumatic memories as a five-year-old watching the Bears games with his dad. His biggest heartbreak in this rivalry was in the 2010 NFC Championship game, where the Bears lost at home in the game before the Super Bowl.
“It was a close game all the way through, but of course, Rodgers had to come through victorious at the end. It just hurt knowing we were one game away from the big stage,” said Callaway.
The flip side is true as well, however. Ben Arsenault, a senior Packers fan since he was 6, has enjoyed the beatdown his team gave Chicago.
“It hasn’t really even been a rivalry for a while. The Bears have always been inferior to us and I doubt that changes anytime soon,” said Arsenault.
It would certainly be comedic to see the Packers go from Favre to Rodgers to another Hall of Fame QB in Love. The possibility that Love could carry the torch frightens the Bears’ fanbase.
“If Love does end up being a Hall of Fame caliber player, I might just accept the fact that I’ll never be happy,” said senior and diehard fan Elliott Zelken. “I can’t be filled with the same delusion I’ve had over the past decade. I can’t take it anymore.”
Despite the 3-14 record last year, Zelken’s confidence in the Bears is still high.
“Jordan Love won’t end up being amounting to anything because he’s simply dog water,” said Zelken. “Fields is way better and it’s time for him to yell, ‘I own you!’”
The banter is all in good fun, and it definitely runs both sides. The trash talk Bears fans have received from Packers fans (including myself) has become too sufferable.
But this Sunday, the world should find out which fanbase will get the next laugh, and hopefully a laugh for the foreseeable future.
