Local man promises nephew that the Chicago Bears will make the playoffs

CICERO, IL–Richard Montanez kept putting off getting a Christmas present for his eight-year old nephew David, which ended up being a huge mistake.

“I kept delaying and procrastinating,” Montanez said. “For no reason, I just kept waiting. And all of a sudden it is Christmas morning and I realized I didn’t have a gift for David. So I panicked.”

Montanez said he made a split-second decision.

“I went to the other room and I thought for a second about what David loves more than anything else, and I realized it was the Chicago Bears,” said Montanez, who just turned 41. “So I took some crayons and drew the Chicago Bears ‘C’ logo, and I put it in an envelope and put it under the tree for David.”

An hour later, when the family opened Christmas presents, Montanez explained the gift.

“I told him that I was giving him the Bears making the playoffs,” Montanez said. “He freaked. He was running around and high-fiving everyone. He said it was the best Christmas present ever. He was really fired up.”

For the Bears to make the playoffs, they must defeat Houston on Sunday and have Minnesota lose to New York, or have both Tampa Bay and Dallas lose. Montanez is not affiliated with the Bears in any fashion, and has no way of influencing the outcome of the game.

Some of the Bears players are miffed at Montanez.

“Is he gonna come out and quarterback for us?” Asked Kyle Orton. “I’m not Joe Namath over here, we gotta be careful throwing oÙt guarantees like this. I mean, check it out, I love Christmas as much as the next guy, but maybe this is the year the kid learns about disappointment.”

Montanez is undeterred by Orton’s pessimism.

“I have been saying my prayers, though, I can tell you that much,” Montanez said. “I really don’t want to have to explain to my sister about how I decided to crush her son’s hopes and dreams with my Christmas present. You know what I mean?”