Chicago sports talk radio host Laurence Holmes strongly criticized the Bears for including a prayer at a press conference where they announced plans for a new stadium in the city.
On Wednesday, the Bears unveiled their vision for a multi-billion dollar stadium on the Chicago lakefront, just south of Soldier Field. The event featured Rev. Dr. Charlie E. Dates, who offered a prayer hoping for the project’s success and for the Bears’ future victories.
“We thank you for all the people who will benefit from the Bears staying in Chicago,” Rev. Dates prayed. “I don’t know that you played football, but I am asking you to help us — help us to win some games, help us to get a Super Bowl here, help us to play in a Super Bowl, and bring back the 1985 roaring, cheering fans we had for your glory and for our good.”
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While his prayer was delivered with a light-hearted tone, eliciting laughter from attendees and a playful response from Bears president Kevin Warren and chairman George McCaskey, not everyone appreciated the gesture.
Speaking on 670 the Score, Holmes voiced his disapproval, pointing out the socio-economic challenges facing the community where Rev. Dates’ church is located—the same neighborhood where Holmes grew up. “There are plenty of people in that neighborhood and around Chicago that need prayer,” he argued.
Holmes expressed his disappointment with the pastor’s choice of blessings. “You chose to ask for God’s grace for a stadium. You should be ashamed, Pastor, and your congregation should be ashamed, too, that they follow you.”
He accused the pastor of neglecting his scriptural duties to aid the poor and downtrodden and of leveraging faith for financial gains tied to the stadium project, parts of which might be publicly funded. “You are using the word of God to try and fleece the flock for billionaires,” Holmes remarked.
The stadium proposal has ignited controversy, especially following the Bears’ $200 million purchase and demolition of a popular horse race track in Arlington Heights.
Although the team’s focus has shifted to constructing a new venue within Chicago, supported by Mayor Brandon Johnson, skepticism from Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker casts doubt on the project’s future realization.
