History repeats itself as Bears reopen stadium options

Bears stadium debate: History repeating itself

This latest Chicago Bears stadium drama has many bears fans wondering -- Is this a real threat? Or is Kevin Warren trying to gain leverage?

CHICAGO - This latest Chicago Bears stadium drama has many Bears' fans wondering – Is this a real threat? Or is Kevin Warren trying to gain leverage?

The questions about the timing of this announcement are warranted, and there may be unintended consequences.

What we know:

The oldest rivalry in the NFL lives again on Sunday night – the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers.

" they are focused on the goal of getting to the playoffs and beating the Packers and having to kind of beat the Packers to get to the playoffs.

An opportunity to prevent recent history from repeating itself.

But sometimes, history repeats itself—off the field.

"I can't get into the psyche and motivation of this organization," Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

In 1995, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley was saying the same thing.

"Money doesn't grow on trees," Daley said. "You can't dip into people's pocketbooks all year and say we want to use it for one sports team."

The team has been courting potential suitors for decades. And Northwest Indiana was just as much a key stakeholder as it was back then. Of course, it was an abandoned industrial site, and the key was an income tax increase.

Back then, the bears settled on renovating Soldier Field.

Much like Kevin Warren's announcement to keep the Bears' options open, even though the Bears put a ring on Arlington Heights** in February 2023.

Laurence Holmes from 670 The Score said the timing is unusual, given the fact Warren promised to have shovels in the ground by the end of this year — and it's days before playoffs and division supremacy is on the line.