Tyrique Stevenson and the Chicago Bears will return to the scene of where their 2024 season came unglued, yet he is OK with it.
Stevenson explained why the team’s last-second loss to the Washington Commanders last season “still hurts” but why he continues to grow from his embarrassing experience as the Bears go back to Northwest Stadium on Monday night.
The Bears were 4-2 and were mere seconds away from being three games over .500 entering November. They trailed 12-0 late in the third and rallied to take a 15-12 lead with just 25 seconds left after Roschon Johnson’s one-yard run and converted first down.
But, of course, Jayden Daniels took Washington down the field then hit Noah Brown for the game-winning, 52-yard Hail Mary TD — after Stevenson was captured trash-talking Commanders fans — and the wheels came off.
When the dust settled, the Bears had finished 5-12, head coach Matt Eberflus had been fired and Chicago ended up making its fourth top-10 pick in the past three years.
The Bears (2-2) will be in Landover, Maryland to take on the Commanders, who are only a half-game up on Chicago for the final NFC playoff spot — with still an extremely long way to go.
Fail Mary ‘Still Hurts’ According To Tyrique Stevenson
Stevenson clearly is still embarrassed about his actions from last season from the Week 8. But he is especially frustrated because that clip is the defining moment of Stevenson’s three-season career — and not his 34 career starts, seven career interceptions or even the NFL-leading two fumble recoveries this year.
“It still hurts. Just to see that people try to define that as who I am as one play, one game out of the other 30 starts I done had,” Stevenson said on the “Intercepted” podcast with teammate Kevin Byard. “But at the end of the day, I’ve got to take it. I wear it, because that’s not who I am but that’s who I showed who I am, and actions speak louder than words.”
To Stevenson’s point, he had nine tackles, seven solo tackles and a pass defended in the loss to Washington.
But he will be widely remembered for years to come for not being in a position to knock down the Hail Mary — even though he had a game-winning play for the Bears, a 43-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter of their Week 1 win over the Tennessee Titans.
Tyrique Stevenson ‘Would Have Never Changed’ If Not For Fail Mary
Like most characters who go through a high-profile, embarrassing moment, Stevenson is learning from his mistake and hopes to avoid committing a gaffe like that again.
“It was like a second awakening of ‘Welcome to the NFL,’” Stevenson said. “I think it was good … because I would’ve never changed.”
Stevenson said he will continue to use that clip, and memory, to keep improving.
“I want that to be a memory in my head of what not to do,” Stevenson said. “The fact that I let the game get in my head — I’m talking to the fans, I’m doing this, I’m doing that — I think that was a selfish moment.”
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