Bears Coronavirus-Free Opener Proof Public Health Guidance Works

CHICAGO — With a pre-season quarterback controversy and long-odds for a Super Bowl ring, the most remarkable thing about the Bears season might be making it to the season opener Sunday in Detroit coronavirus free.

Think about all that had to transpire for that to happen, and I'm not talking about the daily COVID-19 tests, temperature checks and social distancing.

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Dozens of young, fearless competitors who have truck loads of money and free time — many of them counted among the devil-may-care generation that fueled mid-summer coronavirus spikes — tackled the pandemic as a team.

So far, players have followed through on honoring an obligation they have to each other as teammates — and members of league that's owned and managed by people with priorities and world views in direct conflict with their own — for a greater good.

Polarizing politics, civil rights protests and boo-birds circle the NFL's turn at trying to pull off a coronavirus-crisis season. But so much controversy shouldn't overshadow an important lesson emerging from the end of a non-traditional training camp: When people come together to commit to following guidance from scientists and doctors on how to prevent the spread coronavirus, it works.

That should be encouraging, and compliance-inspiring, for everybody regardless of political leanings and personal opinions on face-mask requirements.

"There's never been a time when the saying, 'We're all in this together,' applies more than this season," Bears General Manager Ryan Pace told the team during training camp.

I can't believe I'm saying it, but even the guy who drafted Mitch Trubisky ahead of Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes is right some times.

If only we would follow the pandemic Bears's lead by keeping mindful that in a lot of ways making personal sacrifices in a time of crisis — putting on a mask, maintaining social distance and setting aside personal ideology to respect each other — maybe this year might not have been such a "Double-Doink."