Bears Say Fans Need To Chill Out

After getting jeered out of the building Sunday, Brian Urlacher spoke for presumably more than a few of his teammates. "The only team in our division that gets booed at home is us," Urlacher said. "It's unbelievable to me."

The reaction from fans seemed to be along the lines of Don't want to get booed? Suck less. But it raises the same point made more brutally by this video of Jets fans heckling players at halftime: Should it be encouraged, or even acceptable, to verbally abuse your team?

Chicago's RedEye is attempting to broker an accord, break down the barriers that separate fans from players, and get everyone to realize that we're all just...human. They asked several Bears if there's anything fans ought to understand about them. A sample of the responses:

Tim Jennings I just wish they understood that we're human. We're not always going to be perfect. We go out there and work just as hard as anybody else, and we feel we have a lot of pressure on us.

Patrick Mannelly Just the amount of hard work and dedication that each person in any sports locker room puts towards their profession. It doesn't seem like the hours are long. I don't think they realize the mental stress. You take it home with you like everybody else takes their work home with them.

Corey Wootton I think they almost think that we don't care if we lose, or things like that. But we're working our butts off every game trying to get wins out here. It's tough.

Henry Melton That it's just a game. There is passion for sports, but after everything it is just a game. Unless it's your last year of life, we're going to be back next year. I mean, there are many more years of the Chicago Bears. So it's not that serious. Everybody wants to win, but it's not as serious as people want to make it.

Yeah, that's totally true and totally not going to make things better. The bear may be nature's perfect killing machine, but the Bears fan smells weakness like none other. This Christmas, the Bears should be thankful they have no more home games.

Bears just want fans to understand [RedEye] H/t Andrew