Bear Digest

Caleb Williams and Bears gear up for arctic Soldier Field conditions

It used to be called Bear weather but the Browns play in it, as well, and Sunday the teams will try to keep from freezing on the lakefront.
Gene Chamberlain|
The last time the Bears had a really cold game at Soldier Field was when they honored Mike Ditka in 2013 and beat Dallas 45-28.
The last time the Bears had a really cold game at Soldier Field was when they honored Mike Ditka in 2013 and beat Dallas 45-28. | Mike DiNovo-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The Bears are feeling as prepared as a team can be for 9-degree highs with minus-25 degrees as a wind chill.

That's the forecast for Soldier Field and it doesn't matter if you've played in that kind of cold or not, it's still brutally cold for football.

Playing against Cleveland doesn't help them, either. The Cleveland Browns play on a lakefront in cold weather too.

"I've played in some cold games already here, and I've played in cold games before," Bears quarterback Caleb Williams said. "The weather and elements don't bother me. Just being able to get warm, get my body warm and then go out there and deliver good balls to my guys and let them go make plays.”

Last week in Green Bay was cold. So was the season finale at Green Bay last year when wind chill was just 2 degrees.

Still, Williams' experience in such extreme conditions is limited.

Veteran safety Kevin Byard had a little more experience with it.

"My rookie year I played in Kansas City. It was one degree at kickoff. I think it was like negative 19 or something like that wind chill."

His memory was pretty good. It was 1 degree with minus-17 wind chill.

"The AFC championship game in Kansas City, again, was really, really cold," Byard recalled about the 2019 seasons victory by Patrick Mahomes and Co.

It was 17 degrees with minus-8 degrees wind chill.

"I’ve probably only played in maybe one other game that was in the single digits temperature," Byard said. "Sunday (in Green Bay) was pretty cold, but I don't think it's going to compare to what it's going to be on Sunday.”

Playing the game in such extreme conditions isn't as bad as something else.

"It's the whole lead up, the warmups, it's just standing around," Byard said. "That's kind of the annoying part of it. The TV timeouts. I just stand over by the heaters and when it's 30 seconds left on the TV timeout, run out on the field, get the play call.

"When you're in the game you're thinking about the game, you're thinking about what the offense is doing and stuff like that. It's more about the lead up to the game and at the end of the day, both teams have to play in the same weather. The game's going to get played so there's no point of thinking too much about it once you're running around, your body warms up and I mean we’ve got nice warm benches and all that stuff. It's not really that bad."

Byard revised that comment for the general populace.

"I feel bad for the fans who are out there," he said. "If the fans are out there screaming and having a good time, I feel like we can too.”

They're hoping the heat from the home crowd frenzy helps.

"Having our crowd in our home stadium, who've been electric this year, using that to our advantage, especially on defense," Byard said. "Then the offense having to communicate a little bit more and just kind of using that momentum as far as the crowd to go out there and play well. We're excited to be home for three out of the last four games."

It just might be a little cold.

Coldest Bears games

  • Dec. 9, 2013 at Soldier Field: 8 degrees (-9 wind chill), Bears 45, Cowboys 28
  • Dec. 22, 2008, Soldier Field: 2 degrees (-13 wind chill) Bears 20 Packers 17 OT
  • Dec. 10, 1995, at Cincinnati: 8 degrees (-9 wind chill), Bengals 16, Bears 10
  • Jan. 10, 1988 at Soldier Field: 4 degrees (-23 wind chill), Redskins 21, Bears 17*
  • Dec. 18, 1983, Soldier Field: 3 degrees (-12 wind chill), Bears 23, Packers 21
  • Dec. 20, 1981 at Soldier Field: 6 degrees (-9 wind chill), Bears 35, Broncos 24
  • Dec. 10, 1978, Soldier Field: 1 degree (-16 wind chill), Bears 14, Packers 0
  • Dec. 11, 1977, Soldier Field: 3 degrees (-10 wind chill), Bears 21, Packers 10
  • Dec. 3, 1972, at Minneapolis: -2 degrees (-15 wind chill), Vikings 22, Bears 10
  • Dec. 15, 1963, Wrigley Field: 1 degree (-15 wind chill), Bears 24, Lions 14

**The air temperature for the 1988 NFC championship game at Soldier Field was 17 degrees, but with 29 mph wind it was -26 wind chill

*Playoff game

Source: NFL game-day statistics

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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.