Silvy: Stop with the cliches, it’s time for Bears to fully embrace change

Change is happening.

The winds of change are blowing through Halas Hall like those early spring winds off of Lake Michigan. At times, it can be cold and cruel. Just ask Justin Fields.

At others, it signifies a new beautiful time heading to Chicago.

It’s been a while since Bears fans celebrated the blooming of a beautiful time. This is the Bears offseason many of us have waited years for.

The hard part of the rebuild is over. A new QB on his way. Perennial pro bowl wide receiver Keenan Allen, still putting up prime time numbers, was acquired in a trade.

A defense poised to take the ball away with Montez Sweat and Jaylon Johnson getting paid like stars. And a new downtown lakefront stadium plan is being finalized. These are not your father’s Bears. And thank goodness. But then new team President Kevin Warren, celebrating his one year anniversary with the Bears, served up a plate full of sausage for meatheads.

At the NFL owners’ meetings, Warren was asked about what he wants to convey to Caleb Williams and other potential draft picks during his one-on-one time at Halas Hall in April, Warren channeled his inner Ted Phillips:

“They need to understand the history and tradition of the Chicago Bears, and the history and tradition of these fans,” Warren said.

Let’s be clear: the Bears tradition is losing. And fans are tired of it, we don’t want to embrace it.

The answer from Warren is a lazy take.

I like Warren, and believe his presence inside Halas Hall was needed, and he will prove to be an outstanding team president. His work ethic is far from lazy, but relying on the same stock quote from McCaskeys gone by is brutal. I just hope if he gets involved with players, he can get more creative than “we’re the charter franchise of the NFL.”

In his quest to build a new stadium, Warren is challenging politicians to push boundaries and not accept the norms of the past in Chicago and the state of Illinois. He also is pushing Bears fans away from more than 100 years of outdoor football.

Challenge change with players, too.

If I were Warren, here is what I would express to future Bears players.

Yes, Papa Bear George Halas founded the NFL and is one of 40 members of the Bears in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the most in NFL history. We have some really cool history. Walter Payton was the best.

Butkus and Sayers, incredible.

The 85 Bears, as dominant as they come.

Yet the Super Bowl shuffled out of this franchise a long time ago.

• The Bears have won a grand total of one Super Bowl and have appeared in only two.

• The Bears haven’t won a playoff game in 13 years.

• The Bears have made the playoffs six times since the 1995 season, and over that span they have won three total playoff games.

• The Bears greatest QB in franchise history either played in the 1940s (Sid Luckman) or never made a pro bowl while he was with the team (Jay Cutler).

• The Bears have lost 10 straight games to their arch rival, the Green Bay Packers.

I’d let it be known the tradition of the Bears hasn’t been good enough – and hard work is already happening under GM Ryan Poles to pave a new path.

So, yes, learn about the past here at Halas Hall, because the product on the field has been something that this great fanbase isn’t proud about.

Poles got it right when recently responding to Robert Griffin III, who claimed Williams should pull a power play and demand the Bears not take him because recent quarterback failures.

“We were hired to break a cycle, the past is the past,” Poles said. “I really believe we’re about to break this cycle and get this city in a really good situation and win a lot of games. So the past is the past.”

Bravo, Ryan, bravo.

It’s time for change.

Change the product on the field.

Change the outside perception of what Bears football is.

Change from the old tired cliches of history and tradition.

Spring forward, Kevin, do not fall back to the Bears old tired ways.

• Marc Silverman shares his opinions on the Bears weekly for Shaw Local. Tune in and listen to the “Waddle & Silvy” show weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m. on ESPN 1000.