Chicago Bears: History Already Putting Pressure on Trubisky

The words “successful Chicago Bears quarterback” haven’t gone together in a long time. Mitch Trubisky is the latest hoping to change that.

He has his share of doubters. Many experts are skeptical that a player with just 13 college starts is prepared to hoist the weight of a quarterback-starved franchise on his shoulders. Especially given how mismanaged the position has been under this ownership dating back to the 1980s. Their signing of Mike Glennon and then playing him over Trubisky was only the latest example in their minds. Now the kid is forced to come in to bail out their bad decision. He’s got no chance.

To his credit Trubisky doesn’t seem to be minding the pressure. He’s used to being doubted. Few major schools offered him a scholarship despite being Mr. Ohio Football in 2012. Then at North Carolina he was forced to sit on the bench until his junior year. Most people didn’t expect much from him before he proceeded to put up 30 touchdown passes with just six interceptions. He seems to thrive on low expectations.

Mitch Trubisky could join an exclusive club on MNF

The big question ahead is just how successful will he be in Chicago? As it turns out the success or failure of a Bears quarterback is often determined by their first start. Particularly when it comes to 1st round picks. Follow the bread crumbs and one will find the most successful of them tended to win their first starts.

• Sid Luckman beat the Cleveland Rams in 1939
• Jim McMahon beat the Detroit Lions in 1982
• Rex Grossman beat the Minnesota Vikings in 2003

All three of those men either won a championship or at least reached a championship game during their careers. Conversely those like Jim Harbaugh and Cade McNown seemed to offer hints that things would end in disappointment by losing their first starts. Now of course this doesn’t apply to all quarterbacks. Peyton Manning lost his first four career games before getting a win. He seems to have done just fine.

This is strictly for Bears quarterbacks. Trubisky is battling a lot of history and it seems that history is often about getting off to good starts. He’ll have a tall order ahead of him against the tough Minnesota Vikings on Monday night. Can he pull it off? He better hope so.