Losing Bears are Winners (Somewhere)

The 2007 Super Bowl Champions: The Chicago Bears.

We all know that's not true, but somewhere there's hats and T-Shirts claiming that fact.

When Peyton Manning and the Colts put on championship hats just moments after their victory, you know that Reebok, the NFL's official gear manufacturer, didn't happen to make a lucky guess about the winner. Instead, they printed gear for both teams.

So what happens to the gear of the losing team?

The New York Times answers the question we've always wondered:

They (were) shipped Monday morning to a warehouse in Sewickley, Pa., near Pittsburgh, where they will become property of World Vision, a relief organization that will package the clothing in wooden boxes and send it to a developing nation, usually in Africa.

This way, the N.F.L. can help one of its charities and avoid traumatizing one of its teams.

“Where these items go, the people don’t have electricity or running water,” said Jeff Fields, a corporate relations officer for World Vision.

“They wouldn’t know who won the Super Bowl. They wouldn’t even know about football.”

In turn, Michael Duduit writes:

Instead of just destroying 288 perfectly good -- if inaccurate -- shirts and caps, they get them into the hands of people for whom they will have real value.

And the Bears can know that somewhere in the world, they are winners after all.

Just goes to show that even losers can find redemption (somewhere).