One of the most overlooked qualities the best athletes in professional sports have isn’t intelligence or how fast they run or how tall they are. None of that. It is their single-mindedness when it comes to winning and losing. Their competitive streak. The thought that losing makes them physically ill. Tom Brady? Michael Jordan? Wayne Gretzky? Pete Rose? All of those guys are all-time greats not just because of their ability but also their relentless will to win. Does Justin Fields have that same mindset?
He absolutely does. At least according to his sister. Jaiden Fields knows a thing or two about high-level sports. She is a top player for the Georgia softball program that just completed a nice run at the College World Series. She knows her brother as well as anybody. Rest assured he had to win at every little thing since they were kids. Jaiden explained as much during her appearance on the Bernstein & Rahimi Show for 670 The Score.
“Everything has always been a competition,” Jaiden said of her childhood alongside Justin. “Ever since we were young, we were racing up the stairs or we’d get off the bus stop and see who could make it home faster. He definitely made everything a competition in our house, including my younger sister Jessica too. She’s definitely taken over that role as being really competitive. All three of us have been competitive our whole lives and have carried that over to the field and on to other parts of our lives.”
This certainly explains a lot.
Fields’ competitive streak was evident from the moment he emerged into the public eye. His head-to-head battle with Trevor Lawrence at the Elite 11 quarterback competition in high school. Transferring from Georgia after just one year when he realized he wasn’t going to start. Hiring a lawyer to challenge the NCAA on letting him play for Ohio State immediately. Rallying backers to force the Big Ten to reinstate their season during the COVID-19 fiasco.
This guy will do whatever it takes to play football. He loves the game. That much is evident. The only thing he seems to love more is winning. He lost exactly two games in his two years as a starter for the Buckeyes. Both of them to national championship participants. That is the kind of big-game player the Bears want under center. Somebody who can’t even contemplate the idea of losing.
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Justin Fields said himself he “wants to be great”
He said those words during his pre-draft interview with the Bears. There was genuine emotion behind it too. Fields is a driven young man. He didn’t get to the NFL just for the sake of getting there. That wasn’t his primary goal. He wants to be successful in the NFL. To be one of the top quarterbacks to play the game. Such drive has always been evident with previous Chicago QBs.
Justin Fields continued to live up to that competitive reputation before rookie minicamps. That was clear when he said the goal of every player should be to start. That is why his approach in practice and the preseason will be to win the job. Even if the coaching staff intends to go with Andy Dalton for the time being. Fields wants to play. It doesn’t matter who stands in his path.
His goal remains the same. To win.
This is why it is okay to be excited about his future. Nothing is guaranteed in the NFL. Still, players like Fields tend to do well in this league. They have the talent but more importantly the drive. When those two things come together, it leads to great things. One can only hope the Bears do their part in trying to give him as much help as possible.