Bears take it back to school with their 2024 schedule release video (2024)

Mar 16, 2023; Lake Forest, IL, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver DJ Moore speaks during a press conference at Halas Hall. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

The Bears created a mashup of high school coming-of-age movies, predominantly parodying “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Mean Girls,” and “The Breakfast Club.” The video stars wide receiver DJ Moore, who essentially plays Ferris Bueller, while actor and noted Bears fan Jake Johnson narrates.

Moore is seen as the popular kid in school, and after a few anecdotes about the other people in class who are opposing fans, he fakes sick to get out of class, which is taught by head coach Matt Eberflus. He sneaks around, meets up with Cole Kmet, and tries to avoid the dean, played by Anthony “Spice” Adams. All of this happens while cameos are made by a number of Bears players, including Teven Jenkins, Kyler Gordon, TJ Edwards, Tremaine Edmunds, Jaquan Brisker, Braxton Jones, Tyrique Stevenson, D’Andre Swift, Rome Odunze, and Caleb Williams.

Other cameos are made by Lauren Screeden, Annie Agar, Yung Gravy, Emily Zugay, and Dyon Brooks.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – DECEMBER 10: DJ Moore #2 of the Chicago Bears walks on the field prior to the game against the Detroit Lions at Soldier Field on December 10, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)

The way the Bears were teasing this reveal throughout the week, it had a lot of potential. I don’t think it met expectations, though. The vision behind it was fantastic, and integrating a number of classic Chicago movies was a great idea. I’m just not sure it was executed as well as it could have been.

Moore was the primary focus in the video, and he’s just not a great actor. Why would he be, though? He’s a football player, and a darn good one at that. But he’s also their most marketable veteran star and it made sense to give him some shine. His delivery fell flat most of the time, and that’s tough when he’s your lead. It also felt like there was too much going on with trying to cram all the movie references in. Had they stuck with Ferris Bueller, Mean Girls, or The Breakfast Club, it could have been amazing with so many callbacks for each classic movie. Making a video about all three felt too out of sorts. That doesn’t mean there weren’t good things about it, though.

Johnson was solid as a narrator, and the classroom scene with all the different kids representing the opponents was entertaining. His dry sense of humor came through well. And even though I felt Moore wasn’t the best, he had the best moment of the video when he ignored a call from the Carolina Panthers, his former team, as Johnson was talking about exes. It was also nice seeing Williams and Odunze get a chance to make an appearance at the end as “freshmen.” Seeing as this video took a ton of planning and they just got to the Bears, I’m sure that was the best they could do.

Overall, the release was fine, but my biggest gripe is the repetitiveness from last year. It all felt very similar, from the spoof on movies and TV to the cameos. Did the Bears really need to bring back Agar and Brooks again? And while Adams and Screeden both do a great job hosting “Inside the Bears,” seeing other people in some of those roles would have been fun after they were prominently featured in 2023as well.

This didn’t match last year’s video, but it is still way ahead of what the Bears used to do with their schedule releases, and that is a testament to the team’s media and marketing team, who spent months putting this video together.

Seeing as it’s a school-themed video, we’ll give this a B.