Nothing shakes up the landscape of a professional sports league more than a team wanting a new stadium. It can quickly spiral out of control, often leading owners to contemplate possible actions that never seemed possible before. That includes moving their team out of town to another city. There are many famous examples of this. Robert Irsay moved the Colts from Baltimore to Indianapolis in 1984 over stadium issues. Art Modell did the same in 1995, taking the Browns from Cleveland to Baltimore. The Supersonics left Seattle for Oklahoma City because of arena issues. You see those stories and think there’s no way the Chicago Bears reach such a point, right?
The odds are incredibly low. This organization has been connected to the city for over a century. They’re a national institution—a founding franchise. Moving them elsewhere would be sacrilegious to many. Still, their ongoing stadium problems have left the door open for other cities to at least try convincing them to relocate. We’re not talking about somewhere else in the suburbs. According to a source, the city of St. Louis has made quiet overtures to the Bears, gauging their interest in moving there.
St. Louis knows all too well what is happening with the Chicago Bears.
After all, they went through it twice. Before moving to Arizona, they originally had the Cardinals in town from 1960 through 1987. Then they had the Rams in town from 1995 through 2016 before they moved to Los Angeles. St. Louis hasn’t had an NFL team for nine years, forcing them to make up for it by hosting a UFL team, the Battlehawks. One can imagine the city would love to get back into the big leagues. If the NFL isn’t willing to grant them an expansion team, perhaps stealing a disgruntled franchise from another city is the next best thing.
It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve stolen a team from Chicago. The Cardinals were there during their earliest days, sharing the city with the Chicago Bears. It’d be rather poetic if they did it again almost a century later. In truth, their efforts were wasted. The Bears didn’t take the communication seriously, focusing their efforts on Arlington Heights.
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