Chicago Bears fans find it easy to doubt Byron Pringle after the team signed him as a free agent. He is not the answer at wide receiver they were hoping for. He was the fourth-best option in Kansas City. Now he’s expected to be far more than that for Justin Fields. He is nothing more than a bargain GM Ryan Poles picked up from a garage sale to cynical fans. He won’t move the needle for this team.
None of this is new to Pringle. He’s been doubted for a long time. The truth is he probably shouldn’t be in the NFL. He came close to heading down an ugly path. Despite success in high school, he nearly threw it all away when he came into conflict with law enforcement. If he weren’t an adult at the time, he probably would’ve ended up in prison. He overcame that hurdle, only to almost ruin it again a second time. Matt Waldman of the Rookie Scouting Portfolio offered some details.
“As a teen, Pringle served four years of probation and 100 hours of community service for burglary, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and grand theft.
After fulfilling his requirements, Pringle signed with Youngstown State in 2012, but he was charged with robbery by sudden snatching and lost his chance to play there.”
Pringle ended up at Butler Community College. To the surprise of many, he stayed out of trouble. This was enough to draw the attention of Kansas State, who offered him a scholarship with the stipulation that any criminal issue meant instant termination. The receiver agreed and had two productive years in the program. Unfortunately, his earlier setbacks meant he’d enter the NFL at 25-years old. Nobody would draft him, so he’d have to do it the hard way as an undrafted free agent.
It took a lot of guts for him to sign with the Chiefs in 2018. That offense was already loaded with guys like Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins, Chris Conley, and Demarcus Robinson. His odds of making the roster were slim. Yet he forged ahead. While he didn’t crack the roster that year, he performed well enough to remain on the team via injured reserve. By 2019, he battled his way onto the final 53. The rest is history.
Quite the contrary. It seems like the steeper the hill he must climb, the better he performs. His four best games as a professional in the NFL came against Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, and Baltimore. All playoff teams with pretty good defenses. That is the mindset of a gamer. It is easy to see why Poles had no problem signing him as a free agent. He believes the receiver has plenty more to offer.
Chicago will give him far greater opportunities on offense than Kansas City ever could. He’ll have an offensive coordinator in Luke Getsy that coached wide receiver extensively during his prior years in Green Bay. He’ll also have Fields at quarterback with the kind of accuracy and aggressiveness Byron Pringle grew used to seeing from Patrick Mahomes. It is a worthwhile risk with minimal downside.
Every time a team has given Pringle one, he’s delivered. Sure, he may not be the generational weapon people would prefer. That doesn’t mean he can’t help make his quarterback better. The kid always had talent. It was a matter of getting his head right and then putting him on the field.
