The Rodney Dangerfields of the NFL

Shame on us. No, scratch that...shame on you, and you, too!

I, on the other hand, am one of the few that realized what was in front of me a long time ago.

They say you have to earn respect in this world, but apparently "this world" doesn't include the National Football League.

Only in football can a team that has beaten nearly every opponent they've faced be disrespected.

The naysayers and doubters will swear that, "They haven't played anybody," or "They barely win," and my personal favorite, "Wait till they get to the playoffs."

What these pessimists seem to forget is this: first, all a team can do is play the schedule given to them; second, a win is a win is a win, regardless of the margin of victory; and third, only a handful of teams get to the playoffs, so getting there is an accomplishment in itself.

This is why I'm so puzzled at the lack of respect coming the Bears' way.

If I was on that team, I'd release a statement to the media that simply read: "Kiss our ..."

It's as if we're expecting them to apologize for their record or something.

Instead of celebrating the return to dominance of arguably the NFL's most storied franchise, people are searching high and low for the team's weaknesses.

Even in their hometown of Chicago, you'd swear they were coming off a loss after some of their wins, if all you did was listen to the media.

They are quick to point out the team's flaws and sometimes unflattering stats, rather than the W's they continue to add to the win column.

They would prefer to talk about Jim Miller, the Bear's DLG (Don't Lose The Game) quarterback, and his dismal yards per game average, instead of his 11-2 record as a starter this year.

Shouldn't we be patting them on the back instead of chastising them?

We're talking about a team that hasn't made the playoffs in seven years and has finished last in their division the last four.

Furthermore, they were again picked to finish last and be one of the worst teams in the league.

To everyone's surprise except their own, they won the NFC Central and had the second best record in the entire league, earning them a first-round bye in the playoffs.

Unfortunately, they are still disrespected week in and week out by the media, NFL "experts," the people in Vegas, and opposing players.

After his team was smashed by the Bears last week, the Jaguar's Keenan McCardell had the nerve to say they're an alright team that will be exposed in the playoffs.

This came after they smashed the Jags by 20 points, not allowing a touchdown until the final quarter.

But, this has been going on all year.

After overtime victories against the 49ers and Browns in back to back weeks, everybody said they were lucky. Lucky?

Excuse me, but I was always told that the harder you work, the luckier you'll get.

Translation: "Luck" is when opportunity meets preparation.

I didn't hear anybody saying the Panthers or Lions were lucky this year, and that's probably because they both stunk.

You see, "luck" happens to good teams, not bad ones and not average ones for that matter.

As they sit back and watch the unlucky teams play in the first-round of the playoffs this week, I'm sure they will hear some analyst or supposed expert predict that the Bears' next opponent will come into Soldier Field and beat them.

I hope they do, because apparently, it's that kind of blatant disrespect that had kept the Bears going this year.