This week began with a teaser from The St. Brown Brothers Podcast that had Chicago Bears fans in an uproar, awaiting what quarterback Justin Fields was going to say in response to the report that he unfollowed the Bears on social media.
When the episode was released, it was all Bears fans could talk about. In fact, the story gained national attention.
"Why do people take social media so serious?" Fields began by asking.
He went on to explain to the St. Brown brothers why he did what he did.
"I unfollowed the Bears and the NFL. I'm just trying not to have football on my timeline. I'm about to go on vacation ... it's either 'keep Fields,' 'draft Caleb,' so it's like ... man I'm tired of hearing the talk. I just want it to be over," he said.
Just a day later, ESPN1000's David Kaplan decided to call out the Bears quarterback over his decision to unfollow the Bears.
KAP & J HOOD@thekapman - Unfollowing the @ChicagoBears was "a cowards way out" pic.twitter.com/6dli5CDkg7
— ESPN 1000 (@ESPN1000) February 23, 2024
David Kaplan could have taken the high road and supported Justin Fields.
"Unfollowing the Bears, unfollowing the NFL ... that's a coward's way out," Kaplan said.
He went on even further.
"Why do you go on a podcast to become the lead story on every channel?" Kaplan asked.
First of all, Fields already explained himself. His generation is all very similar in this way. The idea to unfollow certain accounts, in order to get a certain topic off your mind, is pretty common.
Not to mention, who is to say that Fields didn't also unfollow major media outlets? Maybe he was also following other social accounts that promoted his own trade situation on a regular basis. We don't know whether or not that's truth, though. Because, all we've decided to dig into is the fact that he unfollowed the Bears and the NFL.
Fields has been a class act since Day 1. From the moment he arrived in Chicago, he has been a consummate professional. No one has ever been able to say a bad thing about the guy.
Although the Chicago media have tried their hardest to twist his words in the past, Fields has remained cool, calm and collected. He's remained himself, which is a man of high character and very few words. He's not a player who gets wrapped up in the drama. He doesn't make demands.
There are other players in this league who would have demanded a trade by now. But, not Fields.
To call him out like this is only going to further the Chicago media's agenda in using this story for as many angles and clicks as possible.
It's fine to have an opinion. It's fine to want to drive your own viewership. But, getting personal might have been crossing the line.