With the 2021 NFL Draft set to take place this week, the talk has been about quarterbacks, especially when it comes to the Chicago Bears. We know that the first two players off the board will be Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson. This leaves Mac Jones, Justin Fields, and Trey Lance as first-round prospects the Bears will have to choose from.
Stars are aligning for the Chicago Bears to draft Justin Fields in the first round.
Let’s be honest, plans in the NFL rarely go as planned. The Chicago Bears have seen this play out too many times, especially in the NFL Draft. To counter this, General Manager Ryan Pace has always opted to be aggressive, trading up in order to secure the draft prospect he covets.
When the 2021 NFL Draft commences on Thursday night, all eyes will be on the third overall pick. Who the San Francisco 49ers select will have an impact on the Bears’ draft plans. That’s why a report from NFL Network raises the question: Are the stars aligning for the Bears to nab Fields?
As the #49ers close in on their decision of which QB to take at No. 3, sources say they are down to two prospects — and the belief is those two are #Bama QB Mac Jones and #NDSU QB Trey Lance. Several sources say the focus does appear to have shifted to those two.
If the 49ers are indeed choosing between Jones and Lance, it gives the Bears an opportunity to trade up for Fields who by many is considered to be the third-best quarterback in this year’s NFL Draft.
The big catch here simply comes down to Chicago being willing to trade up for Fields. The Ohio State prospect won’t make it outside the top-10 so for the Bears to draft him, Chicago would have to sacrifice the 20th overall pick in 2021, along with a 2022 and potentially even 2023 first-round pick.
The Bears know what Fields brings to the table which is a lethal dual-threat quarterback who can hit any throw on the field or hurt opposing defenses with his legs. To further at Fields case as the future of the Bears, look no further than Fields performances against Alabama and Clemson in the College Football Playoffs last season. He was easily the best player on the field, overcoming a gruesome hip injury against Clemson to win.
The Bears still lack a long-term solution at quarterback and while the thought of acquiring Fields is certainly exciting, it shouldn’t be considered a surefire move unless the Bears do indeed trade up and grab Fields, something that appears to be in the makings.
Morgan Urso tried many sports as a young child and didn’t like any of them. Everything changed at age 10 when she went to hockey practice with her brother.
“I ended up loving the game,” Morgan said. “The feeling of the fresh air hitting my face every shift is a feeling that I’d take any day.”
Now a high school sophomore, Morgan’s zeal for the game took a hit when her club hockey team unexpectedly banned her from practice, games and team activities.
The Urso family recently sued Team Illinois Hockey and the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois for disability discrimination, claiming Morgan was suspended after she told a coach about her mental illness.
During her freshman year in 2019, Morgan experienced a severe depressive episode, resulting in her going to an outpatient program and being given new medication.
Morgan said her coach, Team Illinois Hockey Director Larry Pedrie, was initially supportive. “He said if I needed to be an assistant coach on the bench with him or if I wanted to go out and skate or miss, I could do whatever I needed to,” Morgan said.
Morgan’s mother, Kelly Urso, said she received a call the next day and was informed that Pedrie had spoken with Mike Mullally, USA hockey director at the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois, and they had decided to bar Morgan from all Team Illinois practices, games and other activities.
“I remember saying, ‘What?’ a lot, like, how did he decide this,” Urso said. “He just kept saying, ‘I have [Team Illinois’] full board support, this is what AHAI has advised us to do.’ I ended up hanging up on him because I got so emotional.”
Morgan and her family filed a lawsuit against Team Illinois Hockey and the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois, claiming the organizations discriminated on the basis of disability. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Urso said a few hours later she heard from other parents on the team that Pedrie told them and their children not to communicate with Morgan until she was able to provide a doctor’s note clearing her to participate in 100% of team activities.
Pedrie’s email to parents of players expressed a desire to keep kids from “carrying the burden of a teammate’s personal struggle.”
“We were mad, disappointed and hurt,” Urso said. “We had come from programs where hockey was your family, and to have this be the reaction, we were just confused.”
Morgan, who missed a month of ice time, was allowed to finish the season after the Ursos hired lawyer Charlie Wysong, a partner at Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym Ltd. However, Morgan said she was “super uncomfortable” being around her coach and constantly felt nervous back on the team.
In spring 2020, the Urso family filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights. The department investigated but declined to pursue a case against the team or the hockey association.
Despite being able to rejoin the team, Morgan said from then on she was “super uncomfortable” being alone with her coach and other players’ parents. Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
On April 20, Morgan and her parents filed a lawsuit in DuPage County Circuit Court against Team Illinois Hockey and AHAI for discriminating against her on the basis of disability.
“We’re not allowed to banish people who are depressed or anxious or have suicidal thoughts,” Wysong said. “That’s not OK.”
The Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois and its lawyer declined to comment on the lawsuit. Pedrie did not respond to several requests for comment.
Urso said the family sued to prevent other families from undergoing a similar situation. She said there should be policies and procedures in place to support children experiencing mental health issues in youth sports and proper training for coaches.
“We hope that it will help youth sports recognize that this is a major issue, especially after COVID-19, that kids are dealing with a lot of mental health issues,” Wysong said.
Morgan Urso (right) and her siblings in their “Team Morgan,” shirts. The family formed “Team Morgan” to raise funds and awareness about mental illness.Courtesy/Kelly Urso
Morgan, a center, returned to the ice for the 2020-21 season with a former hockey team. This year, Morgan plans to try out for a St. Louis AAA Blues hockey team.
She has also started working with the #SameHere Global Mental Health Movement, which aims to raise awareness about and provide resources for those dealing with mental illness.
In forming “Team Morgan,” the Urso family raised and donated more than $50,000 to #SameHere for mental health treatment.
“Anyone out there struggling is never alone,” Morgan said. “There’s always someone to talk to, whether it’s me, or a friend or a parent. And don’t be afraid to go to your coach.”
ChicagoBears (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Let’s call the Chicago Bears first-round draft pick in the 2021 NFL Draft one word: Unpredictable. The Bears are indeed one of the toughest teams to project in round one. Chicago could trade up for a quarterback, stand pat at 20th overall, or simply even trade down.
For General Manager Ryan Pace, he’s only ever done two of the three scenarios mentioned above. Pace’s draft history in round one is full of trade-ups (Mitchell Trubisky and Leonard Floyd). He also opted to stand pat in 2015 and 2018, drafting wide receiver Kevin White and linebacker Roquan Smith.
Chicago did not have first-round draft selections in 2019 and 2020, as both picks were shipped off to the Las Vegas Raiders in the blockbuster deal that landed the Bears Khalil Mack ahead of the 2018 regular-season opener.
Who are three teams that the Chicago Bears could trade down within round one?
Trading down in round one has never really been an option for Pace. The aggressive yet much lambasted general manager has always opted to trade up, citing reasons as being aggressive when it comes to roster building.
This year, trading down should be a serious option for the Bears. Despite having first, second, and third-round draft choices, the Bears simply have too many needs but too few resources. Trading down allows the Bears to acquire extra draft capital in rounds two, three, and four, setting the stage for extra draft picks that will mean more youth on an aging roster.
The first-round draft order means the Bears’ options will still be limited when it comes to trading down. Three teams could make the most sense: New York Jets (23rd overall), Cleveland Browns (26th overall), and Baltimore Ravens (27th and 31st overall).
As Chicago continues to prepare for the 2021 NFL Draft, let’s break down why the three teams mentioned above could make sense if the Bears decide to trade down.
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A composite of photos from various bodycams released by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. | COPA
Based on the newly released videos and audio, as well as original reporting, this shows the slowly-changing narrative involving Toledo’s death.
In the early hours of March 29, a police officer shot and killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood.
More than two weeks later, after conflicting reports from public officials about the incident and calls for the release of more information, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability released video footage and audio it had obtained during its investigation.
The timeline of what the police and authorities knew — and what they were telling the public — that follows is based on police bodycam video, 911 calls, ShotSpotter audio, and case reports, along with original reporting by the Chicago Sun-Times.
* * *
On March 26, Adam’s mother, Elizabeth Toledo, reported him missing to the police. The next day, when police arrived to talk to her about her missing son, she said Adam had returned and police closed the file. Either later that evening or early March 28, Adam leaves home again.
Elizabeth Toledo didn’t report him missing again, police said.
Note: The time markers below are written in an hour:minute:second format, as the altercation lasted only seven and a half minutes.
Before Police Arrive
March 29, 2021
Around 2:35:00 a.m.
Note: This time is based on a camera from the Armor De Dios United Methodist Church which had an incorrect time of 4:24 a.m. This camera’s timestamp is incorrect by roughly 1 hour and 49 minutes.
Based on a video from a Little Village church, Adam and 21-year-old Ruben Roman are seen walking toward the corner of 24th Street and Sawyer Avenue, where police allege Roman fires shots at a target out of view. After the shots, Adam and Roman leave the scene.
2:36:39 a.m.
A witness calls 911 saying he heard seven or eight shots fired in the 2300 block of South Sawyer Avenue and mentioning there was “a lot of commotion.”
2:38:20 a.m.
A male and a female officer with the Chicago Police Department arrive on the scene.
Civilian Office of Police AccountabilityResponding male and female officers exit vehicle (via male officer body camera).
Police Arrive
Civilian Office of Police AccountabilityAdam Toledo (left) and Ruben Roman are seen in the alley as police give chase, in this still taken from video from the female officer’s body camera and released by COPA.
2:38:20 a.m.
Body-camera footage shows the male and female officers begin chasing Adam and Roman in an alley. At this point, there is no audio available from the officer’s bodycam.
2:38:27 a.m.
The male officer knocks Roman to the ground, causing him to drop a pair of red gloves. The female officer then detains Roman.
Civilian Office of Police AccountabilityRoman is tackled by the male officer. (via female officer body camera)
2:38:34 a.m
Audio from the bodycams kicks in, and the male officer chasing Adam can be heard yelling at him to stop.
2:38:37 a.m
The male officer catches up to Adam, who appears to have stopped running near a gap in a fence between the alley and a parking lot behind Farragut Career Academy High School. The male officer points a strobe flashlight at the boy.
2:38:38 a.m.
The male officer shouts, “Hands! Show me your f- – -ing hands!”
2:38:39 a.m.
Civilian Office of Police AccountabilityA frame from a police bodycam video of Adam Toledo appears to show him holding a gun just before he was shot.
Bodycam footage shows Adam turning toward the officer with what appears to be a gun in his right hand at his side.
Video overlooking the alley, appears to show Adam tossing something behind fence.(via Lawndale Christian Health Center camera.)
A security camera along the Lawndale Christian Health Center building captures video of Adam apparently tossing something behind a fence.
2:38:40 a.m.
Adam raises his hands; he now appears unarmed. The male officer fires one bullet at Adam from a close distance. Adam falls to the ground.
Civilian Office of Police AccountabilityMoment before Adam Toledo is shot by male officer (via male officer body camera)
2:38:45 a.m.
The male officer walks towards Adam and radios for an ambulance.
2:38:50 a.m.
“Look at me. Look at me. You all right? Where you shot?” the male officer says to Adam, who is unresponsive. The male officer lifts up Adam’s sweatshirt to look for a wound and tells Adam, “Stay with me.”
2:39:20 a.m.
The male officer radios for someone to bring him a medical kit.
2:39:22 a.m.
At the other end of the alley, the female officer cuffs Roman as more police arrive. Roman is searched.
Civilian Office of Police AccountabilityRoman being handcuffed by female officer (via female officer body camera)
2:39:41 a.m.
The male officer describes Adam’s wounds to a group of newly arrived officers (just offscreen of his bodycam) as they prepare equipment including a chest seal, gloves and vacuum pack.
2:40:00 a.m.
Police shout for Adam to stay awake as they prepare to resuscitate him.
2:40:04 a.m.
The shooting officer tells the assisting officers he doesn’t feel a heartbeat and is going to begin CPR.
2:40:12 a.m.
Police begin to perform CPR on Adam.
2:40:18 a.m.
The female officer runs toward the location of the shooting.
2:42:09 a.m.
The shooting officer walks away from the scene and his body camera shows what appears to be a gun on the other side of the fence from the shooting.
Civilian Office of Police AccountabilityA gun can be seen along the fence line in a view from the male officer’s bodycamera.
2:42:56 a.m.
Officers receive a radio confirmation that an ambulance is heading their way as the shooting officer looks out at the parking lot.
2:44:27 a.m.
The female officer asks the shooting officer, “Do you want to sit down?” and suggests getting some water. The shooting officer sits and then appears to become emotional and covers his face.
Civilian Office of Police AccountabilityShadows of the female and male officer along the fence (via female officer body camera).
2:44:23 a.m.
Paramedics arrive on the scene.
Civilian Office of Police AccountabilityParamedics arrive (via newly arrived officer body camera)
2:45:50 a.m.
A police supervisor radios into officers on the scene to turn off their body cameras.
Aftermath
Roman was taken into custody and charged with resisting arrest, a misdemeanor. He was released from police custody a few hours later.
5:01:00 a.m.
CPD spokesman Tom Ahern tweets about the shooting, the first official statement from police. In his tweets Ahern refers to it as an “armed confrontation” and shares a photo of a gun police say they recovered at the scene.
Officers observed two subjects in a nearby alley, one subject fled on foot which resulted in an armed confrontation. One subject shot and killed. 2nd subject in custody. Gun recovered on scene. COPA investigating. #ChicagoPolicepic.twitter.com/bn7o2deAGS
Adam’s body is removed by Allied Services and taken to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
6:29 a.m.
The Sun-Times and other news outlets first write about the incident. Adam’s identity still isn’t known. Police said he was not carrying an ID or cellphone.
Wednesday, March 31
Two days after Adam was killed, police contacted his mother, Elizabeth Toledo, and asked for a photo of her son after they find a closed missing person’s report from the weekend, a police spokesman told the Sun-Times. A half hour later, they knocked on her door and asked her to come identify a body at the Cook County medical examiner’s office that matched her son’s description.
COPA says initially it is prevented from publicly releasing videos involving a juvenile but says in a statement later that evening that officials were “making every effort and researching all legal avenues that will allow for the public release of all video materials which capture the tragic fatal shooting.”
Monday, April 5
At a press conference, Lightfoot, who says she hasn’t seen the videos but says they were described to her, repeatedly says Adam had a gun and blames the adult who gave it to him. “An adult put a gun in a child’s hand. … A weapon that could and did irreparably change the course of his life,” the mayor says.
Wednesday, April 7
Judge Timothy Chambers issues an arrest warrant for Roman after he doesn’t show for a court hearing in connection to a 2019 gun case.
Friday, April 9
Roman is taken back into custody after police allegedly find him hiding in a closet in a building in west suburban Maywood.
Adam, a seventh-grader at Gary Elementary School, is laid to rest in a private ceremony.
Saturday, April 10
During a bail hearing for Roman, James Murphy, a Cook County prosecutor, says Adam had a gun in his head before police shot him. Roman is charged with felonies including reckless discharge of a firearm, unlawful use of a weapon, child endangerment and violating probation.
Murphy says in a proffer that the Ruger 9mm handgun found near Adam had previously been used by Roman. The prosecutor further says: “The officer tells [Adam] to drop it as [Adam] turns towards the officer. [Adam] has a gun in his right hand.”
Murphy says after Adam was shot once by the officer, “[t]he gun that [Adam] was holding landed against the fence a few feet away.”
The Cook County state’s attorney’s office says prosecutor James Murphy had “failed to fully inform himself” before Ruben’s weekend court hearing when Murphy said Adam had a gun in his hand at the time of the shooting.
Noon
During a news conference at City Hall Lightfoot says “Simply put, we failed Adam. And we cannot afford to fail one more young person in our city . . . We must do more to help children like Adam before they end up in encounters like this one.”
Cook County Prosecutor James Murphy is placed on administrative leave because the state’s attorney’s office says he “failed to fully present the facts,” the state’s attorney’s office said.
It’s almost time for the 2021 NFL Draft, and this isn’t Ryan Pace’s first rodeo. The ChicagoBears are in an eerily similar position they once were, just four years ago. Four years ago, the Bears went out and signed free agent Mike Glennon, who was coming off an up-and-down tenure with the Tampa Bay […]
A 16-year-old boy was shot April 26, 2021 in West Pullman.
The teen boy was standing on the sidewalk Monday in the first block of East Kensington Avenue when someone inside a dark-colored vehicle fired shots.
A 16-year-old boy was hurt in a shooting early Monday in West Pullman in the Far South Side.
The teen boy was standing on the sidewalk about 2:45 a.m. in the first block of East Kensington Avenue when someone inside a dark-colored vehicle fired shots, Chicago police said.
He was shot in the leg and self-transported in good condition to St. Margaret Hospital in Hammond, Indiana, police said.
Officers initially said the boy was killed in the incident, according to police.
No one is in custody as Area Two detectives investigate.
At least three people were killed and 22 others wounded in shootings since 5 p.m. April 23, 2021 in Chicago. | Sun-Times file photo
Bryone Dupart was found lying unresponsive on the street Friday night in the 900 block of West 61st Street.
Three people were killed and 22 others wounded in shootings across Chicago this weekend, including a man who was killed Friday night in Englewood on the South Side.
About 10:35 p.m., officers found the 27-year-old lying unresponsive on the street in the 900 block of West 61st Street, Chicago police said.
He had suffered gunshot wounds to the abdomen and leg and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
He was identified as Bryone Dupart by the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
There were no witnesses to the shooting and no additional details available, according to police.
A 36-year-old man was shot to death early Sunday in Humboldt Park on the Northwest Side.
Duntae Manuel was sitting in a vehicle about 12:30 a.m. in the 3900 block of West Thomas Street when the gunman approached him on foot and fired shots, police said.
He was shot in the head and body and was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. The Cook County medical examiner’s office hasn’t yet released details on his death.
Hours earlier, a 30-year-old woman was fatally shot late Saturday in Roseland on the Far South Side.
About 10:20 p.m., she was in the driver’s seat of a vehicle in the 500 block of East 103rd Street, when shots were fired, police said. She was struck in the head, body, and rushed to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where she was pronounced dead.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office hasn’t released details on her death.
In nonfatal attacks, a 16-year-old boy was hurt in a shooting early Monday in West Pullman in the Far South Side.
The teen boy was standing on the sidewalk about 2:45 a.m. in the first block of East Kensington Avenue when someone inside a dark-colored vehicle fired shots, police said. He was shot in the leg and self-transported in good condition to St. Margaret Hospital in Hammond, Indiana, police said.
Officers initially said the boy was killed in the incident, according to police.
On Saturday, a man was shot in East Garfield Park on the West Side.
The 62-year-old was standing outside about 6:10 a.m. in the 3900 block of West Monroe Street when someone opened fire, striking him in the leg, police said. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital.
Also Saturday, another 16-year-old boy was shot in Little Village on the Southwest Side.
About 5:10 p.m., he was standing in the 3300 block of West 28th Street, when a vehicle approached, two people got out and fired shots, police said. He was struck in both legs, the hand, and rushed to Mt. Sinai Hospital in good condition.
At least 19 others were wounded in shootings between 5 p.m. Friday and 5 a.m. Monday.
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