Chicago Bears fans were over the moon when the moment came. Their team had just drafted one of the most talented quarterbacks in the 2021 class. Justin Fields. A player who’d carried his program to the College Football Playoffs twice. A player who reached a national championship game and never lost a game inside the Big Ten. Somebody who was 6’3, could fire a ball 60 yards down the field with ease and run a 4.41 in the 40.

There wasn’t much to hate about the move. If this kid lives up to his potential, the Bears have a star on their hands. Yet there is always so much more that goes into picks like this. More information that fans never even consider. I decided to do a little digging on the subject to see if anything stood out.

Turns out there were a number of fun nuggets that emerged. Here are a few that Bears fans may love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW5MI3JknoM&ab_channel=KhaiDk

Justin Fields pick has some fascinating info tied to it

He is the first Ohio State pick by the Bears in 12 years

Think about this. When people talk about football factories in college, there are a handful of programs they mention first. Alabama is probably #1 but Ohio State is right there at #2. Consider this. Between 2010 and 2020, a full decade, a total of 71 Buckeyes were drafted. No fewer than 18 of them in the 1st round. Pretty impressive. What’s even crazier? Not a single one of them ended up in a Bears uniform.

Fields is the first Ohio State player Chicago has drafted at any position since way back in 2009. That year they took linebacker Marcus Freeman in the 5th round. They also grabbed guys in 2004 (Craig Krenzel) and 2008 (Kirk Barton). After that stretch, the Bears went completely silent for 12 years until fans heard Fields’ name called that night in Cleveland.

He is the THIRD Bears QB who went 11th overall in the draft

This was a wild revelation. Since the draft was first implemented in 1936, a total of seven quarterbacks ended up going 11th overall. Where it gets kind of spooky is that three of those picks, across 60 years mind you, ended up wearing a Bears uniform. The first was Greg Landry. He spent 14 seasons from 1968 to 1981 with the Detroit Lions and Baltimore Colts. Then he retired for three years before Chicago brought him back in 1984 as a backup.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE2rnuPOQ1c&ab_channel=ChicagoBears

Next was a little-known guy named Jay Cutler. The Denver Broncos moved up to grab him 11th overall in 2006. After starting out so well, a falling out with then-head coach Josh McDaniels led to Cutler requesting a trade. Chicago made it happen and he’d end up as their all-time leading passer. Now Fields becomes #3 and the first to actually be drafted by the Bears.

Where it gets even weirder? Two of the other seven 11th overall picks were selected by fellow NFC North rivals. Jerry Tagge in 1972 to the Packers and Daunte Culpepper in 1999 to the Vikings.

He is the NINTH Georgia native Ryan Pace has drafted or signed

There must be something about the state of George the Bears GM can’t get enough of. Adding nine players to his roster from that state alone is pretty surprising given there’s 49 others involved as well. Yet the list is hard to ignore.

• Buster Skrine
• Kindle Vildor
• Leonard Floyd
• Roquan Smith
• Mike Davis
• Duke Shelley
• Dwayne Harris
• Connor Shaw

Honestly, this just makes his passing on Georgia-native Deshaun Watson back in 2017 all the harder to understand.

Giants GM Dave Gettleman traded back for the first time ever

People need to understand how crazy the trade for Justin Fields was. Not just for the fact that the quarterback was available at all. Just as baffling was how Pace managed to convince Gettleman to move down. Think about this. That man had been a GM in seven drafts prior to 2021 between the Panthers and Giants. Not once during that entire stretch of time had he traded down. Not just in the 1st round, mind you. In the draft. Period. Not even a little dip in the 7th round. It was always either a move up or trading picks for players.

Then, completely out of the blue, Pace pulled off the impossible. Gettleman agreed to move down 11 spots in the 1st round. For a pretty fair deal too in the form of a future 1st round pick and two mid round picks. So not only did Fields have to fall, the Bears had to convince a GM who never moved down in nearly a decade to move down. Unreal.

Two former Bears guys were involved in his fate

There were a number of times things could’ve gone so wrong for the Bears. What would’ve made it sting even more? Is if one of their own ended up ruining their day. There were two instances this almost happened. At the #9 pick, the Denver Broncos were contemplating what to do. A lot of people felt they were either going to draft a quarterback or trade it to somebody who would. Their GM George Paton? He was a scout and personnel director for the Bears in the 1990s and early 2000s. In the end, he chose Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II.

It wasn’t over though. Word emerged after the draft that the Minnesota Vikings (#14) were looking hard at Justin Fields. Their GM Rick Spielman likely would’ve taken him at that spot and also considered moving up. The price tag was just too steep. That hesitation opened the door for Pace to strike. Before making his name in Minnesota, Spielman was a Bears personnel director from 1997 to 1999.