CHICAGO — Plenty of football buzz was abound in Chicago Wednesday, centered on a podcast that features two brothers who play wide receiver in the NFL — Equanimeous St. Brown for the Chicago Bears and Amon Ra St. Brown for the Detroit Lions, but a Bears’ wideout having a podcast wasn’t the item creating waves. It was guest Justin Fields and his explanation why he recently unfollowed the Bears on Instagram.
By this point, those who pay attention to NFL football in Chicago know the type of human being that appears on the opposite side of the mic when Fields steps up to speak — he’s been a model of consistency, even if he hasn’t put up the Lamar Jackson-esque video game numbers so many Bears fans have dreamed of since his selection with the eleventh overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
He’s nonchalant, yet calm and centered in his delivery. Fields has never made the decision to duck or dodge the media.
Whether it’s after tossing four touchdowns in back-to-back weeks against the Washington Commanders and Denver Broncos, or fresh off the end of the NFL season, treading water amidst a tidal wave of writers, reporters and pundits incessantly saturating the social media-sphere with the question, “Should the Bears draft Caleb Williams, or keep Justin Fields?”, Chicago’s QB1 has always stepped up to the podium and faced the music.
The media extravaganza constantly juxtaposed around that question reached a tipping point of sorts Wednesday, when Fields hopped on the 33rd Team’s St. Brown Brothers podcast season finale to clear the air on why something as insignificant as him unfollowing an account (albeit, his current team’s), has become the center of the latest Bears discourse in Chicago.
“Bro, I’m glad we’re talking about it because why do people take social media so serious? I still mess with the Bears,” Fields said on the podcast. “I’m just trying to take a little break — I unfollowed the Bears and the NFL. I’m not trying to have football on my timeline.”
As the conversation progressed, Fields compared the decision to how players in the NFL handle the dating scene.
“Just because you don’t follow a girl on IG, doesn’t mean you aren’t messing with them,” Fields said.
“Oh, you’re saying you mess with the Bears more now that you don’t follow them,” Amon Ra St. Brown countered immediately thereafter.
“Man,” Fields said with a smile. “It’s something that I don’t want to see on my timeline. I’m about to go on vacation, I don’t want to see no football. Every Bears post is ‘keep Fields’ or ‘draft Caleb [Williams].’ Like, I’m tired of hearing the talk — ‘We want Fields,’ ‘we want Caleb.'”
At that point, Amon Ra St. Brown poked a little deeper, and asked a question central to all the Chicago quarterback hoopla that’s happened this offseason.
“Do you want to stay in Chicago?” Amon Ra St. Brown asked Fields.
“Yeah, of course I want to stay … I can’t see myself playing in another place. I know how the league is,” Fields said. “If it were up to me, I’d stay in Chicago. I love the city. The city is lit and the fans, they’re great. It’s a business. I’ve got no control over it. Whatever happens, happens.”
Fields did admit the constant cycle of headlines and discourse in the media centered around him and the presumptive, soon-to-be No. 1 overall pick — Caleb Williams — has grown tiring, to the point he essentially wishes he could pick up a TV remote like he’s in the 2006 Adam Sandler comedy Click, and fast forward to the end, after all the drama has concluded.
“The biggest thing with all that’s happening right now, is that I just want it all to be over. Just let me know if I’m getting traded or if I’m staying,” Fields said.
The NFL Scouting Combine starts Feb. 26 and runs through March 4, while the NFL Draft is set to kick off in Detroit on April 25, and run through April 27.