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Flashback: Moments After Chicago Kicker Loses Game, Eagles Player Meets Him at Mid-Field To Pray

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Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re re-posting it here in case you missed it.

Chicago Bears kicker Cody Parkey became the goat of their 16-15 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

And no, we’re not talking about “GOAT” as in the greatest of all time. It’s goat as in the scapegoat of a brutal loss.

Parkey had the ignominious fate of badly missing a potentially game-winning 43-yard field goal with just seconds left against the Eagles.

The worst part of it was that the kick hit the crossbar twice before popping out and costing the Bears the win.

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Chicago fans, whose sports passion is almost notorious, were not happy with Parkey’s miss.

Some fans booed, which is perfectly understandable even though Parkey had scored 9 points for the team while the rest of the Bears only scored 6. He still missed the potential game-winner.

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Other fans crossed a veritable line by wishing for Parkey to die.

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It was bad enough that Parkey’s wife allegedly needed armed security to be safely escorted from the stadium.


Yes, “fan” is derived from the word fanatic, but sports fans crossing that line should be ashamed of themselves.

Through it all, though, Parkey knew what was most important. It’s his personal faith, not the faith that Bears fans had in him. That was never made more apparent than a beautiful moment captured by Sports Spectrum’s Jason Romano.


Romano’s image shows Parkey kneeling at the 50-yard line with his teammates and Eagles players to pray after the game. Through the best of times and the worst of times (and Parkey was most definitely experiencing the worst of times), those players understood what mattered most.

To his further credit, Parkey handled the post-game questions like a pro as well.


To be perfectly blunt, Parkey will likely not be on the Bears, or possibly even in the NFL, next year. He’s officially joined names like Blair Walsh and Gary Anderson in playoff kicking infamy.

Through it all, however, Parkey seems to understand that his relationship with God is above all else, and that’s far more important than an NFL career.

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Bryan Chai has written news and sports for The Western Journal for more than five years and has produced more than 1,300 stories. He specializes in the NBA and NFL as well as politics.
Bryan Chai has written news and sports for The Western Journal for more than five years and has produced more than 1,300 stories. He specializes in the NBA and NFL as well as politics. He graduated with a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona. He is an avid fan of sports, video games, politics and debate.
Birthplace
Hawaii
Education
Class of 2010 University of Arizona. BEAR DOWN.
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
Languages Spoken
English, Korean
Topics of Expertise
Sports, Entertainment, Science/Tech




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