Akiem Hicks’ heart remains unquestioned

Akiem Hicks, the Chicago Bears’ defensive lineman, demonstrated the heart of a lion in yesterday’s loss.

The Chicago Bears were eliminated from playoff contention with yesterday’s loss to the Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings’ win over the Los Angeles Rams. However, this should not detract from the incredibly gutsy performance by defensive lineman Akiem Hicks.

Look, I highly doubt there is anyone out there who is (or was) questioning Hicks’ heart, but if there are, I will travel to the ends of the earth to tell them why they are wrong. That’s because his performance against the Packers was nothing short of remarkable.

Let’s back up to Week 5 and the Bears’ matchup against the Oakland Raiders in which Hicks dislocated his elbow and was soon after placed on injured reserve. At the time the hope was that he would be able to return this season, but that was no guarantee based on the severity of the injury.

But Hicks was cleared to play and made his return against the Packers. While he may have been back on the field, it was clear he was not 100 percent and was still in significant pain.  In fact, he aggravated his elbow multiple times and could be seen on the sidelines grimacing in pain.

Despite that, he went back into the game each time and played his tail off. Not only that, but he made a huge impact on the defensive line, helping to hold Green Bay running backs to 76 yards rushing.

The Bears were a longshot to make the playoffs, even before the loss, and yet Hicks put it on the line and clearly played through a lot of pain because that’s what leaders do for their team.

This season has certainly been a disappointing one for the Bears as they had legitimate Super Bowl aspirations before the season started. While there have been plenty of opportunities this season for the locker room to fracture — especially with the disparity between how the offense and defense were performing — it did not.

If you are wondering why this team has continued to battle till the end and folded under pressure, look no further than the leadership demonstrated by Hicks yesterday.  The organization is lucky to have Hicks and others like him.