Stevenson still affected by the “Fail Mary”: Remembers error vs Commanders

Tyrique Stevenson Relives the Pain of the Play That Defined His Season

Chicago Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson has reflected on the play that marked his second season with the team. Stevenson revealed that he still feels the impact of the negative reaction he received after his mistake on a “Hail Mary” pass against the Washington Commanders.

“It was tough. It hurt,” Stevenson said. “That’s the best way to explain it. It just hurt to be a football player and have one of those mistakes that’s going to linger. Even when my son grows up, I’m going to have to explain it to him.”

Tyrique Stevenson

The Bears were seconds away from beating the Commanders in Week 8 of last season, after the Caleb Williams-led offense scored a touchdown and converted a 2-point attempt, leaving only 27 seconds on the clock. In the last play of the game, Stevenson was looking in the opposite direction, talking to the fans in the stands. Realizing that the Commanders had put the ball in play, he ran towards the end zone and, unintentionally, deflected the ball into the hands of Washington’s wide receiver, Noah Brown.

The Commanders won the game 18-15, on their way to the NFC Championship. The loss for Chicago marked the beginning of a 10-game losing streak, which led to the firing of offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and coach Matt Eberflus. Stevenson apologized at a team meeting the next day. Although his colleagues supported him for owning up to his mistake, not everyone quickly forgot the incident. “They gave me their support,” Stevenson recalled. “To be honest, I got some side-eye. But that comes with, as the Bears safety, Kevin Byard, said on the podcast, this is what we do for a living. That’s just how we are in some cases. And the best thing we can do is go out there and make big plays.” “I made a bad play. The best thing they could do was come over and put their arm around me and say, ‘We’ve got your back.’ That’s what they showed me all last year.” The Bears (2-2, 0-2), after a bye, will face the Commanders on “Monday Night Football” this week. Since 2013, Chicago has a 2-10 record in games immediately following a bye week, and Stevenson expects that, given their recent history, fans will try to distract him from the game once again. “Going back to a hostile environment, they’ll do everything they can to destabilize me,” Stevenson said. “The best thing I can do is go out there and show these 10 guys that I’m focused and ready to play.” The new Bears coach, Ben Johnson, said it’s important for cornerbacks to have “short memories”. “Sometimes you’re left on an island for 12 plays and nothing happens, and then suddenly, something comes your way,” Johnson said. “If it’s a bad play, you have to be able to erase it, and if it’s a good play, the same. You have to move on to the next one.” Stevenson’s teammates claim that what happened against Washington doesn’t influence the type of player he currently is. “That was over after that,” cornerback Kyler Gordon said. “He owned up to it, apologized, and I feel like from then on, it’s been, he’s not going to let people create this narrative about him. Go out there, keep doing what I do, and I feel like that’s what he’s going to keep focusing on each week.” While Stevenson reflected on the amount of changes he has experienced professionally and personally since Week 8 of the 2024 season, including the birth of his son, Tyrique Jr., he sees the hard lesson he learned on the field as one he can apply to any situation for the rest of his life. “I definitely appreciate it, because I would never have changed,” Stevenson said. “I was successful with my mindset and what I was doing at the time. And I felt like with that situation, I was just preparing myself to grow and mature and to be able to face any situation that comes with this game… and to be able to stand my ground and look these men in the face when things don’t go my way.”