At my first Chicago Bears game in 2021 at Soldier Field , I got a Justin Fields jersey.

I was torn when it was purchased because I wanted a No. 4 Eddie Jackson jersey because, at the time, he was my favorite Bear and I thought he’d be on the team for a while.

Jackson is still on the team and he seems secure even though he is a free agent after next season, 2025.

However, they didn’t have any Jackson jerseys left in my size at each of the three stands I went to, so instead, I went with my second option, the newly drafted 2021 No. 1 pick, the Bears’ No. 1 quarterback, the No. 1 selling jersey for the Bears, again at that time, No. 1 Justin Fields.

And if I do say, it looks good on me.

The Bears’ blue brings out the best of my brown, green, hazel, gray – depends on which day and what mood you find me at – eyes.

Who doesn’t like having a No. 1 on their chest?

Who doesn’t like wearing a jersey for the player who is labeled as the future or the savior or the guy who can change a team’s projectory if he pans out?

Here’s a better question.

Who doesn’t like to have the jersey of the guy who was labeled with positivity and optimism, but because of his play on the field and movements made by the team’s administration hasn’t come close to any of the hype, potential or helping the Bears win games.

Answer: Me.

I’m still a Fields’ guy and think he could be good, he could win some games, he could get the Bears to the top of the NFC North even though the Green Bay Packers manage to be the Green Bay Packers no matter who is on the team, the Detroit Lions are trying to rally some great seasons together to overshadow their lousy legacy, and the Minnesota Vikings are taking their rotation of being a bad team for 3-4 years before they’re once again a good team and toward the top of the division and the conference, although the transition will be faster with the receiving corp in Minnesota.

He shows signs. Fields can run, he has a strong arm, and the game seems to be slowing down for him. Fields also misses wide-open receivers and runs into coverage instead of away from it.

On the other side, coach Mike Eberflus and an array of offensive coordinators can’t figure out how to use him. I say an array because three years into his career, Fields has had a new OC for each new campaign.

Administration can’t put an offensive line in front of him to make sure Fields isn’t pummeled every game. There was a defensive fire sale unloading Khalil Mack, Roquan Smith, and Akiem Hicks for younger, inexperienced, lower salaried players.

Offensively, running backs can’t stay healthy or on the field to give him options and before DJ Moore came to the team via trade before the 2023-24 season, Darnell Mooney was Fields’ go-to receiver, who is a No. 3 or No. 4 receiver on a team with talent.

So, all of the issues are not Fields.

Defensive, other positions, different coaches, different schemes, and different philosophies are not on Justin Fields.

However, when those aspects of a football team are happening and the QB doesn’t change the culture or show a quantum leap in ability and ticks in the win column in a few short years, they’re the scapegoat, they take the blame, and eventually are gone.

Unfortunately for my jersey, because I don’t want to wear uniforms of players no longer connected to the logo next to their name come Sundays from August-February, if Fields is ousted because the Bears have the No. 1 draft pick for the 2024 NFL Draft on April 25-27, it will be time to donate the jersey.

Whether I send it in a care package across the seas to a different country, sell it in a garage sale ($2 at a garage sale is donating compared to what I paid for it), or bring it to the Nightengales, Salvation Army or Lily Pads, it isn’t going to be in my closet anymore.

So if you see me wearing the Fields jersey in the spring or the summer and I’m sweating as I stand in one place because it’s too hot to wear, you’ll know why.

I have to get my use out of the jersey before Justin Fields and the Chicago Bears part ways.