There have been plenty of cases of athletes either announcing or lobbying for a trade on Twitter, and so a tweet from Chicago Bears’ running back David Montgomery Wednesday that seemed to many to be hinting at one of those two things took off. Montgomery was a key piece of the Bears’ offense down the stretch and helped get them into the playoffs, so a move involving him would certainly be a big deal. And there had been some talk of the Bears making a big move, and maybe even trading for a veteran quarterback like Carson Wentz (or possibly Deshaun Watson, or possibly someone else), so some interpreted Montgomery’s tweet as related to that.
The tweet wasn’t clear, though, and some thought it was just an issue of verb tense. And NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport then poured further cold water on the trade idea with a report that that hadn’t happened. And Montgomery himself later clarified he wasn’t talking about leaving the Bears. Here’s how that all played out, starting with Montgomery’s initial tweet (since deleted, but screenshot by @TrufoleskyMick here):
Here’s some of the discussion that sparked:
https://twitter.com/TrufoleskyMick/status/1359626291339800578
I sure hope that David Montgomery’s last tweet is just a misuse of past/present tense and the #Bears aren’t actually trading him away…
— Jacob Infante (@jacobinfante24) February 10, 2021
Did you see the tweet from David Montgomery? The rumor is Montgomery, Foles and a #1 for Wentz. Can the Bears be that stupid, of course!
— George “Riley” Panagakis (@grpwins) February 10, 2021
Bears Twitter freaked out over David Montgomery's cryptic tweet https://t.co/0xbvXV9oU3
— Bears Wire (@TheBearsWire) February 10, 2021
Here’s Rapoport defusing the report:
I believe the #Bears RB is just happy to be playing in Chicago… because he didn’t get traded. https://t.co/fZLndZzS6n
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 10, 2021
And here’s Montgomery’s eventual “HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BALL!” tweet:
Y’all took that completely wrong! It was not intended in the purpose of football! HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BALL! I love Chicago and I’m ready to be here for a long time and win a lot of games 🤦🏾♂️‼️
— David Montgomery (@MontgomerDavid) February 10, 2021
So this was much ado about nothing in the end. But it’s certainly pretty funny how this blew up. And Montgomery might want to be a little more careful what he tweets going forward to avoid a repeat.
[Top photo of Montgomery from a Dec. 13 game against the Houston Texans by Mike DiNovo/USA Today Sports]
