Bears GM Says One His Hardest Moments Was Not Getting Carolina GM Job And Now Everything Makes Sense

Things are rough right now for the Carolina Panthers. I mean, look no further than their social media post honoring the victims of 9/11 to know that fans aren’t enthused about the direction of the franchise.

Of course, while it’s not the root cause of their troubles, the now-infamous trade that sent star hideout DJ Moore and draft picks — including a first-rounder in 2024 — to the Chicago Bears in exchange for the No. 1 pick in 2023 which was then used to select Alabama QB Bryce Young.

And while Young could still pan out, the ensuing 2023 season was a mess and landed the Panthers the No. 1 pick again… only, remember, it was the property of the Bears, who used it to take Caleb Williams first overall.

It will likely go down as an all-time franchise pantsing, and it was the work of Bears GM Ryan Poles. In a new interview, we may now have an explanation as to why Poles may have had an extra incentive to do the Panthers dirty.

Poles was a guest on the Excellent Leadership Podcast (which I can tell you has better insights into this sort of thing than the So-So Leadership Management podcast), and that’s where he dropped this gem that started making the rounds on social media.

“One of the hardest moments I had was not getting the Carolina job,” Poles said. “That was my first interview and I thought I did really well, I prepared really well. You kind of feel in the zone when you go through the interview process.”

However, as we all know, Poles didn’t get that job, and it seems he took it hard.

“It was the first time I felt like mental health, frustration, disappointment,” he said. “I had a lot of that when I returned back to Kansas City, and it was eye-opening.”

Now, Poles said that he spun the situation into something good, and that was a learning experience. 

However, when the opportunity came for him to help his Chicago Bears while at the same time putting the Panthers in a bind, I’m sure the experience of that rejection didn’t help Carolina’s cause when that deal was getting finalized.