What’s that famous Bible saying? “Pride goeth before destruction.” Others paraphrase as pride comes before the fall. Either way there is nothing that can kill the career of a GM in the NFL faster than an out of control ego. Guys who think they have all the answers and when everything is going wrong, it’s not on them. They did their job. Someone else isn’t doing theirs. The feeling is that this is the pitfall Ryan Pace is teetering on with the Chicago Bears.
For all the good things that the GM has done in his time, especially the construction of a great defense, there is no escaping his greatest mistake. That is Mitch Trubisky. The former #2 overall pick was the biggest of gambles back in 2017. One year as a starter. Two more proven prospects in Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson on the board. Pace went all-in and time has proven he made the wrong choice.
Now the fear is growing that his clinging to the hope that Trubisky may turn things around will be his undoing. Michael Lombardi, a former GM himself and noted Trubisky critic believes Pace’s ego threatens to lose the locker room unless he refuses to see reality with the young quarterback.
“I think it shows he’s more interested in winning than winning his way. I think oftentimes, and this happens in the NFL more than not, but when I worked at the Raiders it became more about how we won as opposed to whether we won or not. Ego shouldn’t be involved in doing what’s right for the team. Let’s face it. The longer he clings to it, the players in the locker room lose respect for him.”
Ryan Pace is clinging to 2018 and it might sink him
It got even more interesting when McAfee actually told a story of back when he was with the Colts. He alluded to the fact that former GM Ryan Grigson actually met with the players during a rough stretch of a losing season. He had the guts to say that if everybody put aside their egos and bought in completely, the team could be really good. This was four games into the season after Grigson had traded away a 1st round pick for running back Trent Richardson.
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By that point he’d rushed for just 203 yards, averaging a woeful 3.33 per carry with two fumbles. It was clear by that point that the guy wasn’t anything special, but the team refused to bench him because Grigson wouldn’t allow it. It’s probably not a coincidence that the team began to slide after that season and Grigson was eventually fired. Pace is staring down a similar crossroads in his own tenure.
He has one winning season it what will be five years when 2019 concludes. A big reason for that is his inability to get the quarterback position right. He signed Mike Glennon. He drafted Mitch Trubisky. This is on him and if he’s not willing to let the coaches make a change because it will make him look bad? Then he won’t have to worry about that because he’ll be looking for a new job soon enough.
