Chicago Bears: Damien Williams’ unvaccinated status doesn’t matter

This coming Sunday, the Chicago Bears could very well be down their top two running backs against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

David Montgomery remains out with a knee injury, while Damien Williams’ status is up in the air due to COVID protocol.

Williams did, indeed, test positive for COVID-19. Therefore, he must be asymptomatic after having been away from the team for 10 days. At this point, the earliest Williams could return is Saturday, which would be cutting it very close.

After sitting out the 2020 NFL season to care for his mother who was diagnosed with cancer, Williams chose to come back and play this year. However, he decided not to get vaccinated — which some fans seem to think is their business.

Chicago Bears running back Damien Williams being unvaccinated is not a big deal.

While the majority of the media will tell you differently, I am here to state that the fact Williams is unvaccinated remains his business, and his business only. Similar to what’s going on with Kyrie Irving, but not on as large of a scale, fans seem to question Williams’ decision and criticize him for choosing not to get the shot.

Williams is not as big of a name as an athlete like Irving, but some folks still think it’s their business to criticize a man’s personal decision regarding his own body. If you take a look at some of the replies on Adam Schefter’s tweet from Thursday, some of them get awfully ugly and personal.

Whether the replies have to do with Williams’ mother, his choosing not to wear a mask or some guessing on why he chose to sit out last season, fans (and some media) can be brutal.

The fact is, this is Williams’ choice. It is not up to anyone else except him as to whether he gets vaccinated. The same can be said for any other personal choice in regards to his own health and body.

In today’s society, people tend to err on the side of negativity. They tend to err on the side of following the pack. And guess what? That’s great — all of those people can choose to follow whom they wish to follow and believe in whatever they wish to believe.

But, at the end of the day, Williams’ decision will not be impacted by all of these keyboard warriors hiding behind their laptops and smartphones. Most of the critics haven’t said anything related to Williams’ vaccination status hurting the Bears. It’s been all emotionally and politically charged criticism, and if you don’t believe that, I can’t help you.

If Williams was vaccinated, he probably would have returned earlier, sure. However, is he going to be the difference in beating Tom Brady? Would he have been the difference to beating Aaron Rodgers?

No disrespect to Williams as a player, because he’s a good one. But, having him on the field would not have been the difference between a win or loss against the Packers, and likely won’t be the difference against the Bucs. Get real, people.

The folks mad at Williams and criticizing him the most are simply upset about a principle, that’s it.

Williams chose to refuse vaccination — big deal. Who is to say he won’t decide to get vaccinated later on? We don’t know, therefore we should keep our mouths shut and let the man live, period.