Athletes find all kinds of motivation in all kinds of places. Much of the motivational material doesn’t fare well when held up to the light of truth or reality, but it doesn’t matter. Michael Jordan would interpret an opponent’s smile as five different insults, at least one of them some sort of blasphemy on his family, when, in fact, the smile was directed at a mustard-slathered hot dog dropped on a pair of pants in the stands. Woe to the smiler anyway.
The Bears open the season Sunday against San Francisco, which means that Justin Fields, their quarterback, will get a chance to face 49ers quarterback Trey Lance, who, if he were so inclined, could brag that he was taken eight spots higher in the 2021 draft. As far as I know, Lance has not bragged about that. Not that it matters to someone looking for inspiration.
