‘Today’ means no tomorrow
Our guys agree that Parkey’s morning-show appearance has to be the final frame of kicker’s career in Chicago
Five days after missing a field-goal attempt that would have pushed the Bears into the second round of the NFC playoffs, Bears kicker Cody Parkey made an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show. In a five-minute interview Friday morning with hosts Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Craig Melvin, Parkey discussed his failed 43-yard kick, the support he received from teammates afterward and his approach to processing the disappointment.
“I’ll continue to keep my head held high,” Parkey said. “Because football is what I do. It’s not who I am.”
Predictably, Parkey’s appearance became a lightning rod for those who saw the veteran kicker as a noble pro owning up to his error and those wondering just what he was trying to accomplish by reliving the “Double Doink” in the national spotlight.
Wiederer: Forgive me, Rich, if I seem a bit out of sorts. I still have no idea what Parkey was trying to accomplish with that.
The idea of making a morning-show appearance so soon after such a devastating loss felt incredibly tone-deaf to me. We weren’t even a week removed from the Bears’ 16-15 loss to the Eagles that abruptly demolished their legitimate Super Bowl hopes. That’s far too early to be taking a “handling failure well” victory lap.
How about just handling failure well?
Campbell: Each second of Parkey’s appearance was more unbelievable and astonishing than the last.
Let’s make one thing clear: The Bears did nothing to facilitate this national TV appearance. This was an independent, look-at-me move arranged by Parkey and his representatives. Parkey was not alone in losing last Sunday’s game. But the other 42 players who played in that mega-failure seem to have a much better clue about the deference and humility appropriate following such a colossal disappointment.
Let’s make a second point clear: Sorry, Savannah, you weren’t in that postgame locker room like we were. Parkey did not answer every question. He sat slumped at his locker and was more than happy to get out of Dodge when a team PR representative cut off his interview.
Then on Monday during the Bears’ final media session of the year, Parkey was nowhere to be found.
Wiederer: The folks at “Today,” with full agreement from Parkey and his camp, just took one of the more devastating moments in Chicago sports history and drowned it in Velveeta.
Guthrie’s take? She praised Parkey as “the classiest of class acts.” “They have MVPs,” Guthrie added later. “I think they should have MHPs. Most Honorable Player.”
Still, under all that thick and gooey cheese, there’s a sharp torment, a deep emptiness that won’t soon go away. And it’s not only Bears fans feeling it. Many did their jobs better than Parkey, who had one primary responsibility. To make kicks.
Yet to my knowledge, Parkey is the only one who has made an appearance on a morning show. What was the point? Campbell: I was shocked Guthrie didn’t hand him a blue participation ribbon. “Congrats, Cody, you played in the playoffs! Even scored nine of your team’s 15 points!”
I was similarly surprised the Bears didn’t precede his TV appearance with a transaction requiring him to be introduced as a former Bears kicker. Just give it time, I suppose.
Lest our discussion be misconstrued as one big meatball take, we can wholeheartedly acknowledge there can be grace in failure. Sports not only entertain us, they do teach life lessons about handling adversity, teamwork and commitment. To that point, I give Parkey’s teammates, the ones who publicly supported him, my nominations for MHT.
Instead of exalting Parkey, remember we’re talking about professional sports here. It’s big business with sky-high stakes. Jobs that depend on other people doing theirs.
On the elevated stage of pro sports, you know what other life lessons there are? The importance of dependability and reliability. In many run-of-the-mill jobs that aren’t guaranteed $9 million like Parkey is, it’s about much more than showing up and trying hard. It’s about more than saying, “Aw, shucks, I’ll get ’em next time.’ It’s about performing well in competitive circumstances. About being dependable and reliable.
It’s about: Do. Your. Job.
Wiederer: I know our audience is smart enough not to misconstrue this discussion as mean-spirited contempt. Think of it more as constructive criticism. And again, to be clear, I applaud Parkey for being able to process his failure with a certain amount of grace and resolve. He didn’t blame the snap or the hold or the wind or even the give of the goalposts. He didn’t blame the linemen who helped allow his kick to be tipped. He owned up to his misfire. And his push to move forward rather than wallow in disappointment or self-pity is admirable. To some extent.
I just think many people have an issue with the odd self-congratulatory vibe of an appearance like Friday morning’s. Ten months ago, the Bears guaranteed Parkey $9 million to do his job. Sunday’s seasonending miss wasn’t his first stumble. It was his 11th missed kick in 17 games and the sixth to hit the upright.
“As a kicker, you live for those moments,” Parkey said.
As a kicker, you also have to live with the results.
Campbell: If Parkey had gotten that field goal through the uprights, the Bears would have flown to Los Angeles on Friday. If he hadn’t missed wide right in overtime against the Dolphins, the Rams or Cowboys would have flown to Chicago, and there would be playoff football at Soldier Field this weekend.
Instead, it will be at least nine months until Parkey has a chance to answer his seasonlong failures with an in-game performance. Friday’s TV spectacle is one of several reasons his redemption story simply can’t be set in Chicago.