Bear Digest

Brash Talk Emerging from Hammond Mayor Regarding Bears Stadium

The battle between Illinois and Indiana to get a stadium deal done for the Bears took on a new, more intense tone Thursday and the Hammond mayor seems to like his chances.
Gene Chamberlain|
The mayor from Hammond, Ind., seems awfully confident about getting the stadium built for the Bears.
The mayor from Hammond, Ind., seems awfully confident about getting the stadium built for the Bears. | Amanda Perobelli-Reuters via Imagn Images

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In this border war for the hand of the Bears, there is the actual luring of the team to a stadium site but also a PR battle.

As of Thursday, Indiana not only seems like it's winning the war but the mayor of Hammond, Ind. is downright talking trash to Illinois. Meanwhile, the only response in Illinois is Gov. J.B. Pritzker and a few locals saying they're "disappointed" in a rather meaningless statement issued by the Bears after Indiana's House committee passed their concept for funding a Bears stadium to the full House for a vote.

Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. told Fox News he's confident in what the state is offering the Bears and in the attraction his state offers.

"At the end of the day if the Chicago Bears spend 10 minutes in Hammond and they end up saving a billion dollars in Illinois I can't control that--that was a good investment by the Bears," McDermott said. "But if Illinois can match our deal—I don't know if they will—but let's say they match. Let's say we have  a bill on the table and Illinois puts a bill on the table. I think nine times out of 10 the Bears pick Indiana because we're a better business climate and for the next 30 or 40 years Indiana is going to be in a better position than Illinois and I think the Bears, as any big business, are looking to save money. So I think they're going to choose Indiana personally."

In his talk with Fox's Paris Schutz, McDermott even brought up the Bears fight song, with it's phrase about Illinois. It's something many Bears fans on social media have pointed out.

"We have a surplus as a state, so I imagine our state would be able to offer more than Illinois is willing to offer because it seems like Illinois is sort of digging in against the Bears, which is shocking to me," McDermott told Fox. "I mean, in the Bears fight song is ‘the pride of Illinois’ and it doesn't seem like they're being treated like the pride of Illinois right now."

In a sense, McDermott is right. The Bears put out a simple non-committal statement thanking Indiana for its interest and support and Pritzker is one of several Illinois politicians "disappointed."

Instead of being disappointed, maybe they need to do something to keep from being disappointed. It's time the Illinois governor and others need to realize this isn't a negotiation. It's, what can you do for me?

If Illinois can't do much, and there's every reason to think this is the case after the way it has dragged heels over three years, then the team will wind up in Indiana.

This isn't done, yet, because Illinois' spring legislative session runs on through into late spring and they can still see if they can match what the Bears have said they want, which is nothing more than tax certainty and $860 million in infrastructure improvement in Arlington Heights at their property for the stadium. But Indiana is working fast and that state’s  

McDermott seemed to sense victory, though, and was all but spiking the political football with one of his comments.

"I want to see Caleb Williams come driving down Calumet Avenue, going to his house in Robertsdale," McDermott said.

It sure must be a nice place if it's going to get the Bears QB out of his mansion overlooking Lake Michigan.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.