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Two hours after he traded up to draft Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields on April 29, 2021, then-Bears general manager Ryan Pace bounded downstairs at Halas Hall and sat down in front of a computer for a Zoom conference.
“The excitement throughout our whole building, you could feel it as I walked down here tonight,” he said. “What he’s going to do for the future of our organization.”
Pace was right — eventually. But it was a future Pace wouldn’t be around to see.