(670 The Score) One night after being selected second overall by the Bears in the fateful 2017 NFL Draft, quarterback Mitchell Trubisky was shown on the big screen while attending a Bulls game at the United Center and was promptly welcomed to Chicago with boos.
Trubisky hadn't even picked out his jersey number for the Bears yet, let alone thrown a pass for the team. Chicago had been blindsided by the selection of Trubisky, who at the time was an innocent bystander of the city's frustration with its football team. The belief was if the Bears were going to select a quarterback, it was going to be national champion Deshaun Watson out of Clemson.
Instead, Bears general manager Ryan Pace passed on Watson and Texas Tech standout Patrick Mahomes after trading up one spot to No. 2. The rest has been history and part of cruel infamy in Chicago.
While Watson has earned Pro Bowl recognition with the Texans and Mahomes has risen to MVP stardom with the Chiefs, Trubisky is staring at the likely end of his Bears tenure as four regular-season games remain. And now the storyline is back in the spotlight as Watson and the Texans (4-8) visit Trubisky and the Bears (5-7) on Sunday. It will mark Watson's first start at Soldier Field.
"I don’t control that narrative," Trubisky said Wednesday. "I don’t control what people say about it. It is always going to be a story just because that’s the draft class we came in. It was me, Deshaun and Pat. We were picked where we were. It’s up to us to make the most out of our opportunities. They’ve done a great job with theirs, and I’m still trying to write my story here."
Four years later, the Bears' decision to pass on Watson and Mahomes looms larger than ever over Halas Hall. It's the ultimate what-if for the organization, as the Bears have been left to wonder what could've been if their dominant defense of the past three seasons was matched with a star at quarterback.
Trubisky certainly doesn't control the narrative, and many in Chicago are sick of hearing about it. But Pace and his front office will be judged for their failures at the quarterback position and how those have prevented the Bears from achieving sustained success. The franchise had the opportunity to bring in its greatest quarterback ever, and Pace appeared to have his choice set only on Trubisky.
By Jan. 4, Pace could be fired in large part because of how the decision to select Trubisky over Watson and Mahomes cost the organization so dearly. It has been his biggest miss in his six seasons leading the Bears.
For his part, Watson took the high road.
"It's no motivation," Watson told the Sun-Times on Wednesday. "It's what the organization went with. I had no ties, nothing against the Chicago Bears or the organization.
"They did what they did. You just keep pushing forward. They thought that was the best situation for themselves at the time."
As part of his evaluation of the Bears' future, chairman George McCaskey must ask himself whether Pace should get another opportunity to choose a quarterback. Pace has only drafted one in Trubisky, and his signings of Mike Glennon and Nick Foles to be starters didn't work out.
Pace has failed the Bears at the quarterback position. He also brought in Matt Nagy as the team's head coach because he believed Nagy was well-suited to develop Trubisky.
Nagy is 25-19 over three seasons as Bears coach but seen his team regress each year. Now, his job security is in question in part because of how instability at the quarterback position has hurt the team.
It will take an impressive final four games for the Bears to finish on a positive note and let Nagy return for a fourth season.
"You think about, OK, how did it get to this, where could it go, all that stuff," Nagy said. "And there’s a lot of depth to that. There really is, and I can go on and on and on. Trust me. All day about that one.
"I’m going to stay positive all the time. I promise you. Positive. Positive. Positive. And that’s the only thing that I know.”
Last December, Mahomes counted on his fingers to 10 -- representing where he was drafted in 2017 -- after throwing a touchdown pass in the Chiefs' 26-3 win against the Bears at Soldier Field.
What will Watson do in his first start against the Bears? It may add insult to injury for a franchise still desperately searching for a quarterback.
And that ill-fated selection of Trubisky would be part of why the Bears could move forward without Pace.
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.