Bears’ coaching? Yeah, that’s a problem. | Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Perhaps predictably, beleaguered coach Matt Nagy’s unpopularity came shining through in the results.

So, which is the Bears’ biggest problem: their players, their coaches or the people upstairs?

In this week’s “Polling Place” — your home for Sun-Times sports polls on Twitter — that was question No. 1. Perhaps predictably, beleaguered coach Matt Nagy’s unpopularity came shining through in the results. But there was plenty of non-support for general manager Ryan Pace and his own bosses, too.

“It’s the same question as, ‘Do I want stomach flu or pneumonia?’ ” @stangs09 commented.

We beg to differ. Pneumonia or a bad enough stomach bug might be able to beat the Packers.

We also asked about the World Series: Are you rooting for the still-scandal-stained Astros or are you all-in for the Braves, whose fans keep chopping away like it’s A-OK?

“Two meteors isn’t a choice?” @SkywayWilly asked.

One wouldn’t get the job done?

Lastly, a college football question: Who’s going to win the Big Ten? For a refreshing change, it’s not as simple as Ohio State and call it a day.

On to the polls:

Poll No. 1: In what area are the Bears most deficient?

Upshot: “Real talk: The front office has made some amazing signings, trades and draft picks,” @KurtisArndt offered. “Allen Robinson. Khalil Mack. David Montgomery. Roquan Smith. Coaching has not followed through with the talent.” Yeah, well, who hired the coach? Not that Pace and Co. haven’t had their share of player whiffs. There’s enough talent on the roster, though, that “C” was basically ignored by respondents.

Poll No. 2: Which team are you rooting for in the World Series?

Upshot: The Braves have the underdog thing going for them, no doubt about that. Mostly, though, this vote reflects the disgust baseball fans still feel for the Astros in the wake of a cheating scandal. Manager Dusty Baker wasn’t a part of that, in case anyone cares, and some of us wouldn’t mind seeing him finally get that first World Series title as a skipper.

Poll No. 3: Who’s going to win the Big Ten (overall, conference records in parentheses)?

Upshot: It’s pretty sweet to get to this point of the season and have the Wolverines, Spartans and Buckeyes in control of their own destinies in the East division, in the conference and, yes, in the playoff picture. Is it still Ohio State’s world? Man, oh, man, what a thing it would be to see 11-0 Michigan against 11-0 Ohio State on the last Saturday of November.

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State Rep. Robyn Gabel, D-Evanston, reads her proposed changes to the Health Care Right of Conscience Act on the House floor Wednesday night before the vote to pass the amendment. | Blue Room Stream file

It all happened because some folks who won’t get vaccinated say they have some mysterious conscientious objection to being tested for a disease.

The current topsy-turvy political landscape was on full display in the Illinois House and the Senate last week as the chamber debated and passed a bill to slightly narrow the scope of the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act.

A bedrock Republican Party principle over the years has been to help shield employers from frivolous lawsuits. But every single Republican voted against a bill in the two chambers that would effectively prevent anyone who is fired or punished after refusing to take regular COVID-19 tests from suing their employer and recovering triple damages, including pain and suffering.

Public school teachers, for example, must now either be vaccinated or submit to regular virus testing, yet several unvaccinated teachers are suing because they do not want to take any tests. A court loss by those districts could be very costly, but some judges are siding with plaintiffs and concluding that a law designed to protect doctors who refuse to perform abortions also applies to people who don’t want to be vaccinated or get tested.

Democrats are usually all-in on the right of employees to sue, but definitely not in this instance. Like I said, topsy-turvy.

Also, for a year and a half now, Republicans have been demanding that the super-majority legislative Democrats vote on bills related to the pandemic rather than sit idly by while Gov. J.B. Pritzker issues executive orders.

But, when the Democrats finally took up the Health Care Right of Conscience Act legislation last week, folks like Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) argued that the General Assembly ought to drop this issue and instead allow the courts to decide whether the HCRCA applies to the current controversy over vaccines and testing.

That makes no sense considering the endless GOP demands that the General Assembly “do something.” But, in reality, that demand for legislative action has mainly been a rhetorical device to allow the Republicans to avoid commenting directly on a range of pandemic topics. Last week’s vote, however, smoked them out.

A monolithic niche

Pretty much all polling shows that the majority of Republican voters oppose things like COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates. So, it’s no surprise that Republican legislators would also be opposed to this change, particularly in a redistricting year when legislators will have new turf to defend and primary opponents can always pop up out of the blue.

What is a tiny bit surprising, though, is that the Republican Party has become so completely monolithic.

The party has for decades in this state included several legislators who were willing to break ranks on things like taxation, labor unions and abortion. But those members have left office, lost primaries to more conservative Republicans, lost general elections to more liberal Democrats or, in the case of folks like Sen. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) who voted for the 2017 tax hike, lurched to the far right. It’s also easier to be unified in the super-minority party, mainly because there is so little pressure or enticement to participate in actual governance. The age of Donald Trump has forced the entire party into a niche, whether party members like it or not.

Unlike the Republicans, House Democrats were not totally unified on the HCRCA legislation last week. It probably didn’t help that tens of thousands of electronic witness slips were filed in opposition to the bill.

Seven House Democrats wound up voting against the measure: Carol Ammons of Urbana, Kelly Burke of Evergreen Park, Anthony Deluca of Chicago Heights, Stephanie Kifowit of Oswego and John D’Amico, Mary Flowers and Fran Hurley of Chicago. Two voted “Present”: Angie Guerrero-Cuellar of Chicago and Rita Mayfield of Waukegan.

In the Senate, six Democrats sided with the opposition: Rachelle Aud Crowe of Glen Carbon, Suzy Glowiak Hilton of Western Springs, Mike Hastings of Frankfort, Patrick Joyce of Essex, Meg Loughran Cappel of Shorewood and Doris Turner of Springfield. Four Democrats didn’t vote: Tom Cullerton of Villa Park, Napoleon Harris of Harvey, and Rob Martwick and Tony Munoz of Chicago.

That Democratic opposition was enough to bring the final tallies below the threshold needed for an immediate effective date on the legislation, so it won’t take effect until June 1 of next year. But it’s likely the two chambers will vote on it again in January, when it can take effect immediately. In the meantime, the governor’s and attorney general’s offices believe the action was probably enough to stave off the lawsuits.

All because some folks who won’t get vaccinated say they have some mysterious conscientious objection to being tested for a disease and would sue any employer who claims otherwise.

Ridiculous.

Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.

Send letters to [email protected]

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Matt Nagy coaches the Bears against the Raiders. | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Getty Images

Nagy has run team meetings on Zoom this week and watched practice film, but has been forced to quarantine until he can test negative for the coronavirus on consecutive days.

In the days after he tested positive for the coronavirus Monday, Matt Nagy began preparing acting head coach Chris Tabor for the possibility he’d be in charge Sunday at Soldier Field. They ran through different hypothetical situations, from how to deal with assistant coaches and players to how to navigate moments and mindsets during the 49ers game.

“Just different scenarios and different things, so I can help him out as much as possible,” Nagy said Friday. “Some things he might not think of on game day.”

Nagy also began preparing himself for one peculiar scenario: that one of the most important games of his Bears career might take place with him nowhere near Soldier Field.

The difference between a Bears win and a loss Sunday is the chasm between a .500 record and a three-game losing streak; between the Bears being part of the playoff conversation during the Week 10 bye or, if they also lose against the Steelers in prime time next week, being stuck in yet another months-long freefall.

The Bears have yet to lose to a team in which they were favored. If that changes Sunday, it could affect the tenor of the season — and Nagy’s job security by the end of it.

Nagy has run team meetings on Zoom this week and watched practice film, but has been forced to quarantine until he can test negative for the coronavirus on consecutive days.

That’s enough to sour Nagy’s sunny-side-up disposition.

“I don’t think frustration’s a good word,” Nagy said. “I think you’re eager and you want to be able to be there with your guys. And that’s probably the biggest challenge as you go through this, is, just making sure that everybody is doing everything as best as they can. And that’s where just talking through things, it’s easy to [use] technology now to do that …

“But there’s just — you don’t have that feel, right? Because you’re not there.”

Tabor, the special teams coordinator, said he’s ready to lead the team Sunday, if needed.

“You’ve always been preparing yourself your whole life to do that,” said Tabor, who last served as a head coach in 2001, when he ran NAIA Culver-Stockton for one year. “I’ve watched a lot of football games and have thought about those types of things. So if it ever did come up, put yourself in a good position to help the team.”

The irony is that, after Nagy delegated play-calling to offensive coordinator Bill Lazor following the Week 3 blowout loss to the Browns, he learned hard into a personality-driven coaching style. In the dreary days after the loss, Nagy gathered his offensive players and actually asked them for advice on how to retool the playbook.

The night before the Buccaneers game, Nagy held an emotional team meeting in which, according to running back Khalil Herbert, he showed “how much he cares and what he means to this team and how he wants to bring us together.”

The Bears then lost 38-3.

Nagy has said all month that not calling plays allows him to be more connected — to everyone from quarterback to his defense — on game day. Rather than bringing the team together this week, though, Nagy is apart from it.

Nagy is left in a lose-lose situation. If the Bears win Sunday without him, fans pushing for Nagy’s ouster will claim he’s unnecessary. If they lose, the same people will paint the Bears as a sinking ship without a leader.

At various points this week, Nagy described the possibility of his absence Sunday as “strange,” “unique” and “weird.” And then he admitted he didn’t know what it would feel like to be the first Bears head coach to miss a game since Mike Ditka had a mild heart attack in 1988.

“I wish I could tell you,” he said, “but I have no idea what it will be like.”

Sunday, he might just find out.

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A teen boy was shot Oct. 29, 2021, in Back of the Yards. | Sun-Times file

The boy was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition, police said.

A 16-year-old boy was wounded in a shooting Friday in Back of the Yards on the South Side.

The teen was near the street about 2 p.m. in the 5200 block of South Hermitage Avenue when someone opened fire, striking him in the thigh, Chicago police said.

He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition, police said.

Area One detectives are investigating.

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Ald. Michael Rodriguez (22nd) speaks during a special City Council meeting today about repealing the vaccine mandate for city workers. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Today’s update is a 5-minute read that will brief you on the day’s biggest stories.

Good afternoon. Here’s the latest news you need to know in Chicago. It’s about a 5-minute read that will brief you on today’s biggest stories.

This afternoon will bring showers along with a high near 55 degrees. The rain is expected to continue tonight with a low around 51. Tomorrow will be cloudy with isolated showers early on then become gradually more sunny with a high near 58.

Top story

City Council rejects effort to repeal city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate

An effort to breathe life back into ordinances seeking to scuttle the city’s vaccine mandate failed today by a vote of 30-13 in Chicago’s City Council.

The vote came after more than a dozen City Council members who are among the police union’s staunchest supporters called for the special City Council meeting to consider an ordinance seeking to repeal the vaccine mandate being fought tooth-and-nail by the Fraternal Order of Police.

Earlier this week, the repeal ordinance championed by Alderpersons Silvana Tabares (23rd) and Anthony Napolitano (41st) was shunted to the Rules Committee, where ordinances opposed by the mayor often go to die.

Tabares told the Sun-Times she wasn’t giving up and made good on that promise Wednesday when she joined Napolitano, embattled Ald. Jim Gardiner (45th), indicted Ald. Edward Burke (14th), Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th) and a host of other police allies on the Council in calling the special meeting to consider the ordinance seeking to repeal the vaccine mandate.

In all, 13 alderpersons joined the call for the special meeting.

Two vaccine-related ordinances were introduced Monday. Both were shunted to the Rules Committee.

The ordinances would have effectively repealed the vaccine mandate that requires city employees to report their vaccination status and, if they’re not vaccinated, submit to regular testing until the Jan. 1 vaccine deadline.

Mitch Dudek has more on the failed ordinance here.

More news you need

An Iraq war vet from Illinois has won a class-action suit against the Navy to upgrade his less-than-honorable discharge and receive VA benefits after his now-diagnosed PTSD went untreated and he was instead flagged for behavioral problems. Tyson Manker’s case could potentially help thousands of other vets with similar experiences.

Hours after Democrats in Springfield approved a congressional remap putting Democratic Reps. Marie Newman and Jesus “Chuy” Garcia in the same district, Newman announced today that she will instead run against Rep. Sean Casten. Newman, a freshman rep from La Grange, will run in the new 6th District, which contains about 40% of her current 3rd District, including portions of several wards in Chicago.
Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger made his own big candidacy announcement today, declaring that he will not seek another term. Kinzinger has often pushed against Trumpism and is one of two GOP House members on the Jan. 6 investigation committee.

Illinois schools saw higher rates of chronic absenteeism and lower test scores during the 2020-21 school year, though graduation rates remained steady, according to data made public today. The data shows the significant impact of the pandemic on student enrollment, attendance and academic achievement.

The Illini, Ramblers and other Illinois college sports teams soon could be on the board for bettors at casinos statewide under a measure passed yesterday by lawmakers in Springfield. The bill heading to Gov. Pritzker’s desk would eliminate a ban on wagers on in-state college teams.

CPS elementary school teacher Olga Quiroga, who died a year ago from COVID-19, was remembered yesterday at a ceremony unveiling new street signs honoring her. Family and friends gathered for the ceremony outside Funston Elementary School, where Quiroga last taught.

The Union Stockyards on the South Side had defined Chicago as the “hog butcher to the world.” Now, 50 years after its closing, the “Yards” will once again be a manufacturing haven — of a fungi-based protein. Nature’s Fynd announced it’s bringing the product — known as “Fy” — to Chicagoans, along with a 200,000-foot addition of manufacturing space to come in 2022.

A bright one

In Pilsen, an artist uses an iconic Aztec warrior figure to symbolize stages of life

“It’s all about the evolution,” Chicago muralist Mauricio Ramirez says of his latest work, titled “Pilsen Warrior Mural.”

The mural, which spans the side of an apartment building at 1541 W. 18th St., features three brightly colored figures at different stages of life.

A young child gazes up at a teenage boy wearing a Mexican serape. And there’s an Aztec eagle warrior — a figure from the ancient culture, seen in an eagle headdress and carrying a decorated shield — who collected sacrifices for the gods, including Huitzilopochtli, the Mexican god of war, also often depicted as an eagle.

Provided
Mauricio Ramirez combined images of a young boy and an Aztec eagle warrior in his “Pilsen Warrior Mural.” The mural at 1541 W. 18th St. is meant to portray evolution and to honor the iconic figure.

The mural “talks about evolution and generations, how certain traditions get passed down,” he says.

Ramirez, 32, says he divided the mural into triangular sections and left some of those spaces at street level open for passers-by to help paint.

“A lot of my approach to public art is getting the community involved,” he says. “For this mural, I wanted them to come out, to ultimately give them ownership of the work that’s going up.”

Amelia Ickes has more on the story behind the mural here.

From the press box

Mike Clark previews the biggest games of the weekend as the IHSA state football playoffs kick off.
The Blackhawks formally requested that the Hockey Hall of Fame remove Brad Aldrich’s name from the Stanley Cup as the fallout continues from the independent investigative report released earlier this week.
Kevin Cheveldayoff, the former Blackhawks assistant GM who now works as the Jets’ GM, won’t be fired for his role in the 2010 scandal.

The state’s No. 1 basketball recruiting in the class of 2023 is leaving Chicago to attend Kanye West’s new prep school in California.
From antagonist to Bulls ambassador: Celebrating Joakim Noah

Your daily question ?

If you could commission a mural honoring one Chicagoan, who would you choose and where would you have it painted?

Email us (please include your first name and where you live) and we might include your answer in the next Afternoon Edition.

Yesterday we asked you: Say you’ve been tasked with making a pandemic time capsule to be dug up in 50 years — what would you put in it?

Here’s what some of you said…

“Definitely a picture of Carole Baskin and Joe Exotic. They were basically the kick-off of the lockdown nightmare.” — Howie Corwin-Kent

“The top 25 selling musical albums released in 2020 — music helped so many people mentally throughout quarantine, and it’s one of the only things we still had while locked inside.” — Joe Duhownik

“I’d put in a face mask, hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes, pajamas, pics of the desolate city and Lakefront, a Black Lives Matter protest sign and wine.” — Tami Goldmann

“Masks, hand sanitizer, anti-bacterial wipes and toilet paper. Because it’s everything that was in demand. Not only not that, if there should be a pandemic in 50 years there’s a stash.” — Jackie Waldhier

Thanks for reading the Chicago Sun-Times Afternoon Edition. Got a story you think we missed? Email us here.

Sign up here to get the Afternoon Edition in your inbox every day.

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Bears defensive tackle Akiem Hicks sacks Aaron Rodgers earlier this month. | Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Akiem Hicks hurt his groin on the Lions’ first play four weeks ago.

Akiem Hicks hurt his groin on the Lions’ first play four weeks ago. The Bears’ star defensive tackle lined up over the right guard, slipped underneath a block and dove to try to tackle running back Jamaal Williams.

Hicks tumbled over Williams, who slipped the tackle, and landed on all fours. Outside linebacker Robert Quinn was pushed on top of him. Hicks went to the ground, came off the field and didn’t return.

“A little bit of a friendly fire situation,” Hicks said. “When a 250-pound man falls on top of your back, things tend to happen.”

Hicks missed the Raiders game but returned to play 41 percent of the Bears’ snaps against the rival Packers. He sacked Aaron Rodgers, but his groin hurt even as he did it.

“I knew I wasn’t 100 percent,” said Hicks, who in 2019 rushed back from a dislocated elbow for the rivalry game. “But it’s hard not to play in that game, you know what I mean? … It didn’t perform how I wanted it to, but I was able to show up and play some important reps for my team.”

That mentality makes Hicks the heartbeat of the Bears’ defense. They’ll need him Sunday against the 49ers after he sat out against the Buccaneers. Hicks was limited in practice twice this week and a full participant Friday. The Bears call him questionable.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense ranks 12th with 120.2 rushing yards per game but is two years removed from finishing second in the league. Hicks will buoy the run defense.

“Stopping the run is all mentality, man,” Hicks said. “You’ve gotta want it more than that guy does. We’ve had some performances over the years where we’ve played some of the top running backs in the league at the time or in the course of that year and we obliterated them. We’ve taken them down.

“It’s something that we stand on or should stand on on any football team, is shutting down the run. So I would say this: You’ve gotta have that want-to to step out there Sunday and be willing to impose your will.”

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Michigan celebrates its trophy win in 2018. | Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

The picks are in for Michigan-Michigan State, Penn State-Ohio State, North Carolina-Notre Dame, Rutgers-Illinois, Minnesota-Northwestern and more.

Seven years ago, Mel Tucker was so far out the door it wasn’t even funny. The 2013 and 2014 Bears defenses he coordinated were comically terrible. Fans counted the days until his dismissal from Halas Hall. In the end, they got their wish.

Yet here Tucker is now, the head coach of the most surprising unbeaten team in college football. No. 6 Michigan (-4) at No. 8 Michigan State (11 a.m., Fox-32) is the biggest game of his career.

Tucker’s Spartans are 7-0. Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines are 7-0. It’s the first time ever the schools will meet with records that good and the first time since 1964 they’ll have a top-10 matchup.

It’s a pretty big deal for Harbaugh, too, who is 3-3 against the Spartans and 0-5 against mega-rival Ohio State. Yes, the shadow of the Buckeyes, the mammoths of the Big Ten East, always looms.

Michigan just wants to keep its good thing going. That means taking care of the ball on offense, teeing off on defense and sticking with the hard work and discipline that seem to be the underpinnings of this team.

“Lest we be painfully humbled,” Harbaugh said.

Michigan State — despite its 9-4 record head-to-head the last 13 years — is in a familiar position as the underdog.

“We all know this is a big week and what this is all about, playing the school down the road for the Paul Bunyan Trophy,” Tucker said. “Big game for our players, for our university, for our fans, our alumni, all our former Spartan dogs. It’s a rivalry game. We understand this is not just another game.”

The history is intense. After Michigan won its seventh straight in the series in 2007, running back Mike Hart dismissed the Spartans as “little brother.” A year later, the Spartans got revenge, after which then-coach Mark Dantonio rubbed it in with five utterly perfect words: “Pride comes before the fall.” It kicked things to another level.

In 2015, Harbaugh’s first year at his alma mater, the Wolverines lost shockingly on a blocked punt returned for a touchdown with no time left. In 2018, the teams had a pregame altercation on the field. In 2020, the Spartans won as three-touchdown underdogs — talk about poking the bear.

But who wins this time? The Spartans have a Heisman Trophy candidate in running back Kenneth Walker III, but the Wolverines have snuffed out the run all season. The Wolverines’ offense has avoided mistakes, with quarterback Cade McNamara a dependable caretaker, but is that really any kind of championship plan?

It’s as hard a call as there has been all season. Wolverines, 23-17.

OTHER WEEK 9 PICKS

Rutgers (-1 1/2 ) at Illinois (11 a.m., BTN): Illini QB Art Sitkowski has a broken arm, so he doesn’t get to go against his former school. That’s a shame. Then again, the Illini are one of the worst passing teams in the country with or without him. What about the Scarlet Knights? They’re not really all that good at anything. But they’re also really not that bad at anything. Knights by just enough.

No. 9 Iowa (+3 1/2 ) at Wisconsin (11 a.m., ESPN): The Badgers have taken home the Heartland Trophy seven of the last nine times these schools have played, but the score last year — Iowa 28, Wisconsin 7 — was an eye-opener. Get those punters nice and loose. Hawkeyes, 17-13.

Minnesota (-7 1/2 ) at Northwestern (2:30 p.m., BTN): Look at these sneaky Gophers, taking a run at the Big Ten West title even though injuries have nailed them where they were supposed to be at their best: at running back. The Wildcats have such a hard time putting points on the board, it’s a wonder they’ve won three games. Gophs, 21-16.

No. 1 Georgia (-14) vs. Florida (2:30 p.m., Ch. 2): The City of Jacksonville, Florida, no longer officially refers to this annual neutral-site affair as the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.” Guess how much that has affected Bulldogs and Gators fans’ drinking. Dogs lap it up, 34-16.

No. 10 Mississippi (+2 1/2 ) at No. 18 Auburn (6 p.m., ESPN): Combined, these offenses pile up 990 yards per game. Where I come from, that’s almost 1,000. Ole Miss QB Matt Corral is a superstar, but Auburn QB Bo Nix can be a real animal in his own backyard. Tigers — who had an extra week to prepare for this one — 34-30.

North Carolina (+3 1/2 ) at No. 11 Notre Dame (6:30 p.m., Ch. 5): Mack Brown’s squad was supposed to be better than this. QB Sam Howell has had to put the deep ball away because he’s too busy running for his life, but he’s still a dangerous dude. No safety Kyle Hamilton for the Irish? No good. Howell to Josh Downs all night — and Heels in an upset.

My favorite favorite: No. 5 Ohio State (-18 1/2 ) vs. No. 20 Penn State (6:30 p.m., Ch. 7): Not sure how the Nittany Lions are supposed to pick themselves off the mat after losing at home — in nine overtimes — to Illinois. Worst possible opponent, meet worst possible time.

My favorite underdog: Arizona (+21 1/2 ) at USC (6 p.m., ESPN): The Wildcats are 0-7 but — God bless ’em — they keep showing up and knocking on the door. The 3-4 Trojans are in mail-it-in mode. Make it 0-8, sadly, after another close one.

Last week: 5-4 straight-up, 4-5 vs. the spread.

Season to date: 50-25 straight-up, 43-31-1 vs. the spread.

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The Chicago Bulls received devastating news on Friday, as it was reported that power forward and big man Patrick Williams will miss the entire 2021-22 season to have surgery to repair a dislocated wrist. Williams suffered the injury in the 3rd quarter of the team’s loss to the New York Knicks on Thursday. Williams went […] Chicago Bulls: Team loses Patrick Williams for season – Da Windy City – Da Windy City – A Chicago Sports Site – Bears, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks, Fighting Illini & MoreRead More

Tyson Manker outside Karbala, Iraq, in 2003. The Illinois veteran led a class-action lawsuit — for which there’s now a preliminary settlement — that’s expected to help thousands of vets who have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD. | Provided

Tyson Manker’s case also could help thousands of other vets with post-traumatic stress disorder try to upgrade less-than-honorable discharges and get benefits.

As a Marine in combat and later as an aimless young veteran, Tyson Manker faced a lot of rough times.

But now the Illinois man has won his latest and potentially most broad-reaching battle — this one fought in court. And it should help him and thousands of other U.S. military vets suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

A preliminary settlement of his class-action lawsuit against the Navy, once finalized, will help veterans given “other-than-honorable” and “general” military discharges due to PTSD — and who, as a result, were locked out of healthcare, injury compensation, college money and other benefits usually available to vets.

Like Manker, many went untreated and were flagged for behavioral problems.

“Think about how wrong this situation is,” Manker says. “We’re going to send you home with no benefits and with injuries and with this scarlet letter, and ‘Good luck.’ “

As Manker, who’s from the small downstate town of South Jacksonville near Springfield, describes it, he’s been to hell and back — twice.

The first time was in Iraq, where he was deployed as a patriotic young Marine with a promising career but left under a cloud as he struggled with what he had seen and experienced there.

The second time, years later, was in Texas, when he was nearly stabbed to death. That turned out to be a wakeup call, he says, to fix his own life and do what he could to help other veterans.

Now, Manker says he’s got a lot to be happy about.

“I am finally able to feel totally proud of my service,” he says.

Provided
Tyson Manning stands atop Al-Shaab Stadium, overlooking Baghdad. Behind him is a huge image of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

Manker, 40, enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1999 when he was 18. In 2003, he was deployed to the Middle East during the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Here’s what he remembers most from that time:

Dead and dismembered fighters and civilians.

Land mines and improvised explosive devices.

A close friend and comrade who accidentally killed himself with a gunshot to the head.

Also, as a mortar gunner, he was subjected to repeated subconcussive blasts.

Manker and his unit received the Presidential Unit Citation for “extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy” and for “gallantry, determination and esprit de corps in … extremely difficult and hazardous conditions.”

He received other honors, too, and, in his final two evaluations, was rated “excellent” for proficiency and conduct.

National Archives
Tyson Manker displays an anti-tank grenade found in a weapons cache in March 2003 near Az Zubayr, Iraq.

Looking back, Manker says he already was showing classic signs of PTSD — nightmares, hypervigilance, fears for his own life.

One night before getting a month of leave at home, Manker says he and two junior Marines shared some marijuana.

After he returned from his leave, he was non-judicially charged with use or possession of a controlled substance. Though his medical assessment showed no evidence of substance dependence — and recommended that his trauma be addressed — Manker says in the lawsuit that he got no help for his PTSD.

Instead, within months, he was pushed out of the military with an “other-than-honorable” discharge — “bad paper,” vets call it.

Leaving the service with such a discharge means a vet can’t access healthcare provided by the federal Department of Veterans Affairs, including an assessment and treatment of previously undiagnosed PTSD, traumatic brain injury or trauma from military sexual assault.

It also means forfeiting GI Bill money for college and not being able to tap veterans disability benefits, housing assistance or special unemployment programs.

Manker says he became unmoored.

In time, he found a job, doing motorcycle repair work and living in Texas.

That’s when he got stabbed. He was out with a friend in Austin. A man pulled what Manker thought at first was a gun to rob the friend. It turned out to be a knife. The man used it to attack Manker. He stabbed him in the face and neck.

Manker says he remembers waking up in a hospital room, surprised to be alive.

Having that near-death experience far from the battlefield, it turned out, “shook me from this haze that I was in.”

He came back home to Illinois and enrolled in community college, then went on to the University of Illinois-Springfield, from which he graduated magna cum laude.

Because of his other-than-honorable discharge, he couldn’t use the GI Bill for his education. So he took out loans — enough eventually to also pay his way through law school at Western Michigan University.

Provided
Tyson Manker.

Then, he decided to challenge his discharge, to try to get it upgraded to honorable, based on new understanding of PTSD and a 2014 memo from then-Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that said such requests should be given “liberal consideration.”

Manker struck out on his first attempt. So he contacted Yale Law School’s legal clinic for veterans, which agreed to help.

His class-action suit was filed in early 2018 in federal court in Connecticut. This month, his lawyers and attorneys for the Navy agreed to a settlement that — once approved by a judge — will change Manker’s discharge to honorable and will lay out a path for other veterans with PTSD to overturn their own “bad paper.”

The settlement comes as other-than-honorable discharges have, over time, been on the rise. Since 2001, more than 2.7 million military personnel have served on active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, and about 15% of them left with less-than-honorable discharges, according to the lawsuit. That’s far more than the 7% of Vietnam-era vets and 2% of World War II-era veterans who got such discharges.

Under the preliminary settlement, which would affect those who served in the Navy, Marines and Navy and Marine reserves, the Navy will automatically reconsider certain discharge upgrade decisions made since March 2, 2012. And vets whose discharge decisions were made between Oct. 7, 2001 and March 2, 2012 will be granted the right to try to get them changed.

The Navy also will allow video hearings, making it easier for vets who can’t afford to travel to Washington to make their case in person.

The Navy declined to comment.

A video hearing on final approval of Manker’s settlement is set for Dec. 16.

Blake Shultz, a recent Yale law grad who’s worked on the case for nearly three years, says it has the potential to transform the lives of thousands of veterans with undiagnosed PTSD, some who ended up homeless or with criminal records after leaving the military.

“This settlement is a small but very important first step,” Shultz says.

Manker plans to continue using his legal skills. But he’ll also tap his newly won GI Bill for music school, starting in January.

Provided
Tyson Manker says playing guitar brought him relief from his PTSD symptoms.

In Iraq, Manker promised himself that, when he got home, he’d learn to play the guitar. He says he found solace in playing the instrument and formed a rock band called Neonmoms.

“I’m thankful that I can hang an honorable discharge on my wall,” Manker says, “and that, when I die, there will be a flag folded in my honor.”

READ SUN-TIMES JULY 11 REPORT

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