CHICAGO – There are welcome to the NFL moments, and then there are welcome to the NFL moments. Rome Odunze's moment was one of the crazier moments you'll see, and his first catch as a Chicago Bear will be something he’ll never forget.
“I make a great play and instantly get blasted and lose the football,” Odunze said. “That’s something I can tell my grandkids one day.”
The play itself was wilder than Odunze described. Caleb Williams targeted DJ Moore on a dig route, but overthrew him. The pass was popped high in the air by Titans safety Quandre Diggs and looked destined to be an easy interception, but Odunze tracked the ball, leapt high in the air and used his frame to snag the ball well before anyone else. As Odunze said, though, the Titans were ready when he returned to Earth. Fellow Titans safety Amani Hooker bear hugged Odunze to the ground and knocked the ball out in the process. Fortunately for the Bears, left guard Teven Jenkins was in pursuit and smothered the ball to retain possession.
The whole sequence took about five seconds.
“That was crazy,” Odunze said. “I seen the ball in the air, so I tried to make a play on it. As soon as I came down it seemed like I was getting hit by somebody.”
That play ended up being the only time Odunze touched the ball all afternoon. He was targeted four times, but the crazy pop up led to his only catch. He was credited with 11 yards.
Chicago Bears
Even though it was a bang-bang play, and Odunze did well to keep the ball from being intercepted, he had instant feedback for himself.
“I gotta secure that regardless. Just wanted to make sure it didn’t get into the defenders hands, honestly that was my first priority, but I’ve gotta tuck that away. Thankfully Teven was hustling over to get on that ball.”
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It ended up being a big moment in the game. The Bears retained possession in the red zone and eventually kicked a field goal for their first points of the game. Odunze and the rest of the Bears offense will want more, though. The team struggled to move the ball consistently and didn’t score any offensive touchdowns.
After the game, Odunze was focused on the positives, not the negatives. The Bears won, he got a crazy catch to start his career and he had fun doing it.
“It was a blast. Any time I’m out there playing football, especially with a team like this, especially with brothers like this, that’s all I can ask for.”
