The Chicago Bears always seem to deal with a notable antagonist who plays for the Green Bay Packers. It isn’t just that the player is good. It’s that he takes extra delight in needling fans at every opportunity. In the 2010s, that was unquestionably Clay Matthews. He loved testing the limits of the rule book whenever he played the Bears and talked trash constantly. After he left, it felt like cornerback Jaire Alexander took up the mantle. The only difference was he was even more of a dick about it.
He’d pick fights with Bears receivers and relished every opportunity to break hearts with an interception. Alexander was the worst kind of villain: a talented one. That makes what happened over the past few months extra sweet. It started with the Bears beating the Packers in Green Bay, robbing them of a higher playoff seed. Now the full effect rained down when Alexander was officially cut. He’d initially hoped to renegotiate a new contract or get traded. Neither worked out. Now he’s forced to enter the free agent market with other teams knowing he has an attitude problem and having no intention of paying him significant money.
One thing makes this extra humiliating for Jaire Alexander.
It’s not like the Packers are settled at cornerback. They have serious questions at the position. Their only notable addition was free agent Nate Hobbs, who had a checkered run with the Las Vegas Raiders. Eric Stokes had already left in free agency. Green Bay has no definitive anchor in the secondary. Yet they cut Jaire Alexander anyway. How much of an ass do you have to be for that to happen? Many felt it was only a matter of time before Alexander’s personality got him in trouble. He staved off consequences because of his excellent play. Once the injuries started piling up, the Packers became less tolerant of him.
What’s that Robert Louis Stevenson quote?
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“Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences.”
Alexander’s path seems obvious at this point. He’ll latch on with a contender for cheap and try to show everybody he is still elite. It won’t last long, and he’ll fade into the background within the next couple of years. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
