Instead of being anywhere near the Super Bowl, the Chicago Bears are actually on the clock. As of right now, they are getting ready to make the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft after having the worst record in the league.

In watching Super Bowl LVII, you can see a lot of what makes the Bears terrible. For one, each team has a roster filled with impressive players instead of just three or four.

The Kansas City Chiefs were losing early to the Philadelphia Eagles. Philly looked like they were going to run away with it at one point because they somewhat contained the Chiefs’ offense while scoring some points themselves.

However, the Chiefs have something that Bears fans can only dream of and that is Patrick Mahomes who is the best player in the NFL. Coming off his second career MVP, he has now also won his second Super Bowl.

The Chicago Bears made a huge mistake by passing on Patrick Mahomes.

After five years, he has five appearances in the AFC title game, two MVPs, three trips to the Super Bowl, and two victories in those Super Bowls. It has been nothing short of all-time great.

To be honest, it is crazy to be talking about someone as an all-time great following only five years but that is what we have to be doing with Patrick Mahomes. There is no reason that he can’t win a couple more and get himself into the conversation with Tom Brady.

This is all sickening when you think about it from a Chicago Bears standpoint. They traded up to select Mitchell Trubisky when Mahomes was still on the board. It is the biggest mistake in the history of the franchise.

Some people want to defend the bears by saying that he wouldn’t be this good if the Bears drafted him or by bringing up what scouts were saying going into the draft. None of those things should be acceptable answers though.

For one, Mahomes very well could have been as good if he were selected by Chicago. After watching him play for the last five years, you’d put anything past him? He would make everyone great by association. Things would be different if he was there.

When it comes to the scouts’ argument, that can’t be an excuse. Patrick Mahomes was electric factory at Texas A&M and everyone knew he’d be taken in the first round. He was a tad bit rawer but clearly an outstanding player. It isn’t at all like Trubisky was any better at North Carolina.

Sorry, this one is going to haunt the Bears for a very long time. Until the Bears have their franchise guy in place and they know it for a fact, Mahomes will continue to haunt them. We hope it is Fields but he has a long way to go.

Congrats to both the Chiefs and Eagles on a fantastic season. They were each the best team in their respective conference and deserved to win big. There can only be one winner but it sure was close. Now, we move into the off-season.

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Marvis Hiner was thrilled that two Black quarterbacks were facing off in the Super Bowl for the first time, something he said he didn’t think would happen in his lifetime.

“Mostly it’s been either white quarterbacks or one or the other,” Hiner said while waiting for the game to kick off Sunday evening at Williams Inn Pizza & Sports Bar. “It’s a great time to see that two Black quarterbacks are leading the teams in the Super Bowl. To see this is amazing.”

Hiner and other Black Chicago football fans celebrated the historic significance of the match-up between the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, saying it shattered stereotypes of Black players at the position.

“It’s showing that Black quarterbacks can do the same thing as other quarterbacks,” Hiner said. “They always try to make them play a different position, like a wide receiver or something because they think that they can’t make the quick decisions. But they’re showing them right now that they can.”

For decades, white team owners and coaches operated under the assumption that African Americans were unable to grasp the technicalities to be successful at the quarterback spot.

Both Mahomes and Hurts acknowledged history was being made during their media blitz last week. But they hope that having two Black starting quarterbacks in the Super Bowl becomes so commonplace that it ceases to be notable.

”You’re on the world stage,” Mahomes said. ”And to have two Black quarterbacks playing the position at a high level and consistently playing great football just shows where we’re at in football and in society. We’re moving forward. We want to continue to move forward. We’re not done.”

Milan Hill, who was also at Williams Inn, echoed Hiner. “It shows that Black quarterbacks are equally as talented and intelligent as white quarterbacks, and they should be given more opportunities,” Hill said.

He said similar leadership opportunities should also be extended to Black coaches and executives in the NFL.

“Coaches and front office people in the NFL need to be more represented by people of color,” Hill said. “But it’s gonna take a lot of changes and litigation to help transform the league.”

In 2006, two Black head coaches faced off in the Super Bowl for the first time when Tony Dungy’s Indianapolis Colts and Lovie Smith’s Chicago Bears battled it out. There was optimism at the time that it meant the NFL was making progress in regards to diversity in coaching, but the league has struggled to hire people of color in leadership since then.

Washington’s Doug Williams was the first Black quarterback to start and win a Super Bowl following the 1987 season. That’s back when Black quarterbacks were fairly rare across the NFL.

Mahomes can become the first two-time winner if he leads the Chiefs to victory. Hurts aims to become the fourth Black QB to win the Super Bowl, joining Williams, Mahomes and Russell Wilson.

Steve McNair, Colin Kaepernick, Cam Newton and Wilson also started in a Super Bowl, but they lost.

In Grand Crossing on the South Side, Rico Mays, 44, sported a green Hurts jersey outside the 50 Yard Line sports bar. He said the duel between two Black quarterbacks showed how far the game had progressed.

“The game has evolved to where you have Black quarterbacks representing both leagues right now in the Super Bowl,” Mays said. “It’s as historic as it should be.”

“It’s going to give a lot of Black quarterbacks the opportunity to compete at this level, it’s going to open up doors,” Mays said. “And that it’s happening during Black History Month is an added bonus.”

Contributing: Patrick Finley, AP

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LAS CRUCES, N.M. — New Mexico State called off the rest of its men’s basketball season Sunday after reviewing a police report that cited three players for false imprisonment, harassment and counts of criminal sexual contact against a teammate.

In a statement, chancellor Dan Arvizu said “this action is clearly needed, especially after receiving additional facts and reviewing investigation reports related to the hazing allegations involving student-athletes on the team.”

The campus police report, obtained by The Associated Press, redacted the names of the players involved. The report, filed Friday, detailed the victim telling investigators that last Monday, three members of the team held the victim down “removed his clothing exposing his buttocks and began to ‘slap his (buttocks).’ He also went on to state that they also touched his scrotum.”

The victim told police he had no choice but to let this happen “because it’s a 3-on-1 type of situation.”

The victim said other incidents had been occurring since last July or August, and that inappropriate physical and sexual touching by his teammates had been occurring in the locker room and on road trips.

“We must uphold the safety of our students and the integrity of our university,” Arvizu said. “It’s time for this program to reset.”

He said he had spoken with the commissioner of the Western Athletic Conference, which said it was reviewing how to treat the six New Mexico State games that will be wiped off the schedule in regards to seeding for next month’s conference tournament. The report said the victim went to campus police to report a possible assault, but did not want to press criminal charges for the time being.

On the same day the report was filed, the school announced it was suspending its season indefinitely. Then, on Saturday, Arvizu acknowledged the suspension was occurring because of hazing allegations on the team.

At about the time Arvizu revealed the hazing allegations, two players on the team quit. One of them, redshirt freshman Shahar Lazar, said he was leaving because “I don’t think the program that I originally committed to aligns with my beliefs and core values.”

These allegations come less than three months after the suspension of forward Mike Peake, who is being investigated in the case of the fatal shooting of a student from rival school, University of New Mexico on Nov. 19.

Peake has not been charged in that case, which included state police stopping the team bus on Interstate-25 as it headed back to Las Cruces shortly after the shooting, and missing Peake and three of his teammates, who had taken him to the hospital with an injured leg.

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In the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears are going to have a multitude of options on the table.

General manager Ryan Poles might be the most powerful GM in all of the NFL following Super Bowl LVII, and that’s putting it lightly.

The Bears are set to have the most cap space in the league once free agency opens in March, and the next-closest team has over $30 million less than Chicago.

Not to mention, the Bears also own the no. 1 overall selection in the draft. Most would agree that the Bears will end up keeping quarterback Justin Fields, although Bryce Young is right there for the taking. If Chicago trades the pick, Poles could wind up getting a historical value in return. One particular expert seems to think that the Bears will get exactly that, and more.

If this Chicago Bears mock draft scenario came true, Ryan Poles would be set up for years to come

In his most recent 2023 mock draft, CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso has the Bears moving down to no. 4 overall with the Indianapolis Colts and getting an absolute haul for the number one selection. With the no. 4 pick, Trapasso has the Bears going after Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson.

“Anderson gives me serious Khalil Mack vibes, which makes this perfect for the Bears, particularly after trading back. In the trade, the Bears get this pick, the Colts’ selections in Round 2 and Round 4 along with a 2024 first-round pick and third-round pick, plus a 2025 second-round choice.”

Here’s what that would look like, visually.

The Bears would then have two second-round picks, a third-round pick, three fourth-round picks, two fifth-round picks and a seventh rounder for 2023, with plenty of additional capital in the coming two drafts as well.

Just think about what Poles could do with those remaining nine picks. First and foremost, those second and third rounders could easily turn into starters at positions of need like wide receiver, offensive and defensive line.

But, Poles could also do what he did a year ago and continue adding more draft capital via trade. Those nine picks, realistically, could turn into 12-16 picks in the end.

To land Anderson at four is a huge win, but it’s what Poles could do with the following picks after that could lead to such a dramatic change for the franchise in just a short amount of time.

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Caleb Jones has spent the last month flip-flopping more than an indecisive person at Chipotle. Or, to use a more topical example, more than Stan Bowman in his final years as Blackhawks general manager.

But Jones’ ability to do so — to adjust to being either a left-side or right-side defenseman without much difficulty — has given the Hawks much-appreciated defensive lineup flexibility.

“It has been a little back and forth, but that’s something I’ve done my whole career,” Jones said recently. “I’ve always been the guy for the last three, four years — wherever I’ve been — that has gone over to the right side. I’m used to it.”

Added coach Luke Richardson: “In the game now, with the agility and speed, everybody should be able to do that. But, for sure, some guys do it better. For a guy [who]…has been in-and-out of lineups and fighting his way to get to where he is now — [with] more of a higher status and a little bit more experience — it has probably helped him. It’s smart for guys to practice that.”

Jones’ chaotic stretch began Jan. 3 against the Lightning, when he actually filled in as a left wing because Tyler Johnson was scratched late due to illness. By comparison, nothing since has been quite as foreign as that.

On Jan. 6 and Jan. 8, Jones played the left side — his preferred side as a left-handed shot — with Ian Mitchell, a right-handed shot, on his right. But on Jan. 12, the Hawks inserted left-handed prospect Isaak Phillips, forcing Jones to move to the right side.

He spent two more games there, then moved back to the left on Jan. 19 when Mitchell came back in. On Jan. 21, Phillips was swapped in again and Jones moved back to the right.

On Jan. 22, Mitchell regained his role and Jones moved back to the left, where he also spent the remaining three games before the All-Star break. The Hawks kept that combination together this past Tuesday and Friday, having returned Phillips to the AHL during the break.

But in Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Jets, left-handed veteran Jarred Tinordi made his return after missing two months recovering from facial surgery. Trying to ease Tinordi back in, Richardson didn’t reunite him with Connor Murphy — instead keeping Jack Johnson in that slot — but rather put him with Jones and, naturally, moved Jones over to the right again.

This rollercoaster isn’t likely to end soon. The trade deadline will shake up the Hawks’ defensive corps even more, and all of the prospects who might move up into the vacated NHL spots — including Alex Vlasic, Filip Roos and (once the OHL season ends) Ethan Del Mastro — are also left-handed.

For Jones, the flip-flopping requires resetting his vision and frame of reference.

“You see the game differently,” he said. “There’s different things on your off-side that you have to do…[to] put yourself in different positions to make a play. You can get on your backhand a little more. I’ve done it a lot, so I’m used to it, but it definitely is a little bit tough going back and forth every night.”

Meanwhile, Kevin Dean — the Hawks assistant coach overseeing defense — has worked with Jones on coordinating breakouts more cleanly, regardless of who he’s partnered with.

“Just giving your partner a good, clean puck so he can make the next play without a lot of duress [is important],” Dean said. “If Caleb’s got the puck, Ian has to be in a good spot. When Ian runs out of space and time, Caleb has to be there to help him out. We’ve gotten better at that.”

After scoring the overtime winner Friday, Jones touts two goals and nine assists in 42 games this season, averaging 18:01 of ice time.

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A Former Bears coach is helping the Eagles

Two Former Bears coaches are set to face off in the Super Bowl. Matt Nagy has been with the Kansas City Chiefs as their quarterbacks coach this season. He took the job after he was fired from the Bears last season. One of Nagy’s assistants during his head coaching tenure in Chicago was recently hired by the Eagles for a brief assignment.

Report Chicago Bears to re-sign Vic Fangio as DC

According to a report by Ian Rapoport with the NFL Network, former Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was hired by the Eagles to help them prepare for the Super Bowl. He will take the Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator when the clock strikes midnight Monday morning. But here’s the twist, Fangio wasn’t hired for his knowledge of Nagy’s limited offense. Fangio is helping prepare the Eagles’ offense:

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