Bears See Packers Rivalry More for Fans

What's more likely for the Bears heading into this early season showdown Sunday night at Lambeau Field: Hating the Green Bay Packers or hating all the questions about how much they should hate the Green Bay Packers?

Most likely it's the questions, but you won't hear them bad-mouthing the importance of the rivalry.

Former Bears quarterback Erik Kramer once said it was just another game, and people all but showed up with pitch forks and torches at Halas Hall's gates.

If ever the Bears should have no special anamosity toward the Packers, it would be this year.

With 15 rookies and only 19 players who even played against the Packers as Bears in the past, it would seem Matt Eberflus has them taking the right approach. He says he's worried about his own team more than a rivalry.

"Yeah, I don't even go in that direction," Eberflus said. "I just stayed focused on us."

It seems a somewhat strange approach considering GM Ryan Poles was saying they were going to "...take the North and not give it back."

Ebeflus was asked Wednesday if the topic of the Packers came up when he interviewed with the Bears ownership.

"It did not. It did not go up during the interview," he said.

It was only a year ago when Aaron Rodgers was parading around Soldier Field saying he still owned everyone and the Bears have suddenly become more focused on building a team than worrying about a rivalry.

There is a real fascination with facing Rodgers, even if there isn't a great hatred.

"I'm just excited to go out there and see what I can do against him," rookie cornerback Kyler Gordon said.

Rodgers is coming off a loss and doesn't have Davante Adams to chase his passes now. Adams was particularly damaging to the Bears over the last three years.

"He's a great quarterback, he just took a loss," defensive end Robert Quinn said. "They are beatable.

"We get asked about him all the time. He's a great, soon-to-be Hall of Fame quarterback, Super Bowl champ. It's hard to really say anything negative from that standpoint."

They haven't forgotten last year's "ownership" game at Soldier Field entirely, but their feelings about the rivalry depends on how much they've been exposed to it in the past.

"You know, I'm from here and this is a big deal to me and, you know, to play in this game is just an honor in itself," said Barrington native Cole Kmet. "So, yeah, this game means a lot to me and I have no problem saying that. And as a kid growing up and rooting for this team, you know, this game means a lot to a lot of people."

It's there where the division seems to be. It means a lot to the fans. To the players it's a game and they want to win a game.

"To me, it's just fun," defensive end Robert Quinn said. "I kind of enjoy the fans, hearing their trash talk. It makes it kind of fun.

"A rivalry's a rivalry, and football is football so that's always gonna handle itself. I enjoy the fans, listening to them."

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