The Chicago Bears are still obsessing over the 'double doink'

The "double doink" continues to haunt Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy's dreams, and it led him to orchestrate what Sports Illustrated considers the "wildest kicker search ever held."

The Bears are coming off a successful 12-4 season that ended in heartbreak. Down 16-15 to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Wild Card game last January, Chicago had an opportunity to take the lead and advance to the Divisional round as the clock wound down. Their kicker at the time, Cody Parkey, lined up for a 43-yarder to send the Bears home victorious. But then this happened:

Parkey was later released because the Bears brass was concerned about him flubbing another kick in a big moment. But Parkey's departure left them with a hole at the position. Prior to the 2019 draft, Chicago did have three kickers on the roster, but they brought six more in for an open try-out — none of whom had ever actually played in an NFL game.

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Most NFL kicker competitions reportedly max out at around four or five players; the fact the Bears brought in the equivalent of the Fellowship of the Ring was described as "ridiculous." The kickers described the whole experience as "a very weird deal," during which they were constantly reminded of Parkey's miss, repeatedly called upon to kick 43-yarders, and subject to unnecessary high-tech statistical analysis. Nagy defended the tryouts.

Eventually, none of the original nine kickers made it through the summer. The Bears also wound up trading for the Oakland Raiders' Eddy Piniero, who emerged as the last man standing, but even his future appears tenuous. For what it's worth, several sources within the kicking community reportedly said Parkey is clearly better than anyone the Bears brought in this offseason. Read more at Sports Illustrated.