VIDEO: Ecstatic Ryan Poles Celebrated In Rain After Bears Win

One thing that became clear about Ryan Pace during his long tenure as Chicago Bears GM is his unassuming nature. He was content to hover in the background and sit quietly up in the box on game day. He rarely appeared in front of the media. Barely a few months into his first year, it’s becoming evident that Ryan Poles isn’t about that life. The 36-year-old has held more press conferences and interviews in the past few months than Pace did in three years. All signs point to a man that is hands-on in everything the team does.

He wants everybody to know they can come to him for anything. The buck stops with him. More than that, he wants them to know he cares. Poles is a competitor and wants to win. That was evident in his emotional introductory speech back in January. So nobody should’ve been surprised when he hustled down to the rain-drenched field after the Bears stunned the San Francisco 49ers 19-10, giving Matt Eberflus a giant hug. The expression on his face said it all.

Ryan Poles deserves no small amount of credit.

He inherited a dumpster fire when he took over. The Bears were an old, overpaid, and injured team when they finished the 2021 season. They were also soft in the eyes of many. Poles had little money to spend, and only five draft picks. Somehow he would have to navigate those challenges. He overhauled almost two-thirds of the roster, turned five picks into 11 via trades, and bucked conventional wisdom by hiring Eberflus as head coach over the offensive flavor of the month.

Four of his rookies became immediate contributors in that 49ers win, while his head coach got everybody to play almost penalty-free for 60 minutes. It’s no wonder Ryan Poles got a game ball from Justin Fields. The man’s fingerprints were all over that upset. People will say the victory was a fluke. San Francisco beat themselves more than the Bears did. That’s fine. It doesn’t matter. Chicago got what they came for. They’re already in the win column when everybody predicted them to be the worst team in football.

That is because of Poles.