Gearing up for Week 1 and their Monday Night Football showdown with the Minnesota Vikings, the Chicago Bears are set to take on quarterback JJ McCarthy in his NFL regular season debut.
Last year's rookie first-round pick is coming off a torn ACL he suffered in the preseason of 2024 which delayed any possible start in his first campaign. McCarthy, though, gets to make his first regular season start against his childhood team, believe it or not.
Chip Scoggins of the Minneapolis Star Tribune confirmed McCarthy's childhood Bears fandom on Wednesday when he posted a photo of the now-Vikings quarterback as a child. 4-year-old McCarthy is seen in full Bears gear: Brian Urlacher jersey, hat and foam claw included.
McCarthy's first ever NFL game was a Bears game and, guess which team Chicago was playing? You guessed it: the Vikings.
JJ McCarthy's first NFL game as a Bears fan was ruined by an old nemesis
Now, not to bring Bears fans back in time to a point of misery, but, that game McCarthy attended also happened to be the one where rookie running back Adrian Peterson ran for 224 yards and three touchdowns.
Thankfully, the Vikings don't have a guy like that in the back field anymore. But, they do have the wide receiver equivalent in Justin Jefferson, whom the Bears will have to deal with on Monday night.
Back to the photo of McCarthy, though. This is truly a full-circle moment for the young quarterback. Bears fans have loved poking fun at the photo in light of the Vikings.
Obviously, no one can control where they wind up being drafted and, in McCarthy's case, it had to be a division rival of the team he grew up rooting for. But, fans are going to react and create jokes regardless. This just so happens to be quite the moment of irony.
Read more: These insanely weird 2025 Bears predictions could actually happen
Needless to say, we're hoping McCarthy's childhood team comes out with the victory in this one. He couldn't be that upset about it, right?