Sunday's Bears Game Could Be The Coldest Bears Game Of All Time

By Mae Rice in News on Dec 16, 2016 3:50PM

Photo credit: David Banks/Getty Images

The Bears play the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field on Sunday, and they'll likely do it in the coldest weather the team has ever played in.

The high for Sunday is two degrees, with winds blowing at up to 30 mph, according to the National Weather Service. The temperature with windchill should be around 20 below throughout the game, a NWS meteorologist told the Tribune.

This puts Sunday squarely in the running for the coldest game in Bears history, and even more squarely in the running for their coldest home game. The Bears played their current coldest-ever game in Minnesota on Dec. 3, 1972, according to the Bears 2016 Media Guide: it was -2 degrees, and -19 with windchill. The lowest recorded temperature at a Bears home game was 2 degrees, on Dec. 22, 2008 (and remember, 2 is the high for Sunday); the worst temperature with windchill at a home game was -15 degrees, on Dec. 18, 1983.

Sunday's game could blow past all those records—wind pun extremely intended.

To prepare, the Bears have been practicing in frigid conditions. They did an hour and 15 minutes of their Thursday practice outside in single-digit weather, warmed by "little blow heaters," Coach John Fox said on the Bears site.

Some Bears players are even considering wearing long-sleeved undershirts at the game, though the Bears usually play in short sleeves at all costs, the Sun-Times reports.

Defensive lineman Pernell McPhee, however, still plans to go sleeveless. "I think [sleeves are] a sign of weakness,” he told the Sun-Times.