Age of explanation

 Bears quarterback Justin Fields did some clarifying yesterday, and that was big of him, because it wasn't necessary. What he said Sunday about Bears fans, although it really wasn't about the fans, was obvious if a bit mudded. And also true.

Naturally, the world of social media didn't see it that way.

 What they saw was another opportunity to make something a Thing, and to create Controversy from spit and baling wire. That's because Things and Controversies are their meat and drink. Things and Controversies generate hits. Things and Controveries generate Exposure, and Exposure is the coin of the realm on the interwhatsis.

And so when someone asked Sunday if getting clocked by the Packers yet again was more frustrating for the fans and players because it was, well, the Packers, Fields said it was more frustrating for the players because they put the work in to beat the Packers. The fans, he said, did not.

This immediately became this whole "Fields says fans don't put the work in!" Thing, with an implied "Fields disses fans!" subtext. Which was ridiculous.

Anyone with a working brain cell understood what Fields was saying, and that he was as right as ham-on-rye. My own brain cells don't work as well as they used to, for instance, but I can't remember a fan ever sitting in a film room watching tape of an upcoming opponent over and over.

Or running a particular offensive package over and over in practice. Or fighting through a double-team in a drill, or running the Packers pass routes for the defensive backs, or staying up until zero dark thirty concocting a scheme that might at least cause Aaron Rodgers a moment's pause.

Show me the fan who did all that, and I'll admit Fields was wrong when he said the fans don't put in the work. I'll wait.

Sure, fans shell out their hard-earned dough to watch the Bears soil themselves on a regular basis. They walk in from Soldier Field parking (now located in Winnetka, I hear) for games. They tweak a shoulder or a hammy summoning the beer man.

This being the age of extraneous explanation, however, Fields was compelled to explain yesterday. He said he wasn't implying Bears fans didn't work hard at whatever jobs they do. He was only referring to "work regarding the game on Sunday, winning the game."

Well, duh. 

That is, "well, duh" for those of use who weren't trying to drive traffic to some Twitter/Instagram/blogger site.

It's how the world spins these days, after all. And Fields, to his credit, gets that completely.

"Some social media sites, they quoted my quote and they got a big buzz out of it," he said yesterday. "So, of course they did a great job of doing that. Of course social media is going to do that."

Of course.