Getty ESPN analyst Louis Riddick looks on before a game.
At one point, Louis Riddick said he’d absolutely consider being the Chicago Bears’ general manager.
Now, just over eight months later, Riddick is being called out on Twitter by oodles of Bears fans who say he’s blocking them.
In an appearance on ESPN 1000’s Waddle & Silvy show on December 23, 2021, Riddick was asked by co-host Marc Silverman if he would consider being general manager of the Bears. It was at the end of a tumultuous season in which rumors were swirling that the team’s then-GM, Ryan Pace, was going be fired — which he was at season’s end.
“Of course I would listen,” Riddick said then. “Of course. It’s the Chicago Bears, man. It’s a blue blood franchise. Of course.”
That never materialized, as the Bears wound up hiring Ryan Poles to replace Pace in January of 2022. Coincidence or not, Riddick has been singing a bit of a different tune about the Bears since then.
ALL the latest Bears news straight to your inbox! Subscribe to the Heavy on Bears newsletter here!
Riddick Said Bears Would Likely Be NFL’s Worst Team in 2022
Riddick served as director of pro personnel in Washington from 2005 until 2007, and he held the same role with the Philadelphia Eagles from 2010 to 2013. He was a candidate for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons GM jobs in 2020, among others, and he was interviewed by the Pittsburgh Steelers for their general manager spot this year.
He has yet to work as a GM in the NFL, but Riddick remains well-respected throughout the league. He has been working as an analyst for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” for the past several years, and he ruffled the feathers of Bears Nation back in June when he suggested Chicago would be the worst team in football.
The worst team in the league? WORST?
He also said he didn’t expect big things from second-year quarterback Justin Fields. “There’s a huge learning curve for him. He’s learning a whole new offense again,” Riddick said about Fields on ESPN’s “Get Up” in June.
“I don’t think this is just about Justin,” Riddick continued. “This football team around him, you tell me how they got better offensively to the point where he will be able to let his athletic abilities shine. I don’t see it, man. … This could be an ugly year for Chicago, I really think it could be.”
The Bears went 3-0 in the preseason, and while that ultimately doesn’t matter, there were multiple encouraging signs for a team that has been much-maligned in recent years. The team looked solid defensively, and the unit’s hustle was evident. There were fewer glaring penalties on both side of the ball, and the offensive game plan actually makes sense for the players on the roster. There were also positives from Fields, who was PFF’s highest-graded QB of the preseason.
Justin Fields was the highest-graded QB in the preseason (15+ dropbacks).
He passed for 8.1 yards per attempt, rushed for 7.6, and didn’t have a turnover-worthy play.
Man doesn’t have much help around him, but he looks very good heading into Yr 2
Considering their team didn’t look like the worst team in football, it appears Bears Twitter may have started to wreak havoc on Riddick’s mentions.
Follow the Heavy on Bears Facebook page, where you can weigh in on all the latest Bears-related breaking news, rumors, content and more!
Bears Twitter Says Riddick Is Blocking Them
After the Bears won their third and final preseason game against the Cleveland Browns, 21-20 on August 27 — led by a 14-16, three-TD performance by Fields — Bears Twitter began trolling Riddick, who in turn, apparently began blocking them.
The Barroom Network tweeted that Riddick wouldn’t have lasted a season as the Bears GM “being so sensitive.”
Louis Riddick blocking thousands of #Bears fans who are giving him shit. And, he wanted to be the team
s GM??? He wouldn’t last a season being so sensitive.
While others lamented about how much things can change in a short period of time:
2 years ago, Louis Riddick was at the top of a lot of Bears fans list as a future GM candidate. Now, he’s gone and blocked the whole gottdang city.
🐻🔽
Riddick is a friend and former colleague of ex-Bears head coach Matt Nagy, who was fired along with Pace, and some fans accused Riddick of dismissing the Bears in 2022 because Nagy is no longer there.
Getsy making Nagy look like a incompetent child and Louis Riddick can’t handle it. He’s blocking Bear fans who never tweeted him directly. Lol
Mostly, though, Bears fans just used Riddick’s block party as an opportunity to chide the current ESPN analyst some more:
Louis Riddick will end up blocking 100% of Bears fans but that will not change anything. Sore ass loser hahahahaahah
While the Bears didn’t look like the worst team in the league during the preseason, they will need to prove that during the regular season, as well. Then — and only then — can Bears fans truly get the last laugh.
READ NEXT: Bears Finalize 53-Man Roster, Release Multiple Promising Young Defenders
Comments
Bears Fans Blast GM Candidate for Blocking Them on Twitter: ‘So Sensitive’